With the season two weeks over and the bears staff finalized, what are some reasonable predictions for the Chicago Bears, considering they ended last season with their worst season since 2017 with a 6-11 finish. This resulted in the firing of head coach Matt Nagy, nearly his entire staff, and general manager Ryan Pace. Since then, the Bears hired former Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as head coach, former Packers quarterback coach Luke Getsy, and former Colts safeties coach Alan WIlliams. With the new Bears regime in place, how will the season pan out. Well, here are my top 4 most likely predictions for the Bears by this time next season.
1. Bears finish with an 8-9 record and miss the playoffs: If the Bears have a somewhat productive offseason signing a number 1 or 2 receiver to pair with Darnell Mooney, draft a cornerback with their second-round pick, and sign or draft an offensive lineman they can improve by this margin. The Bears will likely have an upper caliber defense with Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson, Jaylon Johnson, Eddie Goldman, and Danny Trevathan, and offense ranking from anywhere from 15-30 in the NFL. For the
offense to be on the upper end of the top 15, Justin Fields would need to make the jump to a guy with 25 touchdowns and less than 10 picks, Darnell would need to have 1000 plus yards, and David Montgomery to have 1000 plus yards and 15 touchdowns.
2. The Bears go 6-11 struggling on offense and having an average defense: If there is little progression in the play of Justin Fields with him having a completion percentage of 50-55 percent and throwing 15 plus picks, Regression of an aging defense, and injuries to more than 1 of the top 5 guys on offense and defense, poor play calling, or a non-productive offseason.
3. Bears go 10-7 and make a wild card appearance: depending on the future of Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, and the offseason of the Vikings, the Bears can win the division if they sign one or two of the top receivers available in free agency including Michael Gallap, Will Fuller, DJ Chark, or Odell Beckham, wide receivers in the draft like Jameson Williams, Treylon Burks, David Bell, or George Pickens, Draft a corner like Trent McDuffie from Washington, Kair Elam from Florida, or Andrew Booth from Clemson, and fill other defensive gaps. besides the players the Bears could sign in the offseason, 5 young guys really need to make the Jump. These players include Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom, Justin Fields, Cole Kemet, and Khyris Tonya.
4. Bears go 11-6, have a top 5 defense, and top 10-12 offense: If the new staff goes all out in the offseason and a few guys fall in the draft, the Bears could become a very solid team winning the division and possibly goes 7-1 or 8-0 inside the division. The division sucess depends on Rodgers leaving or retiring, Adams signing elsewhere, and the Vikings Struggling under a new staff. This also requires Justin Fields to go on a tear with 30+ touchdowns, 10 or less interceptions, Mooney becoming a top 10 receiver, Montgomery becoming a top 10 running back, Roquan Smith being top 3 in the defensive player of the year, and the rest of the veteran’s stopping regression. The offseason would also have to be a boom signing one of the top 5 free agents like Von Miller, Rob Gronkowski, Chandler Jones, Terron Armstead, or Chris Godwin, and 2 other guys inside the top 15 in terms of free agents.
So, for the Bears everything comes down how this new staff and front office can develop these young guys and recent draft picks, draft guys who fit well into the new roster and scheme who will buy in, and sign guys with potential to continue growing, no ego problems, while not overspending. besides the players, the entire organization needs to be changed from the McCaskey’s to the janitors or us as bears fans will see much of the same.
