No One Willing to See Winning Bears Season

Early projections based on the Bears schedule release, free agency and the draft say the Bears will fail to be a winning team, but will improve dramatically.

Go to any sports website analyzing NFL drafts and free agency and most have concluded the Bears did a solid job finding talent in the offseason.

They apparently weren't solid enough.

A scan of those sites projecting records for the Bears this season found none who think a repeat of last year's 3-14 record is in order. However, none wer willing to commit to a winning record, although several see the Bears finishing with eight wins as BearDigest has concluded.

Gilbert Manzano of Sports Illustrated praised Bears efforts at helping Justin Fields and talked about how both he and the offense and defense need to prove themselves before anyone could think they have improved enough to be in a division title chase.

As a result, he has predicted a 5-12 record which isn't much of an improvement. Then he ruins his analysis by saying, "The Bears have a tough schedule, but they have winnable games against the Cardinals, Buccaneers and Broncos."

The Bears actually have one of the easiest 10 schedules in the league according to opponents' winning percentage, get to start with two less powerful opponents and a couple of teams with QB questions. They end with three games against teams who wouldn't be on any list to win a thing this year, and in general have a very easy home schedule.

CBS' Will Brinson projects a bit better finish at 6-11 and comments: "The Bears getting in the mix for this division wouldn't be surprising at all."

He must think the division winner will be 9-8 or worse if he thinks the Bears are getting in the chase with a 6-11 record.

NFL.com's Cynthia Frelund, projected wins against the over/under mark of 7.5 and saw the Bears with 8.2 wins. What constitutes a fifth of a win isn't known, but 8.2 is about as good as anyone sees the Bears doing this year.

She likes their chances against Green Bay in the opener because of Jordan Love's inexperience.

"Like the Falcons, the Bears received a boost in their chances to win in Week 1 when we learned they'd be facing an untested QB (the Packers' Jordan Love)," she wrote.

Fox Sports' staff saw an 8-9 Bears record with Carmen Vitali noting the easier finish to their schedule

"Chicago will also get all four AFC West teams in the first half of the season, leaving room for a late-season turnaround and four to five winnable games following their Week 13 bye," she wrote

The33rdteam.com ranked the Bears in their fifth level of teams, among those with  wild card possibilities, right alongside the Vikings, Saints, Falcons, Steelers and Patriots.

"Justin Fields will be surrounded by a competent offensive line and a good receiving core for the first time in his three NFL seasons," Josh Larky wrote.

Howver, the article did not post a win total. Larky added: "The defense still needs work, but most of the holes have been patched. They look like one of the NFL’s most improved teams for 2023."

ESPN's Mike Clay projected over the 7.5 win total in a bettor's angle on win totals, saying 7.7. ESPN's Tyler Fulghum agreed on the over.

"This is my favorite team to bet in the division," Fulghum wrote. "I am very bullish on the Bears in 2023 and beyond. It starts with QB Justin Fields, who I think is a certified star in the making. GM Ryan Poles has done a very good job fortifying the talent around him on offense, so I think he takes a big leap this season in his development. The defense is still a work in progress, so I'm expecting this team to be involved in a lot of entertaining shootouts."

From the local end, the Tribune's Brad Biggs and Colleen Kane projected 8-9 while colleague Dan Wiederer said 7-10.

Wiederer, in his dissenting opinion, wrote: "A realist can spot the potholes while still seeing plenty of opportunity for a young and growing team to build belief toward a brighter future."

Bear Report's Usayd Koshul called it an 8-9 season and sees them in the playoff chase until late.

"I'm sure things won’t simply be as fluid as I make them seem in this projection but I do think we’ll end the 2023 regular season feeling extremely good about the future of this franchise," Koshul wrote.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven