The Chicago Bears' thrilling 2025 season is officially over after Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round. Even though there was plenty to love about head coach Ben Johnson's first year in the Windy City, the heartbreaking overtime defeat is still fresh on Bears fans' minds, leaving them looking for something — anything — to cheer them up.
The Detroit Lions might be one of the Bears' NFC North rivals, but they may as well have been the division leaders' best friends with the laugh they provided on Monday. Rather than looking to a top name to replace recently-fired offensive coordinator John Morton, the Lions are hiring former Arizona Cardinals OC Drew Petzing to replace Morton, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
Lions' Hiring OC Drew Petzing Should Give Bears a Huge Laugh
Rivalry bias aside, the Lions have some dynamic offensive pieces, including running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown. Had Detroit replaced Morton with someone like Mike McDaniel, the Bears may have been worried about the damage that the Jared Goff-led attack could do.
Instead, the Lions are putting their faith in Petzing, who had the Cardinals operating one of the NFL's most middle-of-the-pack offenses, sometimes teetering towards the league's worst. Some of the less-than-glamorous stats include:
Offensive Team Statistic | Ranking |
|---|---|
Points per game: 20.9 | T-22nd |
Yards per game: 325.8 | 14th |
Yards per offensive play: 5.2 | 18th |
Drives ending in a score: 36.8% | 23rd |
Offensive penalties: 115 | 12th-most |
Morton had his flaws, no doubt, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell wasn't exactly a mastermind play-caller when he took over the offense mid-season. Still, it's hard to imagine Petzing being an upgrade over that situation.
Even if you take the Cardinals' collection of offensive injuries into account, the Rochester, NY native shouldn't strike fear into the Bears' hearts. After all, Arizona's offense only averaged 19.4 PPG under his watch in 2023 (24th), and while that number increased to 23.5 PPG (12th) in 2024, it's worth noting that the Cardinals had as many games scoring 14 or fewer points (five) as they did putting up 30-plus.
After the Bears went 0-2 against the Lions in the regular season, including a 52-21 loss in Week 2, it's encouraging to see the latter's offensive situation take a turn for the worse. Detroit already struggled putting up points down the stretch, averaging 17.7 PPG in the final three contests, and now Petzing's arrival could lead to the offense worsening in 2026.
It's also important to highlight that the Bears went 1-1 in games against the Cardinals during Petzing's time as their OC. Chicago picked up a 27-16 win in Week 16 of the 2023 campaign before falling 29-9 to Arizona in Week 9 of the 2024 season. Yes, the last meeting ended in defeat; however, Petzing's unit only put up 350 total yards, which was its seventh-worst output of the year.
A lot has changed for the Bears since they last saw Petzing, whereas he remains the same uninspiring playcaller he's always been. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has turned his unit into one of Chicago's strengths, and it's hard to imagine the Lions putting up 52 points again with the former Cardinals OC calling the shots.
So while the divisional round loss still stings (and might for a few days), Bears fans can rest easy and even laugh a little, knowing that things could always be worse.
They could be Lions fans, after all.