How these Bears share a key connection with the 2006 Super Bowl squad

The 2025 Chicago Bears just accomplished something they haven't managed since the last time they went to a Super Bowl. Is another one on the way?

Nov 28, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet (85) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles with offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo (75) during the fourth quarter of the game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

If you’re a person who believes in good omens, you might be surprised to learn the Chicago Bears are racking them up lately.

First, the Bears pulled off a feat the franchise hadn’t seen since 1985—their only Super Bowl-winning season—when both D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai topped 100 yards in Friday’s beatdown of the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.

But they have even bigger fish to fry.

As of this moment, the Chicago Bears—yes, these Chicago Bears—hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC thanks to the Carolina Panthers knocking off the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Talk about a perfect end to a holiday weekend.

That’s not all, though. According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin and the Worldwide Leader’s research department, the Bears haven’t owned at least part of the NFC’s top seed since 2006. For those scoring at home, that was the last time the Bears reached the Super Bowl, going 13-3 on the season and beating the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints before losing to Indianapolis.

In each of the Bears’ last two winning seasons when they made the playoffs (2010, 2018) —not counting limping in at 8-8 in 2020—they won the NFC North but didn’t finish the conference’s best seed. In 2010, they finished second in the NFC to the 13-3 Atlanta Falcons and were third behind the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints in 2018.

While the Bears’ position atop the NFC might not last with five games yet to play, the significance of it shouldn’t be ignored. For one thing, it signifies how rapid their improvement has been under Ben Johnson and suggests even better is yet to come. It also points to the parity in the NFL, which is enjoying perhaps its most wide-open year in recent memory. Any team that makes the playoffs this year could realistically win the Super Bowl at this rate.

The fact that the Bears have stayed consistent enough to earn a 9-3 record speaks volumes about how far they’ve come since last season alone. And whether they stay the NFC’s top dog or not, they’ve put themselves on a playoff trajectory heading into December’s slate.

If nothing else, they completely control their own fate. If they can seize the moment, there’s no reason to think they couldn’t be playing in February.

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