I always enjoy seeing how NFL fans vote whenever SB Nation’s Reacts features a question related to the Chicago Bears. It’s one thing to post a poll on Windy City Gridiron’s Feed section, since that’s filled with mostly Bears fans (and a few trolls), but it’s another thing when there’s a question posed on the Feed section of SB Nation’s main NFL page, because fans of all 32 teams chime in.
After the Week 1 games, they asked which team would have the best offense in 2o26, and look who was number one
by a wide margin—Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears.
That same question could change if you asked it after Week 2.
The Buffalo Bills just smacked the Detroit Lions around on Thursday Night Football, and the Bears face a tough defense on Sunday, when the Minnesota Vikings come to town.
The San Francisco 49ers, back from Australia, have the Miami Dolphins visiting, so the ‘Niners offense could pop off again.
The Baltimore Ravens host the New Orleans Saints, so Declan Doyle’s offense might put up some massive numbers too.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, in year two under Liam Coen, are expected to be among the league’s best offenses, but they head to Mile High Stadium to face the Denver Broncos.
But back to our Bears, even with a division foe looming, our fans are confident the franchise is on the right track.
Last week our confidence level was at 87%, so the historic road win gave us a boost to 94%
The win over the Carolina Panthers also moved the odds for the Bears to make the NFC playoffs. According to our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook, Chicago now has the sixth-best odds to make the NFC postseason at -144.
Caleb Williams’ MVP odds have also shot up, and he trails only Buffalo’s Josh Allen (+260) and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (+650). If you think Caleb can build on his strong Week 1 and make a serious push for MVP, FanDuel has those odds at +1000.
Head coach Ben Johnson has talked about their goal of being the highest-scoring offense in NFL history, and if the Bears are going to get back to the playoffs, they may need to win a bunch of shootouts this year, because Chicago’s defense was lit up in Week 1.
In our other Reacts poll question this week, over half our fans have at least a medium level of concern over Dennis Allen’s unit.
I think dickbutkus97 had some interesting perspective when he said, “I’m going to wait a while to let it unfold. This team actually has coaches who can develop players- and has outperformed our expectations in 100% of the seasons we have had with them so far. So, not panicking, as familiar as that is to the Bears fandom.”
The Bears face a backup quarterback on Sunday as Carson Wentz gets the nod for the Vikings. He’s a vet, but not nearly as mobile as Kyler Murray, so maybe the defense can harass him a bit.
The following week, they host the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, and last year the Bears bullied Philly while holding them to 15 points, 317 total yards, and 4 of 12 on third downs.
The New York Jets come to Chicago in Week 4, so the next three games offer a chance to see the Bears’ defense tighten things up.
