Bears are getting Super Bowl hype they haven't earned yet

The Chicago Bears' offseason hype knows no bounds. After an electric first season under head coach Ben Johnson, analysts are ready to crown the Bears the NFL's next dynasty.

Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated has hopped onto the bandwagon. He included Chicago in his recent list of 14 NFL teams realistically capable of winning the Super Bowl this season. The Bears' volatile 2025 campaign doesn't have him concerned in the slightest.

Orr said, "I still think Johnson is one of the league’s elite play-callers, who will be setting the pace for what is schematically possible this season. Because of that, sometimes one-score wins represent less of a fluke and more of a fact that Johnson is simply calling better plays in bigger moments than other offensive play-callers."

Chicago's Super Bowl window is coming, but it's a bit premature to say it's already arrived.

Bears are already getting vaulted into Super Bowl contender status

It's possible that the Bears' magical run continues all the way through the 2026 season. The NFL is less predictable than we like to believe. As Orr himself points out, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the New England Patriots made his list of contenders last year.

But the Bears still have some work to do before they cement their status as perennial contenders. Ben Johnson's team went 5-1 in one-score games and made seven fourth-quarter comebacks, the most by an NFL team since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger.

Typically, winning by such fine margins isn't sustainable. Look at the 2023 Minnesota Vikings, who dropped to 7-10 after winning 12 one-score games in the previous year.

All signs point to long-term success for Chicago. Johnson has solidified himself as one of the best offensive play-callers in football, and Caleb Williams appears ready to take a significant step forward, buoyed by the young skill talent surrounding him.

But this team isn't complete yet. The defense still has major question marks after relying heavily on forcing turnovers last season. The departures of Kevin Byard and Nahshon Wright, two of the team's top takeaway creators, should lead to some natural regression. The offense could easily be a top-five unit, but the defense could just as easily land in the bottom five.

Read more: Logan Jones draws all-too-familiar comparison to ex-Bears Pro Bowler

The Bears have a chance to pull off an incredible run in 2026, but it's okay if they don't. This era of Chicago football is still young enough that we don't need to rush Super Bowl contention.

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This article was originally published on beargoggleson.com as Bears are getting Super Bowl hype they haven't earned yet.