Bear Digest

Why Chicago Bears offseason dynasty really has meaning this time

A look by NFC North reporters from ESPN determines why their third straight offseason of adding talent could actually result in success this time.
Gene Chamberlain|
Things look different at Halas Hall and it's not just because of all the talent they brought in for the third straight year.
Things look different at Halas Hall and it's not just because of all the talent they brought in for the third straight year. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It's been a paper dynasty.

The Bears' ability to win the offseason has been repeated over and over for three years but this time could be the one when it actually carries over to the playing field rather than paper.

At least this appears to be the conclusion of an ESPN roundtable of NFC North reporters. There is one major reason it truly is different this time.

The article, featuring Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, Vikings reporter Kevin Seifert, Lions reporter Eric Woodyard and Bears reporter Courtney Cronin cites an ESPN analytic indicating there is a 35% chance or better of each NFC North team making the playoffs.

The common denominator among those seeing Bears improvement wasn't in play the last two years when the Bears were said to have "won the offseason."

Three of the four reporters insisted the Bears won the offseason again, although Minnesota's Seifert said it was the Vikings. In that case, the Lombardi Trophy should simply be mailed to Minneapolis because if a 14-3 team wins the offseason then there's nothing left but 17-0.

The Bears definitely made more moves for more highly rated players than Minnesota, according to past production and analytics sites like Pro Football Focus.

"It has to be the Bears, but then again, it feels like they've won offseasons before and it hasn't meant much," Demovsky said.

The big difference this time over the previous two years is they were talking about all the players they added in those years. This time, they're talking about all the players they added plus the highly respected coach added. Ben Johnson makes all the difference.

"Chicago has added one of the league's most creative minds in Johnson," Woodyard wrote. "He knows his stuff, and players will respect that right away."

They already have. It's been one testimony after another throughout offseason player interviews at Halas Hall to Johnson's more thorough approach, especially with the way he relates to Caleb Williams.

"Johnson should be able to get the best out of Williams, as he did to help fuel the resurgence of Goff's career," Woodyard added.

Demovsky saw the Bears as winners but pointed out Johnson does more than elevate one team

"But not only did the Bears land the hottest coaching candidate on the market, they did so while weakening a division rival by stripping the Lions of their hot-shot offensive coordinator," he wrote.

It's a good point and the Lions have replaced him with John Morton, who failed in the past as an offensive coordinator.

Cronin got to the root of it all, as could be expected for someone embedded with the team. This time, Johnson's addition changes everything at the ground floor.

"The key to everything working in Chicago is rooted in a complete overhaul of philosophy and culture, which starts at the top," she wrote.

This isn't a rebuild but an overhaul, as she wrote. Instead of tearing everything apart like they did under Matt Eberflus, they rerouted under a new, competent driver instead of taking the same old path with a carload of talent amassed over the past three years.

Because of this, the Bears could easily turn this regular season into real success for the first time since they began claiming fictional offseason titles.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.