2025-26 NFL Thread

[Billy Hoyle]

Are you a ND fan? 

I'm not a fan either, but as long as it is the rules, defenses have to account for it. The fact that the Eagles always got away with offsides burned my ass more.

Hell no!

I just thought it was a joke that the D had Allen stopped, then four of his teammates came barreling in and pushed him an additional 9 yards. I'm a Lions fan and they'll do that with Gibbs or Monty and still support going back to the old rules where the offense couldn't push their own player forward.

[PointWarrior]

The crapty part last night is that the Packers would have gone into Seattle and beat them.

[Pakuni]

I may be proven completely wrong about this, but I think the Bears would have been way better off facing the Eagles. Their secondary vs Puka and Davante? Yeesh.

[Billy Hoyle]

it's a good thing the Eagles took last week off so they would get the three seed, eh?

[Dish]

The Rams having to travel cross country for the third time in four weeks (including twice previously on short weeks)? Yes, please.

[wadesworld]

Rams by 10. NFC West is good. NFC North goes to 1-5 in the last two postseasons, with the one win being two North teams playing each other.

[GB Warrior]

I may be proven completely wrong about this, but I think the Bears would have been way better off facing the Eagles. Their secondary vs Puka and Davante? Yeesh.

The Rams are the 5 seed which means the Bears would rather play them than the Eagles. Just math.

[jesmu84]

The Rams having to travel cross country for the third time in four weeks (including twice previously on short weeks)? Yes, please.

I think weather in the teens too

The defense is going to give up lots of yards. Accept that part now

[Dish]

I think weather in the teens too

The defense is going to give up lots of yards. Accept that part now

They're going to give up yards and points, the Rams are as good as any offense in the league.

They're also a different team on the road. I'll include the London game in this, but they are 4-3 when traveling cross country this year. They will have travelled over 10,000 air miles in the last five weeks. That ain't nothing.

Could the Bears get beat up? Sure, Stafford has played many games in the cold, Nacua will do what he does.

In the divisional round, you're going to play a good/great team. Game on Saturday night.

[WhiteTrash]

They're going to give up yards and points, the Rams are as good as any offense in the league.

They're also a different team on the road. I'll include the London game in this, but they are 4-3 when traveling cross country this year. They will have travelled over 10,000 air miles in the last five weeks. That ain't nothing.

Could the Bears get beat up? Sure, Stafford has played many games in the cold, Nacua will do what he does.

In the divisional round, you're going to play a good/great team. Game on Saturday night.

Agreed, none of the match ups would be "great", every team is great at this point. The Rams -4?

Honestly,  just happy to be here. It's all gravy and experience now.

[Dish]

NFL does Niners no favors having them play on Saturday next weekend.

[Pakuni]

Saturday:
Bills-Broncos
Seahawks-49ers

Sunday:
Bears-Rams
Pats-Texans/Steelers

Times TBD

[wadesworld]

Not sure why Bears fans are saying they're just happy to be here.  Of course if you lose Sunday it's still been a great season.  But you never know how many chances you'll get in the Playoffs.  They host the Bucs, Eagles, Jags, and Pats next year and go to the Bills, Panthers, and Seahawks.  Could very easily be the Commanders with a tougher schedule and not an insane record in one possession games next year.  They still play in the NFC North, but I'd personally say it's more likely they miss the Playoffs next year than have a home game in the Divisional round.

[JWags85]

Not sure why Bears fans are saying they're just happy to be here.  Of course if you lose Sunday it's still been a great season.  But you never know how many chances you'll get in the Playoffs.  They host the Bucs, Eagles, Jags, and Pats next year and go to the Bills, Panthers, and Seahawks.  Could very easily be the Commanders with a tougher schedule and not an insane record in one possession games next year.  They still play in the NFC North, but I'd personally say it's more likely they miss the Playoffs next year than have a home game in the Divisional round.

Cause the Bears are ahead of schedule and nobody expected to make the playoffs, much less pick up a win.  Nobody doesn't want to win, but there is a big difference in wanting to win and acting like the season is a waste/you missed a key year in your prime window like some teams do if they don't make the NFC/AFC Championship game.  They've surprised me and everybody else all year, so who knows, but I'm not thinking they are top 3 SB favs remaining at this point.  So you enjoy the ride and everything else is playing with house money this year.

Do I think its likely they are a top 2 team in the NFC next year?  Probably not.  But they will likely be adding defensive depth/firepower, and their offensive stars are mostly very young.  I don't need to get into specific details about why I think the Bears are different than the 2024 Commanders, but save a QB injury, I think its not unreasonable to see this as the window opening for the Bears (with a QB on a rookie deal) and not a fluke year that they can't replicate (the success, not the specific ways of winning).

[MU82]

The crapty part last night is that the Packers would have gone into Seattle and beat them.

[Dish]

The lazy narrative that will exist all offseason is that the Bears will be next year's Washington. (I'm not saying Wades is being lazy here, I'm saying it'll be beaten to death by a lot of people).

Washington's roster is the oldest in the league and they traded a fair amount of draft capital for three veterans (Latimore, Tunsil, Samuel). They have a QB that coming into the league had red flags for his physical frame and has missed a lot of time. Their skill players on offense relied so heavily on McLaurin, and when he is injured and out, they really lack weapons. On defense, the Commanders let some productive players leave in free agency and relied on guys like Wagner (who clearly doesn't have it anymore).

Fully expect the Bears turnover rate to change next season and they will have a ton of questions to address on defense. Offensively, their skill players depth is significantly better than Washington's. Loveland/Odunze/Burden/Monagai would all be upgrades to Washington.

Agreed there's zero guarantees for the Bears to make the playoffs next season. A couple of injuries, defense not getting upgraded, tougher schedule would/will cause issues.

[MU82]

The lazy narrative that will exist all offseason is that the Bears will be next year's Washington. (I'm not saying Wades is being lazy here, I'm saying it'll be beaten to death by a lot of people).

Washington's roster is the oldest in the league and they traded a fair amount of draft capital for three veterans (Latimore, Tunsil, Samuel). They have a QB that coming into the league had red flags for his physical frame and has missed a lot of time. Their skill players on offense relied so heavily on McLaurin, and when he is injured and out, they really lack weapons. On defense, the Commanders let some productive players leave in free agency and relied on guys like Wagner (who clearly doesn't have it anymore).

Fully expect the Bears turnover rate to change next season and they will have a ton of questions to address on defense. Offensively, their skill players depth is significantly better than Washington's. Loveland/Odunze/Burden/Monagai would all be upgrades to Washington.

Agreed there's zero guarantees for the Bears to make the playoffs next season. A couple of injuries, defense not getting upgraded, tougher schedule would/will cause issues.

As an outside observer, I agree with all of that. The main thing IMHO is if they can improve defensively because they obviously can't count on the turnover ball bouncing their way over and over and over again. You look at the top 5 defenses now and they are so superior to the Bears in their ability to dictate games, even if they don't cause turnovers.

If I were a Bears fan, I'd be delighted to be having this conversation even as my team is getting ready for the second round of the playoffs. My son is a huge Bears fan, and he is over the moon about this team.

[tower912]

The Bears have to play a first place schedule next season.  Detroit showed that can be the difference if you aren't playing your best every week.  Best point differential in the division, last place.
Chicago had the last place schedule.  I do not mean to diminish what they did.  Johnson showed he could coach, Williams showed he could play, and the Bears earned what they have achieved. They deserve their record. Kudos.  Enjoy.

Next season, a pissed off Detroit has the last place schedule.  I definitely expect them to bounce back. 

[Pakuni]

Things can change in a hurry in the NFL, even if you're a young team that appears set up for long-term success - remember when the Bengals were going to replace the Chiefs as the AFC's top dog and Arrowhead was Burrowhead? - but there's no use fretting about it now if you're a Bears fan.

[GB Warrior]

The lazy narrative that will exist all offseason is that the Bears will be next year's Washington. (I'm not saying Wades is being lazy here, I'm saying it'll be beaten to death by a lot of people).

Washington's roster is the oldest in the league and they traded a fair amount of draft capital for three veterans (Latimore, Tunsil, Samuel). They have a QB that coming into the league had red flags for his physical frame and has missed a lot of time. Their skill players on offense relied so heavily on McLaurin, and when he is injured and out, they really lack weapons. On defense, the Commanders let some productive players leave in free agency and relied on guys like Wagner (who clearly doesn't have it anymore).

Fully expect the Bears turnover rate to change next season and they will have a ton of questions to address on defense. Offensively, their skill players depth is significantly better than Washington's. Loveland/Odunze/Burden/Monagai would all be upgrades to Washington.

Agreed there's zero guarantees for the Bears to make the playoffs next season. A couple of injuries, defense not getting upgraded, tougher schedule would/will cause issues.

Fully expect the turnover luck to regress, but at some point the way Allen coaches, you make your own luck.

I am not sure how the defense could be any worse, so that's a great thing for that team.

Despite a lot of games missed, they also were pretty fortunate in terms of EPA lost to injury.

All of this is to say, who knows, but I'd feel really good if I were a Bears fan.

The only thing that really matters is whether Caleb makes down-to-down strides where he is still average.

[Dish]

For me, and I've been consistent on this, the two biggest things I needed to see this season for the Bears was the progression on Caleb at QB and Ben Johnson as HC. Caleb has far exceeded my own personal expectations for his progression (I say that as someone who had a lot of questions about him). This isn't me crowning him as a superstar, I think he still has plenty to work on.

I still have questions on Ben Johnson's in-game style and management. He was really poor on Saturday night and over the second half of the season, I found myself with more questions than answers on a lot of his decisions.

Now, even if both both guys progress next season, for the other reasons discussed, they can still easily miss the playoffs. I don't doubt that the NFC North will stay loaded.

[Billy Hoyle]

The Bears have to play a first place schedule next season.  Detroit showed that can be the difference if you aren't playing your best every week.  Best point differential in the division, last place.
Chicago had the last place schedule.  I do not mean to diminish what they did.  Johnson showed he could coach, Williams showed he could play, and the Bears earned what they have achieved. They deserve their record. Kudos.  Enjoy.

Next season, a pissed off Detroit has the last place schedule.  I definitely expect them to bounce back. 

Chicago's draft strategy of getting weapons for Williams really paid off. Loveland is already a beast, Burden and Odunze, combined with DJ Moore provide amazing targets for Williams.

[GB Warrior]

Chicago's draft strategy of getting weapons for Williams really paid off. Loveland is already a beast, Burden and Odunze, combined with DJ Moore provide amazing targets for Williams.

Offseason is at least 6 days away but I suspect DJ Moore is gone this offseason to reallocate assets. Plus he seems curmudgeony at times. Not to AJ Brown levels by any stretch. But if I'm the Bears, Rome and Burden + Loveland are enough.

[Pakuni]

Offseason is at least 6 days away but I suspect DJ Moore is gone this offseason to reallocate assets. Plus he seems curmudgeony at times. Not to AJ Brown levels by any stretch. But if I'm the Bears, Rome and Burden + Loveland are enough.

$35 million dead cap hit if they dump him before June 1 this year; $27 million post-June 1. That goes down to $8 million and $4 million in 2027.
So, unless Johnson really dislikes the guy, he's probably sticking around for another season.
 

[WhiteTrash]

$35 million dead cap hit if they dump him before June 1 this year; $27 million post-June 1. That goes down to $8 million and $4 million in 2027.
So, Johnson really dislikes the guy, he's probably sticking around for another season.
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that DJ would be traded for like a 4th or 5th round pick.