The Chicago Bears’ 2024-25 season began with fans being optimistic about their teams’ opportunities for success. The team was coming off of holding the first overall pick in last April’s draft, even though they were not the worst team in the 23-24 season. The Bears used that pick to draft quarterback Caleb Williams from the University of Southern California. Furthermore, the Bears had parted ways with former quarterback Justin Fields, so Williams was an obvious choice. The Bears also possessed their own draft slot, the ninth pick, and took University of Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze. In the free agency period following the draft, they added running back D’Andre Swift as well as trading for wide receiver Keenan Allen. The new offensive weapons excited the fans, and the beginning of the season matched that excitement.
The Bears won their home opener against the Tennessee Titans after being down 17-0, but lost the next two games to the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, as the offense couldn’t produce enough yardage and gave up turnovers. The Bears then played the Los Angeles Rams and had one of their few wins against an impressive opponent. The Bears were able to capitalize off of a fumble when defensive end Montez Sweat rushed the backfield and punched the ball out of Matthew Stafford’s hand. In the third quarter, Williams threw a perfect ball to wide receiver DJ Moore, who was in tight coverage, for a touchdown. Williams did a great job of taking his time, looking at all his receivers, and picking his best option since most were covered. The Rams answered that score with a touchdown of their own, and the Bears answered right back. Swift hit a hole on that drive, and sped right through the defense for a 36 yard touchdown. The Bears held onto the lead and won 24-17, making them 2-2 and undefeated in home games.
The next week, the Bears took on the Carolina Panthers at home and destroyed them 36-10. The Bears defense put on a show by getting four sacks, two fumbles, and an interception. The offense could have performed better on third downs, but still found a way to put up 36 points. The next week the Bears once again defeated an easy opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, 35-16. Williams had four passing touchdowns and tight end Cole Kmet had two receiving touchdowns. The Bears entered the bye week with a 4-2 record, but the harder part of the schedule was yet to come. The NFC North division would be extremely tough this year.
Coming back from the bye, the Bears went to Washington to face the Commanders. The Bears had the lead at the end, but Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels threw a hail mary ball on the last play, which the Bears tipped up and back into the end zone, where it was caught for a Washington touchdown. Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson went viral because he was caught in a video taunting fans before the play. Stevenson was the one who tipped the ball to the offense in the final play. This play became a turning point for the Bears season. The next week, the Arizona Cardinals steamrolled Chicago, 29-9. The offense settled for three field goals and scored zero touchdowns. Williams was sacked six times for 45 total yards, once again highlighting the offensive line problem which the Bears have not been able to fix.
The next week was similar. The New England Patriots won 19-3. Williams was sacked for an insane nine times, losing 51 total yards. The Bears offense finished the day with 142 total yards, much worse than their production earlier in the season. Following the loss to New England, the Bears hosted their rival, the Green Bay Packers. The team played an extremely solid game, performing much better on third and fourth down than earlier in the season. They gave up only three sacks, while amassing 391 total yards. However, late game problems once again prevented them from taking the win. The Bears were down 20-19 while Williams led them on a game winning drive at the end of the game. Williams put the team in field goal range, however, the Packers rushed the middle gaps and blocked the kick, preserving their winning streak against Chicago.
The next game didn’t bring any comfort for Bears fans either. The Bears once again played a solid game, this time against their division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings, but came up short. The Bears finally displayed great late game management, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, tying the game back up with a touchdown, onside kick recovery, and field goal, all in the last minute. During the overtime period, Williams looked awful, and the entire offense performed terribly. They gave the ball right over to the Vikings, who drove down easily and scored a field goal to win. In the next game on the schedule, a Thanksgiving Day battle against the Detroit Lions, would continue a disappointing trend. The Lions dominated the first half, finding success with their offense and completely stumping the Bears offense. The Bears didn’t give up though, and bounced back with a much stronger second half. The Bears scored three touchdowns and came within a field goal of tying the game. The Bears were able to get the ball back with little time left, and Williams again confidently drove the team down the field. However, the Bears got into a short time situation, and Coach Matt Eberflus wanted Williams to run a quick play instead of calling a time out. So the Bears ran one more play, but accidentally ran out the remainder of the clock, once again ruining a chance to gain some ground in the division. The Bears management responded by firing Eberflus, and making interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown the interim head coach.
While this was a much needed change, Brown did not change enough to fix their record. Chicago got completely killed the next three weeks by the San Francisco 49ers, and the Vikings and Lions again. In those three games, the opposing teams averaged 419 total yards against the Bears. After this rough string of games, the Bears continued losing, this time to Seattle, 6-3. The Bears defense held strong, but Williams took seven sacks for 46 lost yards. They also performed poorly on third down again. Clearly, the Bears need to find a solution to their head coach problem and their offensive line problem.
In their final game of the season, the Bears played the Green Bay Packers. After an unbelievably disappointing season, the only way the Bears could find some value would be to end their losing streak to Green Bay. In the first quarter, the Bears pulled off an unbelievable trick play. Chicago returned a punt for a touchdown, by their entire team pretending that the punt went to the right, while cornerback Josh Blackwell actually tracked the ball, and returned it 94 yards. Since the Bears had little to lose, they were bold and decided to play it risky. Later in the first quarter, cornerback Jaylon Johnson punched the ball out, and the Bears offense was able to capitalize off of it. Jordan Love and the Packers offense were able to put together some solid drives throughout the half.The first half would end with the Bears up 14-13. In the second half, the Bears once again pulled a risky move and ran a double reverse play with a wide receiver pass. Wide receiver Keenan Allen got the second pitch and threw the ball for an interception to Packers safety Xavier McKinney. On the ensuing drive, the Bears ran a safety blitz, causing a turnover. Love ran the play action the opposite way, and did not see safety Kevin Byard sprinting toward him, and Byard forced the fumble from his huge hit. In the fourth quarter, the Bears ran a screen pass perfectly, with offensive tackle Darnell Wright throwing a great block for wide receiver DJ Moore, who ran the rest of the way to the endzone. The Packers responded by driving down the field for a touchdown, but missed the two-point conversion. The Bears gave the Packers the ball right back when Moore fumbled, and the Packers were able to get a field goal, taking a one point lead, with 54 seconds left on the clock. But the Bears were able to get into field goal range, thanks to a 18 yard pass to Moore. Kicker Cairo Santos was able to knock down the 51 yard field goal, concluding the Bears season on a high note.
The Chicago Bears have once again finished a disappointing rebuild year, and exit the season without a head coach. Coach Matt Eberflus was fired during the losing streak and interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown took over for him. The team was looking for a new coach, and interviewed people all over the NFL. However, many teams were also looking for a coach and competed with the Bears for the top prospects. With a promising quarterback who definitely needs some improvement, the Bears needed to land a coach who can handle a young offense. Options for the replacement included Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, and recently fired Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy. The Bears ended up choosing Ben Johnson from the Lions following the Lions season ending during the divisional round of the playoffs.
“I don’t really trust the management, but I think with lots of options, they can find somebody right. My favorite option is Ben Johnson,” junior Jackson Whalen commented, prior to their choice.
The Bears have contracts expiring from several offensive linemen and wide receiver Keenan Allen.
“The offensive line needs to go, maybe Tevin Jenkins can stay because he is young,” Whalen said.
The Bears can look for options from the draft, but should limit their youth so as to give the new coach some players with more experience.
“I think Keenan Allen is getting old so his production is slowing down, but he is a good locker room leadership guy, so they should resign him,” teacher and former football coach Daniel Smith said.
The Bears have 66 million dollars in cap space, so they definitely have room to resign several players or look at free agency. Caleb Williams had a difficult rookie season, getting sacked very often and giving up quite a few turnovers.
“I’m a little disappointed. I think there is a lot of potential, but he holds onto the ball for way too long,” Mr. Smith said.
In 2025, the Chicago Bears have the 10th, 39th, 41st, 72nd, and several later draft picks to use.
