The Chicago Bears face a difficult challenge in 2026. Can they repeat as division champions? It would mark the first time since 2005-2006 that it has happened. The problem is that the NFC North is much tougher these days than it was 20 years ago. Much of that has to do with every team being better at roster-building and especially the head coaches involved. Dan Campbell turned around Detroit. Matt LaFleur has been consistently successful in Green Bay. Ben Johnson arrived like a lightning bolt in Chicago. Then you have Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota.

At first glance, the man has been terrific for the Vikings. He’s led them to two seasons of 13 or more wins, has three winning seasons in four years, and has made the playoffs twice. One would think the man is in no danger of losing his job. However, circumstances have changed in the past several months. League insider Tyler Dunne of Go Long mentioned it. O’Connell has not won a playoff game, for one. Then there is Sam Darnold. O’Connell’s decision to let the eventual Super Bowl champion QB walk last spring caused a serious dent in the coach’s credibility. It has gotten to a point where 2026 is must-win territory.

Kevin O’Connell could lose his job if Minnesota falters.

This season will be defined by O’Connell and Murray fighting for their football lives.

KOC hasn’t won a playoff game in four years. Murray, the former No. 1 overall pick, was driven out of Arizona. Motivation can be a powerful thing. While O’Connell and Nolan Teasley both report to ownership, co-owner Mark Wilf was asked point blank who’s in charge. “Nolan is,” Wilf said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “He’s the general manager of the organization. He has final say on the roster, of the 53, but in the end, he’s going to lean heavily … on our head coach, obviously, and people like Rob Brzezinski in the building that have deep experience and skill sets that are complementary.”

All parties trumpeted the virtues of collaboration. The Vikings leaned heavily on O’Connell in choosing Teasley. The two have known each other for years through Seahawks GM John Schneider. Synergy seems real. But we’ve also seen countless GMs over the years seek their own head coach hire when the pressure cranks up. It’s fair to reason O’Connell needs to make the playoffs in 2026 and show hope for 2027 after the Darnold miscalculation.

There are certain decisions coaches don’t recover from.

Many of them center around quarterbacks. Jerry Glanville kept Brett Favre on the bench in Atlanta. Wade Phillips went with Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Kevin Stefanski signed off on trading Baker Mayfield. The coaches may survive for another couple of seasons, but they never really regain the magic they had. Darnold’s immediate success in Seattle right after winning 14 games in Minnesota was the worst possible outcome for O’Connell. He wanted everybody to think that the quarterback’s career resurgence was entirely thanks to his coaching.

All people had to do was trust him. J.J. McCarthy was his guy. He was a national championship winner. A competitor. Everything would be fine. McCarthy played 10 games, threw 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and battled injuries for the second straight season. Rather than stick things out, Kevin O’Connell pulled the emergency brake, pivoting to free agent Kyler Murray. Once again, he’s betting on his ability to turn around struggling quarterbacks. The desperation is pretty evident.

Chicago has a golden opportunity.

Despite the buzz around O’Connell, there is no denying he’s been a very good head coach in Minnesota. His offensive aptitude is obvious, and he’s shown he can win a lot of games when the personnel is right. Unfortunately, his ego appears to have gotten ahead of his ability. After the Darnold success, he started thinking he could make anybody a good quarterback. It has never worked that way in the NFL. Now the Bears have a chance to convince the Vikings to boot him out of town.

That can be done by beating them in the two games this coming season. Chicago almost did that last year. They beat the Vikings on the road and should’ve beaten them in the season opener if not for a late collapse. A season sweep would put Minnesota in a tough spot, increasing their need to win their four other divisional contests. That is hardly a gimme against Green Bay and Detroit. If O’Connell does get canned, it threatens to weaken one of the Bears’ biggest obstacles to sustained success.

Everybody knew there was a strong possibility the Chicago Bears would trade DJ Moore in the offseason. It wasn’t because they’d grown fed up with the veteran wide receiver. Far from it. They loved what he brought to the table. Unfortunately, the NFL is a business, and sometimes it forces you into tough decisions. Chicago was under a serious salary cap crunch. They needed to find ways to create space. One of the easiest was finding a suitor to take Moore’s large contract. Expectations were that they’d probably recoup a mid-round pick in any deal.

So you can imagine the shock when the Bears secured a 2nd round pick from the Buffalo Bills. The trade was met with immediate criticism from several national pundits, calling it a massive overpay. Moore’s recent dip in production didn’t warrant such an offer. It reeked of bad football decision-making on Buffalo’s part. That begged the question. Why were they so desperate to get him? An answer to that finally surfaced via Tyler Dunne of Go Long. It stems from the team’s eagerness to not just find a good receiver, but a good receiver who can get it done in big moments.

DJ Moore has shown he can deliver in the clutch.

When a playoff game is on the line, Brady and Allen need to know they’ve got a true weapon who’ll cook a defender 1 on 1. Here’s thinking Moore still has juice to win that matchup. I’ve gotten to know one coach who worked with him daily. He describes Moore as an unconventional receiver who’s a perfect fit for an unconventional QB like Allen. Some players shrink under pressure, like Diggs in KC. Others rise up. “To me, he’s that guy,” this longtime assistant said. “He’s got the ability to make the plays. When the moment is the biggest? He’s going to make a play.” Expect Moore to see a healthy number of targets and excel in a No. 1 role. The decrease in production last season had nothing to do with him.

The 2025 season was a perfect showcase for that.

Buffalo has been haunted for years by wide receivers who came up short in big spots. It started with Stefon Diggs’ brutal drop against Cincinnati in the 2023 playoffs. Then you had Brandin Cooks getting outmuscled for the ball in overtime against Denver last year, right as the Bills were driving towards the winning score. Wide receiver shortcomings had cost the team at least one shot at a Super Bowl. They know Josh Allen’s window won’t stay open forever. In the absence of a true superstar, they needed somebody who wouldn’t shrink in big spots.

Last season showcased why DJ Moore was a quality option in that regard. It felt like every time the Bears needed a big play, he was the one making it. There was his touchdown catch to regain the lead against Pittsburgh, followed by a big 20-yard connection that helped set up the game-sealing score. Then there was the iconic 46-yard touchdown in overtime to beat Green Bay in December, putting the Bears in sole possession of the division lead. However, the one that probably caught Buffalo’s attention the most was his game-winner against the Packers in the wild card round.

Everything else lined up pretty easily from there.

DJ Moore already knew Bills head coach Joe Brady. They’d worked together for a couple of seasons in Carolina, during which the receiver had his most productive year in 2020. Then there was the quarterback. Josh Allen plays a freelance style of football that makes him difficult to defend, but also difficult to receive for. Teammates must always be ready to work themselves open when the quarterback scrambles. Moore has tons of experience with this after two seasons playing with Caleb Williams.

With all the details out in the open, it makes more sense why Buffalo felt comfortable giving up what they did. Yes, Moore wasn’t producing at a superstar level. That didn’t mean he wasn’t having an impact. The Bears don’t make the playoffs or win a playoff game without the enormous catches he made in big spots. Buffalo doesn’t need somebody ready to put up 1400 yards and 15 touchdowns. They need somebody who can get the key first down or touchdown in the final two minutes of a postseason contest.

As the training camp season draws closer, the NFL media sphere is getting its details in order. Among the projects is collecting information from the top evaluators and coaches in the league with one question. Who is the best? ESPN began this survey at the running back position, hoping to see which names reigned atop the league. The big winner this year is Bijan Robinson. Atlanta’s former 1st round pick was stellar in 2025, carrying the offense on his back as the team dealt with quarterback issues. He was trailed by Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, and Jonathan Taylor to round out the top five. If you want to be impressed with Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears fans will note who wasn’t on the list.

Either of the team’s running backs.

D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai were blanked from any consideration. Neither even got an honorable mention for last season. That is somewhat shocking since they combined for over 1900 yards. If anything ever helped illustrate how insanely good Johnson is at crafting a run game, it is this. The Bears were 3rd overall in rushing last season. The two teams ahead of them, Buffalo and Baltimore, had James Cook and Derrick Henry, respectively. Both ranked in ESPN’s top 10.

Ben Johnson is a rare breed.

Most great rushing attacks can’t happen without the presence of a Pro Bowl-caliber running back. However, there are a select few instances where the coach and scheme are so good that they can produce with players who are good, not great. Johnson has already proven it a couple of times. The first was in 2022 with Jamaal Williams, and then last year with Swift and Monangai. His scheme is so diverse and well-crafted that it’s easy for almost anybody to play in it. They just need good vision and some burst to hit the holes.

Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay are the two others who come to mind in that regard. They can manufacture a strong running game with players most would consider spare parts. It serves as a reminder that good coaches know how to get the most from the pieces they have. Ben Johnson certainly didn’t feel the need to make changes after last season. He chose to run it back (pun intended) with Swift and Monangai again. Yet one can’t help but wonder if a day will come when he finally gets that backfield stud

Every great run game coach eventually does.

Mike Shanahan ended up with Terrell Davis in the 1990s. His son has Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco. McVay had Todd Gurley for a number of years in Los Angeles. Joe Gibbs inherited John Riggins in Washington. It feels like that moment will come sooner or later for Johnson. Truth be told, the Bears are overdue to find that next true franchise running back. While they’ve fielded several good players in the past decade, none of them have quite measured up to the likes of Matt Forte, Neal Anderson, and, of course, Walter Payton.

Try to imagine what those three players would’ve done in Johnson’s scheme. It would’ve been unfair. You can bet that same thought is in the back of the Bears’ minds as this tenure unfolds. The opportunity hasn’t materialized yet. Their best chances in 2025 were undone by bad luck. This year, they were undercut by unexpected voids opening up elsewhere on the roster. Make no mistake, though. Within the next couple of years, a top running back talent will fall into their crosshairs. The NFL had better pray they don’t pull the trigger.

Why was the pass rush so bad for the Chicago Bears last season? Part of it was injury issues. Austin Booker, who was having a terrific summer, messed up his knee and missed almost half the season. Grady Jarrett, their interior pass rush option from free agency, also suffered a knee injury that slowed him. Dayo Odeyingbo, the other prized free agent addition, was almost invisible for eight games and then tore his Achilles. Montez Sweat was their only productive player with 10 sacks, but even he was part of a bigger problem that people didn’t seem to notice.

It’s also a problem that the Bears didn’t really address this offseason. Defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett mentioned it earlier this year when asked how the group needed to improve. It was about get-off. This referenced how fast a defensive lineman gets out of his stance after the ball is snapped. The faster the get-off, the greater the odds of getting pressure. Cleveland, led by all-time single-season sack leader Myles Garrett, led the NFL with an average get-off rate of 0.80 seconds.

Chicago? They were dead last in the NFL at 0.93 seconds.

The Chicago Bears have not done enough to fix this problem.

Their weird obsession with more size and length has come at the sacrifice of speed and burst. Such an approach comes with consequences. The last thing you should give opposing quarterbacks is extra time to throw, even if it’s just seven-tenths of a second. The numbers don’t lie. Since Next Gen Stats became available in 2018, no Super Bowl champion defense has had a get-off rate of 0.90 or higher. Most hovered between 0.85 and 0.88. It was no surprise that so many quarterbacks had big games against them.

What is frustrating about this is that the Bears did nothing to address the problem. They’re running it back with almost the exact same starting lineup as last season, with Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Grady Jarrett, and Gervon Dexter. Worst still, Dayo Odeyingbo, who wasn’t that fast off the snap, is now returning from a torn Achilles. There is nothing to suggest this group will be any better this season.

What’s worse is the coaches aren’t fixing it.

At least it doesn’t appear that way to prominent former players. Gerald McCoy called down defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett for the drills he was running in practice, insisting he was taking away their aggressiveness. It raises serious questions about whether defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and his staff have any solutions to the problem. We already saw last year that he can’t mask it against teams with better quarterbacks. Either he needs somebody to step up, or it will be a repeat of last year.

Regardless of the outcome, the Chicago Bears really need to do some self-scouting about how they evaluate pass rushers moving forward. Every major move to this point has been focused primarily on size and length. Get-off wasn’t high on the priority list with most of the names they drafted or signed as free agents. Somebody needs to intervene with general manager Ryan Poles, or the problem will never get fixed.

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson lived up to all the hype last season. He took a 5-12 team, whipped them into shape, and led them to an 11-6 record with a division title. It was one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in franchise history. He did this through strict discipline, intensity, and an unerring genius for offensive football. Almost everybody agrees that Johnson is already one of the two or three best offensive play-callers in the sport. He proved it again by taking a Bears team to its first top-10 finish since 2013.

Optimism is sky high. There are whispers of competing for a Super Bowl. However, for all of Johnson’s brilliance, he is still faced with a problem that doesn’t appear solved. His defense finished 29th in the league last season. They had one of the worst pass rushes in football and weren’t much better against the run. Their only significant additions to the roster this offseason were free agent safety Coby Bryant and 1st round safety Dillon Thieneman. While both are highly skilled players, it’s hard to imagine them making a significant difference to the original problems. The 2026 season may require leaning on Johnson’s offense again.

This cannot be something the head coach gets complacent with.

Ben Johnson risks falling into the same trap Don Coryell did.

For those who somehow don’t know, Coryell is a Hall of Fame head coach. He made his name during the 1970s and 1980s with the then-St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers. His teams made the playoffs six times, including two AFC Championship game appearances. Most of this success came thanks to some of the best offenses of that era. In 14 seasons on the sideline, Coryell produced 12 offenses ranked in the top 10, and five were #1 overall. He was the true wunderkind of that period. Many elements of his system are still used today.

Sadly, he had an Achilles heel. Coryell couldn’t build a defense to save his life. In his career, the head coach had a defense rank in the top 10 just twice, and only three cracked the top 16. Otherwise, it was a parade of awful. It wasn’t due to staff issues. Jackie Simpson, Jack Pardee, and Tom Bass were all successful coordinators during their careers. The problem went straight to the foundation. Coryell was terrible at building a defensive roster. Not only did he have a bad eye for actual talent, but he also coupled it with not investing high draft choices. A 1st round pick wasn’t spent on the Chargers’ defense until Coryell’s sixth year with the team, and it was a linebacker and defensive back. No lineman was taken until 1986, his last season.

Johnson already shows similar tendencies.

Of the six picks in the 1st and 2nd rounds through his first two drafts with the Bears, only two were spent on defenders. Defensive lineman Shemar Turner tore his ACL as a rookie, and the other is 1st round pick Dillon Thieneman, a safety. It is a small sample size. One can’t say Ben Johnson is making all of the mistakes Coryell did, but it’s hard to ignore the warning signs. A heavy favoritism towards the offense. Not committing more resources to the defensive line, and not having a great eye for it when he does.

Nobody can ever argue that Johnson is ignorant. He understands that offense alone doesn’t win championships. It is more that he’s so confident in his own abilities and that of his players that he subconsciously doesn’t have the same sense of urgency on that side of the ball. Then, before he realizes it, ten seasons will have passed with multiple playoff trips, no Super Bowls, and several disappointing defenses. If the Bears underachieve again this season, how Johnson reacts in the 2027 offseason will set the tone for his entire coaching tenure.