Bear Digest

Four Big Takeaways From Bears' Wins and Snubs at 2026 NFL Honors

The Chicago Bears' presence at the NFL Honors was a prelude of better things to come.
Pete Martuneac|
David Banks-Imagn Images

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The NFL held its 2025 Honors program on Thursday night to hand out the 2025 season awards, and it was a night to remember for the Chicago Bears. Joe Thuney took the first NFL Protector of the Year award, recognizing the best offensive lineman of the year, and the Bears' comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 16 was named the NFL's Top 2025 moment.

As great as these wins were, there were also a couple of snubs. Rookie Colston Loveland wasn't even a finalist for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, an egregious oversight, and Ben Johnson suffered an unbelievable slap in the face when the voting for Coach of the Year was revealed. What else should Bears fans know about the NFL Honors ceremony? Here are four takeaways for Bears fans.

1. The Joe Thuney trade was arguably Ryan Poles' best trade yet

With Joe Thuney winning the NFL's inaugural Protector of the Year award, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles should have a statue built for him outside the new stadium, whenever (and wherever) that is constructed. Poles acquired the five-time All-Pro and the first Protector of the Year in a huge trade last offseason, and it only cost the Bears a fourth-round pick. If Howie Roseman made that deal, people would have thrown him a parade.

I would even go so far as to say it's Poles' best trade yet. Some would say that his deal with the Carolina Panthers that netted Chicago DJ Moore, Caleb Williams, and more was his best trade, and they have a good point. But that was an easy move to pull off. Poles had the first-overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft; all he had to do was listen to offers. But this deal for Thuney showed Poles' true potential as a GM.

Thuney's award is one more piece of proof of what I've been saying all year: despite a rough start to his career with the Bears, Poles deserves a lot of credit for what this team has become under his watch.

2. The Bears winning "Moment of the Year" is a full-circle moment for this franchise

First of all, it's a bit disrespectful to call Caleb Williams' walk-off touchdown pass to DJ Moore to beat the Packers in Week 16 a 'Hail Mary'. A Hail Mary is a desperate heave into a crowd of bodies. Williams threw an absolute laser, however, and Moore came down with a tough catch against perfect coverage. Second, this should serve as a moment of closure for the Bears. Just one year ago, the 2024 NFL Honors Moment of the Year went to Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders for his Hail Mary (a true Hail Mary) throw to beat the Bears.

What a difference a year makes. Daniels and the Commanders have fallen far from glory after a disastrous 5-12 season. At the same time, Williams led the Bears to the NFC North division title and came within one completed pass of reaching the NFC Championship game. This stunning reversal of fortunes just shows how important the Bears' hiring of Ben Johnson was.

3. Ben Johnson will be back in 2026 with a vengeance

I'm not here to say that Ben Johnson should have won the 2025 NFL AP Coach of the Year award. Mike Vrabel is a fantastic head coach, and he deserves this honor. But for Ben Johnson to receive just one vote is truly befuddling. Johnson took the lovable losers of the NFL, arguably the most snakebitten franchise in the league, and in one season turned them into legitimate title contenders.

Adding insult to injury, Jacksonville's Liam Coen received 16 votes for Coach of the Year. Coen is also a great head coach and had a fantastic debut, but there's absolutely no chance he was worth 15 more votes than Johnson.

If we've learned one thing about Ben Johnson this year, it's that he won't take this insulting snub lying down. Expect him to come out swinging in 2026 now that he's got something to prove.

4. This was the last time for a long time that Caleb Williams won't be an MVP finalist

Matthew Stafford fully deserved his MVP award, and he should be especially grateful that he won this year because he's going to have an extremely difficult time getting back to this point going forward. I'm not saying his abilities are about to drop off a cliff. Rather, there's a budding young superstar in the NFC, and his name is Caleb Williams.

Caleb Williams' breakout season in 2025 fell short of MVP considerations, but that was merely a shot across the bow. In 2026, Williams will be back with a full broadside, and NFL defenses are not ready for what that will look like. Remember, this was just Year 1 with Ben Johnson as his playcaller. That 2025 version of Caleb Williams that gave us some of the greatest moments in Bears' history was the worst that he's going to be in this league going forward.

Expect Williams to be an annual feature on that NFL Honors stage when they introduce the MVP finalists starting next year.

Caleb William
David Banks-Imagn Images

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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