Why the Bears could take a step back despite Caleb Williams' breakout season and playoff run

Some teams seem to have a franchise identity.Maybe that’s because a coach has been there forever and he is a defensive- or offense-focused coach.

If you think of the Steelers, you probably think of defense.If you think of the Colts, it probably is more about offense.

With the Chicago Bears, they had relied on defense forever, but their offense was finally getting attention last year.Will it last this season?This was the Caleb Williams coming-out party.

He still made some dumb mistakes, but he also had some moments where he was absolutely fantastic.He can make all the special plays in the world, but there are times that it seems like he can’t make the simple ones.

You have to hope that can be taught because those magical ones can’t be taught.To start the season, the Bears suffered two straight losses and then ran off four wins.

The rest of the season, they went 7-4, losing to the Ravens, Packers, 49ers, and Lions.Only the Ravens loss was by more than one score.

In the postseason, they beat the Packers, which is basically winning the Super Bowl if you’re a Chicago fan.They had a miracle from Caleb Williams to keep the game alive against the Rams before they blew it in overtime to end the season.Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears throws a pass against the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, on Jan.

10, 2026.(Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)BEARS $40M FREE AGENT SIGNING GETS EMOTIONAL AFTER KNEE INJURY, BUT DIAGNOSIS BRINGS SIGH OF RELIEFThe team dropped DJ Moore off to the Bills and took home a couple of solid draft picks.

Moore never seemed to have a great rapport with Williams, so maybe it was the right thing to do.They tried to upgrade some of their secondary because their defense was actually really bad last year outside of creating turnovers.

They also had to replace their center, Drew Dalman, because he retired at just 27 years old.They drafted one and signed a free agent to protect them...