The Chicago Bears are 8-3. Eight wins, three losses. Every time I type it, I need to let it wash over me. Right now, reality is bliss.
It’s been a glorious three months for the Chicago Bears. They’ve won
8 of 9. Good, Better, Best is taking over the NFL, Caleb Williams continues to look more and more the part, and we, as Bears fans, can say Ben Johnson is our coach.
It’s been awesome, and the Bears certainly don’t need to apologize for their schedule, but we all have eyes. We can look at the schedule and see it. The Bears’ schedule is about to get serious.
You can certainly argue that over the Bears’ final 6 games, 5 of their toughest 7 games on the schedule are forthcoming.
The schedule certainly looks daunting, and there’s only one thing to say about that.
Bring. It. On.
Am I confident the Bears are going to keep beating teams? I am not.
Am I confident that the Bears are going to fade down the stretch? I am not.
I have no idea how the end of this season will play out. But here’s what I do know. It’s going to be stressful. It’s going to be tense. It’s going to be awesome.
The Bears made the playoffs in 2020, but there was no excitement driving that team. They didn’t feel like a playoff team, and they certainly didn’t perform like one against the Saints.
In 2018, we knew how good the defense was; there were a lot of soft teams to finish the last month or so of the season, other than the LA Rams.
How exciting is this finish?
They have three divisional games against two strong football teams, a solid San Francisco 49ers team, and the defending Super Bowl champions.
This is fun.
Don’t worry about it. Don’t stress about it. There’s no reason to freak out. The Bears might go 1-5. They might go 4-2. I don’t have a clue how this is going to finish, but I certainly know I’m going to enjoy it.
Do you know why we are all having so much fun?
I think many of you would say, “Because the Bears are 8-3, you dope.”
Of course, that plays into it, but that’s not it.
What do I think it is?
The Bears have the coach. The Bears have the quarterback.
That’s it.
The stress has been lifted.
Since Lovie Smith has been fired, think about the stress and uncertainty of this team. Is Marc Trestman the guy? Does John Fox still have it? Is Matt Nagy the next Andy Reid? Is the Flus loose? Will Jay Cutler become the guy? Will Mitch Trubisky prove he’s worth the number two pick? Did they finally get it right with Justin Fields?
Those answers: Hell no. Definitely not. No shot. God no. Didn’t happen. Not at all. Wrong once again.
For a dozen years, it was failure, after failure, after failure.
Sure, there was a glimmer of hope from time to time. Sure, there was 2018. But none of it was sustained. None of it felt like this.
The Bears are playing with house money. It doesn’t matter if they go 9-8 or 12-5; they have the coach, and they have the quarterback.
If the Bears were sitting at 6-5 right now, we may not be talking much about the playoffs right now, but we would still be having fun. Of course, not as much fun as we do with the Bears at 8-3 and in first place, but we would be having fun because the stress of the Bears doing the wrong thing has melted away.
This Friday, it’s Bears and Eagles, and it’s not going to be easy. Will the Bears lose 34-16? Maybe. Will the Bears win 23-20? Maybe.
I don’t have a clue how this game is going to play out. I’ve heard NFL experts say the Eagles are going to blow them out. I’ve heard NFL experts who think the Bears win this game outright.
Nobody knows what’s in store with this Chicago Bears team, but there is one thing we do know about how this season is going to finish: it’s going to be fun.
