3 Lessons the Chicago Bears can learn from Super Bowl 59

The last time the Chicago Bears lifted the Lombardi Trophy, Michael Jordan had only recently claimed his NBA Rookie of the Year award. Decades have since passed, and not only have the Bears not won another Super Bowl, but they’ve also struggled to achieve any form of sustained success.

That can, and should, change in 2025. The Bears have seemingly knocked their most important coaching hires out of the park, but the job is not done. If the Bears want to get back to winning championshipsthey need to do more than try to poach some players who are already there. They must emulate the way these teams structure their entire rosters.

Here are three lessons that the Bears should learn from the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

1. Football is won and lost in the trenches

It’s as straightforward as that. Despite how much football has evolved since the T formation days, one thing still holds true: the best teams dominate the line of scrimmage. Take the Chiefs and the Eagles, the two teams vying for the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. Both have made substantial investments in their trenches, and those investments have paid off in a big way.

The Bears are halfway there. They have good offensive tackles and a couple of key pieces on the defensive line. But this offseason is the time to finish the job and build out the rest of the line.

2. Salary cap space doesn't win games

Through GM Ryan Poles' first three years on the job, frugality has been the watchword. While there's merit to his approach, it needs to change if he wants to win now. Both the Eagles and the Chiefs are in the bottom half of the league for 2025 salary cap space, and that's before the Chiefs will have to try to pay standout right guard Trey Smith.

If Poles wants to build the kind of dominant offensive and defensive lines that win championships, then he'll need to spend like the champions do this offseason.

3. The offense must flow through the quarterback's strengths

There's not a better quarterback on the planet right now than Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, which explains the immense passing volume in their offense. While the average number of pass attempts per game in the NFL this season was 25.6, Mahomes averaged over 36.

Then there's Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts. He averaged just 24 pass attempts per game in 2024, but the now infamous 'Tush Push' play has helped him rack up 42 rushing touchdowns over the past three years. It may not be as flashy as Kansas City, but their offense dominates nonetheless.

The lesson for Chicago? The offense must be tailored to the quarterback's strengths. Fortunately for Bears fans, head coach Ben Johnson has already vowed to do exactly that.

Caleb Williams — David Banks-Imagn Images

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