Bears Predicted to Fall Short in Super Bowl Against Perennial AFC Favorite

Despite downing the powerhouse Rams in the NFC title game, the Chicago Bears can't finish the job in this latest prediction.

Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams calls the snap count against the Los Angeles Rams. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Chicago Bears fans everywhere will be left brokenhearted on Valentine's Day next year if the latest 2026 NFL season predictions come to fruition. The experts over at Sporting News assembled a season-long prediction project, from division standings to Super Bowl 61, and they picked the Chicago Bears to shock the world before coming up agonizingly short in their path to a second Super Bowl title.

According to Sporting News, the Bears win 14 games to claim their second straight NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. In the Divisional round, the Bears overcome the defending champs before stunning the powerhouse Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship. By any standard, this would already be a wild success for the Bears team, and yet they do not quite reach the mountain top. In Super Bowl 61, Sporting News picks the Bears to fall to the Buffalo Bills, 27-24.

"The Bills needed a little shake-up and offensive spark to get more out of their entire team in the playoffs," Vinnie Iyer writes for Sporting News. "They are overdue to get it all right with [Josh] Allen and will be determined and driven through the AFC playoffs. Buffalo has plenty of rushing attack and defense to get the job done, with [Caleb] Williams falling just short in his superstar third-year turn. The Bears will make it a classic in Los Angeles, representing the NFC well in place of the Rams."

How the Bears can make this Super Bowl prediction a reality

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson talks to QB Caleb Williams at practice. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

I can already feel the collective eyeroll from rival NFC North fans at the very idea of the Bears reaching the Super Bowl in 2026. I get it. As fun as their 2025 NFC North championship season was, the Bears still have a long way to go before we can start talking about 14-win seasons and Super Bowl appearances.

But this projected future is closer to reality than many may think. Caleb Williams' breakout season gave us flashes of the generational talent he was expected to be entering the 2024 NFL draft. If he takes the same kind of developmental step in Year 2 with Ben Johnson as he did in Year 1, he'll cement his status as a true superstar quarterback, potentially forcing his way into the Top 3 quarterbacks discussion.

The Bears' defense has some big issues, let's get that straight. But we saw in 2021 an elite quarterback in Joe Burrow lead a high-octane offense and drag a bottom-tier defense all the way to the Super Bowl, where they too fell one score short of history.

That's the kind of team I could see the Bears becoming in 2026. Even in spite of a bad defense, an improved, more consistent version of Caleb Williams should master Ben Johnson's offense and lead the top-scoring offense in the league, potentially breaking the 2013 Broncos' NFL scoring record, too.

What will hold the Bears back?

Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen speaks at Training Camp. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As aforementioned, the Bears defense is almost certainly going to be bad again in 2026. The pass rush is reliant on little more than hopes and dreams, and a worst-case injury scenario robbed the Bears of their biggest free agency acquisition until at least December. Can the Bears overcome it? It's certainly possible, but hardly likely.

Then there's the uncomfortable scenario that Bears fans don't want to think about. There is still a chance that Williams does not, in fact, take another step forward in his development. Should that be his fate for 2026, the Bears' offense will flounder, and the defense will be frequently overwhelmed. If Williams struggles, not only will the Bears fall short of their Super Bowl dreams, they may plummet all the way back down to last place in the division.

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