Bears Stat Disproves Common Claim About Chicago's Successful 2025 season

While the Chicago Bears were on their run to the playoffs in 2025, there was a narrative out there that they were not beating good teams, which had detractors calling Caleb Williams and Co. anything from lucky to downright frauds.

For those people pushing either one of those labels, there's now a stat that disproves both.

NFL researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno listed teams that had the best winning percentages against playoff squads last season and the Bears sported the fourth-best mark in the NFL.

Chicago's .600 win percentage (3-2) against playoff teams only fell short of the Seattle Seahawks (6-2, .750), Denver Broncos (4-2, .667) and Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3, .625).

Chicago's three wins came against the Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 12), Green Bay Packers (Week 16) and Philadelphia Eagles (Week 13), while their losses came versus the Packers (Week 14), and San Francisco 49ers (Week 17).

We should also point out that the Bears managed to beat Green Bay in the playoffs, also, and they nearly toppled the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round, falling just three points shy in overtime.

This just goes to show that the Bears didn't just have a calk walk through their 2025 schedule and beat legit teams (and two division winners) to get to a division title and No. 2 seed.

What does the schedule look like for 2026?

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold reacts during the Super Bowl LX parade. — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Looking ahead to 2026, the Bears will play home games against the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Packers, Tampa Bay Bucs, Eagles, Jaguars, New York Jets, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints.

On the road, the Bears will square off versus the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks.

That could be a very tough schedule, as the Packers, Eagles, Jags, Patriots, Bills, Panthers and Seahawks were all playoff teams last season and should be, at the very least, borderline postseason squads again in 2026.

Meanwhile, teams like Vikings, Lions, Bucs and Falcons also have a legit shot to be playoff teams and the Saints should be improved, assuming quarterback Tyler Shough continues his impressive showing from late last season.

Bears' history of taking a step back

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson looks on during warmups before an NFC Divisional Round game. — Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson. | David Banks-Imagn Images

It has become a tradition for the Bears to take a step back after a playoff season. Since 2006, the Bears have missed the playoffs following a campaign in which they made the postseason four times (2007, 2011, 2019, 2021).

If Chicago wants to show it isn't the same old Bears, the team needs to exorcise that demon and take a step forward.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson has the right message to avoid such a step back.

"It's been a long offseason in terms of you go downtown or you go somewhere and everyone's patting you on the back and telling you what a great, great job you did," Johnson said. "You don't want to hear it. You don't want to hear it anymore, alright... So our guys, we got to go back to work just like we did a year ago. It doesn't get any easier. It's going to continue to get harder."

Johnson also added that he and his coaches plan on being "hyper vigilant" to guard against complacency among players after Chicago's better-than-expected showing in 2025.

With the kind of schedule the Bears are looking at, that is going to be crucial to avoid the all-too-common downfall Chicago has fallen victim to following a postseason trip over the years.