The offseason just began for the Chicago Bears after their heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Rams. While they collect themselves and prepare for an important spring, events are happening elsewhere. Based on early returns, many of them are tilting in the Bears’ favor without having to do anything. It starts with the Green Bay Packers, who just lost defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to the Miami Dolphins as their next head coach. Given how much trouble Hafley gave Ben Johnson in their three meetings this year, it feels like a big loss for that team up north.
Detroit also selected its next offensive coordinator after the John Morton experiment failed. Their choice? Drew Petzing. This caught many by surprise, considering his offenses were largely underwhelming in Arizona, ranking higher than 19th only once in three seasons.
San Francisco lost Robert Saleh to the head coaching job in Tennessee, once again leaving their defense in uncertain hands and hurting their standing in the NFC.
Last but certainly not least, the Minnesota Vikings still haven’t re-signed Brian Flores to a contract extension. If they fail, it could potentially cripple their defense at a time when they have no clear solutions at quarterback.
The Chicago Bears haven’t even started their improvement process.
They are in a strong position to give their roster another jolt this offseason once they clear some cap space. If GM Ryan Poles plays his cards right, this team could be ready to take a considerable step further than this year. If the division regresses or even stagnates a bit thanks to these setbacks, it makes the Bears’ path that much easier. Green Bay hasn’t yet replaced Hafley. They might be able to save their situation if they can land somebody credible. Flores is the big domino. His leaving makes Minnesota considerably less formidable than it’s been the past few seasons.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears coaching staff will remain largely intact. Ben Johnson is their offensive coordinator. Dennis Allen isn’t going to get any head coaching buzz. Their main brain trust will have time to continue implementing the schemes to help shape this team’s identity. Such continuity has been rare for the Bears in recent years. Having a loaded division certainly hasn’t helped. It seems they may finally be showing some weakness for once.
