There are limited instances throughout modern Chicago Bears history in which the Monsters of the Midway have been among the most intriguing and potentially competitive teams in the NFL. You can count the occasions on one hand. 1985 and the handful of seasons afterward. 2006. 2018. Maybe 2010. And that’s it. But thanks to the brilliant work of general manager Ryan Poles, some Lovie Smith-inspired luck, David Tepper and the Carolina Panthers, and a potentially transformational rookie quarterback, here we are, just 18 months removed from the worst season in franchise history, and now the Bears could be classified as the talk of the NFL.
This all starts with the aforementioned potentially transformational rookie quarterback, the 1st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams. Without Williams, the hope for the Bears present and future is not nearly as bright. Never before have the Bears rostered a quarterback with as much promise as Williams comes to the NFL with, and because of that, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner will enter his rookie season as a substantial favorite to win the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Williams is presently the +135 favorite to win Rookie of the Year. 2nd overall pick Jayden Daniels (+550) and 4th overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. (+700) are the only two players with odds better than 10-to-1. Since the NFL/AFL merger, the only Chicago Bear to win Offensive Rookie of the Year was running back Anthony “A-Train” Thomas, who rushed for 1,183 yards and 7 touchdowns, both of which would turn out to be career highs, during the 2001 NFL season. Prior to the merger, tight end Mike Ditka, running back Ron Bull, and running back Gale Sayers all took home the award as well. I don’t think I need to say it, but no Bears rookie quarterbacks have come remotely close to winning this award.
The Bears rookie record for passing yards in a season belongs to Mitchell Trubisky, who threw for a depressing 2,193 yards in 12 starts in 2017. Caleb Williams, who is set to become the 14th rookie quarterback to start for the Chicago Bears, should be shooting for accolades much higher than that of Mitchell Trubisky’s rookie year. With the tremendous talent he possesses and the talent-stacked supporting cast that Ryan Poles has built around him, Williams could be in line to have one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a rookie quarterback.
The Bears single-season record for passing yards (3,838) and touchdowns (29) belong to Erik Kramer, who set each of those marks in 1995. Unsurprisingly, The Bears remain the only NFL franchise without a quarterback who has thrown for over 4,000 yards or 30 touchdowns in an NFL season. Whether Williams reaches those numbers in his first season in the NFL or sometime soon afterward, the widespread expectation is that the Bears will soon get that proverbial monkey off their back. And with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet and D’Andre Swift at his disposal, why not just get it over with this year?
The one stat that Bears fans will be most invested in this year is wins. No, this doesn’t fall solely on the shoulders of Caleb Williams, but if Williams is good right away, there’s a chance that the Bears could be Playoff bound come January. If Williams gets the Bears to ten wins, he’d be just the ninth rookie quarterback since 1950 to win double-digit games during his first NFL season, and that should be good enough to clinch a spot in the Playoffs, even if it’s not quite enough to overtake the Detroit Lions or the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.
Do the Bears have another Coach of the Year winner in Matt Eberflus?
Along with the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears are the only franchise in league history with five different men who have been named NFL Coach of the Year. This year, Matt Eberflus hopes to join George Halas (1963 and 1965), Mike Ditka (1985 and 1988), Dick Jauron (2001), Lovie Smith (2005), and Matt Nagy (2018) on that list. If Flus does becomes the sixth Bears head coach to win this award, it would represent one of the most improbable come-ups we’ve seen from an NFL head coach, because back in early October 2023, Eberflus’ seat was so hot that the Devil would’ve burned himself if he had sat on it.
Luckily for Bears fans, there could be just the tiniest glimmer of hope for the Matt Eberflus era. And no, it’s not Flus’ fresh new haircut and beard, though that was definitely a huge step in the right direction! Eberflus went 2-15 in his first year with the Bears, and then 7-10 last year. A five win jump is nothing to sneeze at, but what could be coming next is why Eberflus, at +900, is the current betting favorite to win Coach of the Year.
Fans in Chicago are hoping, praying, and attempting to will into existence a similar trajectory for Matt Eberflus as we once saw with Mike Ditka. Ditka was 3-6 in his first season with the Bears, and then 8-8 in year two. In year three, the Bears made a leap, finishing 10-6, making the postseason for the first time in five years and advancing all the way to the NFC Championship Game. Year four, the Bears finished 15-1, and shuffled their way to a commanding 46-10 win in Super Bowl XX over the New England Patriots.
Whether it’s history repeating or nothing more than wishful thinking, the eyes of the NFL are once again fixed on the Chicago Bears.