At this point in the 2025 NFL season, the Chicago Bears are looking like a special team. Their win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday, paired with the Los Angeles Rams’ loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, put the Bears in first place in the NFC playoff picture and raised expectations from a potential playoff participant to a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
There are several reasons for the Bears’ glow-up one year after being one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL. While head coach Ben Johnson has gotten a lot of the credit, the groundwork was laid back in the spring when general manager Ryan Poles executed a masterclass to bring Chicago from worst to first.
According to OverTheCap, the Bears spent $156.5 million in free agency to shore up their weaknesses and their draft class is starting to produce fruits as they enter the final stretch of the regular season. For most of the moves, Poles has been one step ahead and could be opening a championship window for a team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 2006.
Ryan Poles’s Aggressive Pursuit of Ben Johnson Paid Off Massively for Bears
Some of the infrastructure for the Bears' push was created a year ago, even if you couldn’t see it on the field. The Bears were a dysfunctional mess under ex-HC Matt Eberflus, and Poles figured to be on the hot seat after producing a 15-36 record over his first three seasons. Eberflus did not survive the season, getting fired shortly after Thanksgiving, but Poles kept his job and immediately targeted Johnson as his next head coach.
It wasn’t just that Poles had identified Johnson, who was one of the league’s hottest coaching candidates after helping the Detroit Lions become one of the NFL’s most potent offenses. It was an aggressive pursuit that ended when the Bears agreed to a contract worth $13 million per season for a coach who had never coached a game in the NFL, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
As if the Lions' current offensive issues weren’t enough to validate that decision, Johnson has been exactly what the Bears needed. He installed accountability early in the offseason program, and even though Chicago lost its first two games, it regrouped quickly and built confidence after winning nine of its past 10 games.
While Johnson could become the fourth coach in NFL history to win the NFL Coach of the Year Award in his first season, joining George Seifert (1989), Jim Haslett (2000), and Mike Tomlin (2007), he got plenty of help from Poles’s decisions in the offseason.
Ryan Poles’s Offseason Has the Bears on the Track to Home Field Advantage
The first big moves happened along an offensive line that allowed Caleb Williams to be sacked an NFL-high 68 times a year ago. While the acquisitions of Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson came with a pair of extensions worth a combined $79.5 million, the trades were made using a modest amount of draft capital, sending a 2026 fourth-round draft pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for Thuney and a sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for Jonah Jackson.
Add in the signing of Drew Dalman from the Atlanta Falcons, and the Bears’ offensive line went from 24th in Pro Football Focus’ offensive line rankings last year to fourth in their rankings ahead of Week 13. But the offensive line overhaul preceded what is becoming a solid draft class.
While tight end Colston Loveland isn’t having the season that Tyler Warren is having with the Indianapolis Colts, he still looks like a player trending upward with 20 catches for 290 yards and three touchdowns over his past five games. Second-round picks Luther Burden III and Ozzy Trapilo are also getting involved on offense, while seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai has morphed into an integral part of a Bears running game that ranks second in the NFL with 153.8 yards per game.
Poles’ offseason hasn’t been perfect as free-agent whiffs on Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odenigbo, as well as poor draft picks such as Shemar Turner and Ruben Hyppolite, haven't panned out. But the majority of the moves have turned out better than expected.
With five games to go, the Bears have a realistic shot at earning home-field advantage and a first-round bye in the playoffs. It’s an outcome that fans could have only thought was possible in a Madden franchise last spring, but has now come to life after the terrific job Poles has done.