The Chicago Bears shocked the NFL world with their impressive 2025 season, which culminated in an 11-6 record, NFC North title and the franchise’s first playoff win in 15 years. And the future is certainly bright heading into 2026.
The duo of head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams has made believers out a lot of people, including USA Today’s Nate Davis, who ranked the Bears at No. 3 in his way-too-early power rankings. Just like Chicago players, Davis is buying into the “Good, Better, Best” of it all and the direction of this franchise for the next decade.
“They gave the mighty Rams all they could handle in an overtime divisional round loss at Soldier Field,” wrote Davis. “Chicago won eight of its final 12 games and captured its first NFC North title in seven years. ‘Good, better, best,’ this team incrementally got better in 2025 and not only found an identity but a power couple in coach Ben Johnson and QB Caleb Williams that could be a force to be reckoned with for the next decade-plus.”
The Bears overachieved in Year 1 under Johnson, where they went from worst-to-first in a competitive NFC North and went from a bottom offense to a top-five offense while setting an NFL record with seven fourth-quarter comebacks. Chicago is just scratching the surface, which certainly explains Davis’ confidence in them to deliver in 2026.
Now that the Bears finally have that elusive head coach-quarterback duo that has made some teams perennial contenders, it’s safe to say that the franchise is in good hands and is in a position to end their 40-year championship drought.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears are top-3 team in USA Today’s too-early 2026 NFL power rankings
Reporting by Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
