Almost everything has looked good for the Chicago Bears heading into the 2026 season. Caleb Williams took a big step, they found a great offensive head coach, and led them on a playoff run that ended in heartbreaking fashion. Still, the arrow is pointing up, or at least that is what most fans think.
Could the Chicago Bears fall off in 2026?
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report went through a potential nightmare scenario for every team. For the Bears, it is a story that they have seen before: a quarterback regressing.
"With a full offseason to review the tape, the league figures out Ben Johnson's offense and exposes Caleb Williams as the 2024 No. 1 overall pick regresses in a non-playoff campaign. "Brad Gagnon
While Bears fans try to avoid it, and most would agree that both Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams are going to be just fine, there are some comparisons to the 2018 team. The Bears had a good roster, but under performed the year prior because of their old-school defensive coach and outdated offensive concepts.
A new offensive head coach comes in and helps a high-pick who was in year two turn it around. Was it Matt Eberflus who passed the baton to Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, or was that a description of Matt Nagy replacing John Fox to turn Mitch Trubisky into a playoff quarterback?
It is most likely not going to happen again, but there are enough parallels that it will continue to be a discussion, particularly in the national media, throughout the summer.
Williams obviously took steps, but there were far too many lapses in between, and most fans will agree with that. Williams seems wired in a way that he will now focus on ironing out his issues and improving his play. However, if he does not, there is a chance that the same magic cannot strike in the fourth quarter over and over.
Ben Johnson has done a good job of making it known in the media that the locker room dynamics have changed. The things that they did last year are last year, and the success of last year is last year. That might end up being the biggest difference from Matt Nagy, who seemed to latch onto the year prior and try to repeat the same magic. Johnson will look to find a new magic this year.
Still, the skeptics will continue to bring this up until both Williams and Johnson prove that they can do it for more than one season. It was a fun ride, but now we need to see it become a sustained success.
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