Most people keep their conversations to the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions when discussing the NFC North. Minnesota won the division last year. Detroit was one of the hottest teams in the NFL down the stretch. It feels like both will wrestle for the crown. Maybe Green Bay could sneak in if Jordan Love proves to be a semi-competent option at quarterback. Nobody is considering the Chicago Bears as a possibility. That isn’t a surprise. The team did just finish with the worst record in the league last season.
However, this is the NFL. Teams going from worst to first is hardly uncommon. Jacksonville did it last year. Cincinnati did it in 2021. There is no reason to think the Bears can’t, especially when they have a track record of doing it in the past. Some fans may forget this franchise has pulled off the feat three different times in the span of two decades. They did it in 2001, going from 5-11 to 13-3. They did it again in 2005, going from 5-11 to 11-5. Last but not least, they did it in 2018, going from 6-10 to 12-4.
One could make the case that this 2023 has better odds of accomplishing such a feat than those teams did.
The Chicago Bears seem to have more advantages this time around.
For one, the road to the division crown is much clearer. They were still dealing with Brett Favre in 2001 and 2005, then Aaron Rodgers in 2018. Jordan Love, Kirk Cousins, and Jared Goff aren’t exactly a daunting lineup of opponents. At the same time, their own QB situations weren’t great. Jim Miller, rookie Kyle Orton, and Mitch Trubisky. It isn’t a difficult case to make that Justin Fields might be the best of that bunch. He is certainly the most talented and appears to have a far better supporting cast than last season.
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The one sticking point is the defense. Those three previous versions of the Chicago Bears all had excellent defenses. Among the best in the NFL. The 2023 variation doesn’t feel ready to ascend that high. They are young, athletic, and far deeper than last season. Still, they have some troubling holes that haven’t been addressed yet. Namely, the lack of a top pass rusher. This means a worst-to-first scenario will require the offense to carry more of the load than in years past.
Given this organization’s history on that side of the ball, it feels like asking a lot. Then again, with a softer division and improving roster, there is no reason to think the Bears can’t make noise far sooner than expected.
