So fellow Bears fans, are you optimistic or pessimistic for the season? Post your concerns

[playthrough2001]

I go into every year optimistic and end up disappointed. Nobody in this draft is a Day 1 game changer unless Loveland becomes what LaPorta was in his rookie year or at least close to it. While there is potential at WR3, I see him being mostly gimmick type plays (jet sweeps, WR screens) until he can learn to run routes better. I hope he doesn't have an attitude problem when he doesn't get the ball as much as he would like.

I am excited about seeing what the new coaching regime can do. I want to see what a real NFL offense looks like on the Bears. Of course, EVERYTHING falls on CW's shoulders. If he does not make a big jump, especially in his accuracy outside of 10 yards and getting rid of the ball quicker, we'll all be disappointed again.

My tempered enthusiasm has me thinking this is probably an 8 win team in '25 and they will be ready to compete for a playoff spot in '26 after another draft, FA period, and with having a year in the system under their belt.

Mr. Washington, I respect you as a poster but I’m pretty sure both Loveland and Burden can be day 1 game changers.

 

[Toast88]

Regarding the line, I feel like they have at least 5-6 good linemen on the team (depending on if you include Braxton Jones and include Bill Murray). You might have 7 with the new tackle. Bates will be okay in spots at backup if he's healed up.

The Bears o-line is made up mostly of oft-injured guys who haven’t proven themselves or appear to be on the down-end.

You feel more comfortable with that line than I do. Hope you’re right, my dude

 

[msadows]

We should have a top 10 offense so at least they will be fun to watch

Already took caleb 40/1 for MVP. Lets get it boys

 

[msadows]

Bears will go as far as caleb takes them.

If he's still overthrowing open guys downfield then we in trouble

 

[Aquineas]

You feel more comfortable with that line than I do. Hope you’re right, my dude

Yeah I'm drinking a little Kool-Aid with the line. I'm hoping Ricky Stromberg and Shemar Turner don't kill each other during training camp .

 

[Aquineas]

Bears will go as far as caleb takes them.

If he's still overthrowing open guys downfield then we in trouble

I'm more worried about him not hitting the intermediate guys on-time because he's big-game hunting.

 

[modo]

I think Williams was so gun shy because of the oline it affected his whole game.

Dude needs a little comfort back there. He had to scramble around almost immediately on many plays I think it was always in the back of his head.

Accuracy was never an issue for him previously.

 

[bears51/40]

Here is Burden's highlight reel from last year....

He is not just a gadget player. He makes some pretty tough catches and is a decent route runner.

I think they use him in certain situations because he can juke people out of their shoes.

I really like this pick for the Bears.

Burden...........YAC all day long.

 

[bears51/40]

Yeah I'm drinking a little Kool-Aid with the line. I'm hoping Ricky Stromberg and Shemar Turner don't kill each other during training camp .

I think these young trench players, Amegadjie, Trapilo, Stromberg, Turner can give the OL/DL can give the Bears quality depth.

 

[Xplosive]

Optimism on max.

Reasons:

- The HC said that his philosophy is similar to John Shoop which is to "Make the same things look different, and different things look the same"
I believe this offense will no longer be predictable and teams won't know who will be taking a handoff, who the ball will go to on 3rd down, or which TE/WR will move inside or outside. Thus defenses will be constantly under stress against the Bears

- The DC has consistently found creative ways to bring pressure and he knows exactly what kind of players that he needs to run his system. Anyone that takes the time to look at the players he has coached will find that what the Bears have now matches up very well to what Dennis Allen wants, so I have little concern about the DLine.

- There are now multiple levels of playmakers on this team, the loss of one, two, or even three starters will not mean that this team won't be able to find ways to compete and score points.

- The Oline has depth and flexibility. Braxton will return at some point and he is not horrible, all three free agents on the interior have played at a high level and that hasn't been the case in a long time. The Bears didn't neglect the OL and have plenty of young unproven players that could turn into gems.

- Finally, everyone knows that this team has underachieved the last two seasons. The talent level was better than what the end results were due to coaching. I see no reason to ignore that the defense in particular was already pretty good and hasn't lost any pieces that can't be replaced. The offense has been restocked and upgraded now as well so there is no reason not to be optimistic.


Concerns:

- Slow LB core
- Age and health at Safety
- The schedule looks like a nightmare on paper
- How long will it take for everything to gel


Bear Down.

 

[IBleedBearsBlood]

I’m always optimistic for the new season. And even if we suck, I still root for the Bears and watch the games.

1) New head coach. We gotta see if he’s better than the last one. I think he’s capable of being better than Eberflus. But can he be a decent head coach and play caller? We want this head coach to be able to compete against good teams. Not just show up and look like shit.

2) Looking forward to see if Caleb Williams can progress from last year.

3) Can the offensive line pass protect better? We lost 12 games last year. Week 2 by 6 points, week 3 by 5 points, week 8 by 3 points and a hail mary, week 11 by 1 point, week 12 by 3 points, week 13 by 3 points, Week 17 by 3 points.

7 games that we lost by 6 points or less that were winnable. This was with a very bad interior o-line that everyone here was talking about, and the same two tackles we have right now. The 3 interior guys were replaced with better players. That alone should give us more winning plays in a game, to have a better chance of winning those games. Even with the same tackles.

The line and Caleb gave up 68 sacks. That’s an average of 4 sacks a game. If we can cut those in half this year with better play from Caleb and better protection by the o-line, we gain at least an average of 2 more positive plays a game. Some games more or less because that’s just an average between 17 games.

4) We have even more better weapons than last year offensively. So we have that. Plus a better DT than last year on the defensive side.

Yeah I’m optimistic, even if everything is in disarray early in the season. But I just hope we can compete. That’s all I ask for. I don’t expect we win all games. Because the other team gets paid to win too. And we can’t have superstars at every position. But I want us to be able to go toe to toe with other teams. Just be competitive, that’s all.

 

[msadows]

Optimism on max.

Reasons:

- The HC said that his philosophy is similar to John Shoop which is to "Make the same things look different, and different things look the same"
I believe this offense will no longer be predictable and teams won't know who will be taking a handoff, who the ball will go to on 3rd down, or which TE/WR will move inside or outside. Thus defenses will be constantly under stress against the Bears

- The DC has consistently found creative ways to bring pressure and he knows exactly what kind of players that he needs to run his system. Anyone that takes the time to look at the players he has coached will find that what the Bears have now matches up very well to what Dennis Allen wants, so I have little concern about the DLine.

- There are now multiple levels of playmakers on this team, the loss of one, two, or even three starters will not mean that this team won't be able to find ways to compete and score points.

- The Oline has depth and flexibility. Braxton will return at some point and he is not horrible, all three free agents on the interior have played at a high level and that hasn't been the case in a long time. The Bears didn't neglect the OL and have plenty of young unproven players that could turn into gems.

- Finally, everyone knows that this team has underachieved the last two seasons. The talent level was better than what the end results were due to coaching. I see no reason to ignore that the defense in particular was already pretty good and hasn't lost any pieces that can't be replaced. The offense has been restocked and upgraded now as well so there is no reason not to be optimistic.


Concerns:

- Slow LB core
- Age and health at Safety
- The schedule looks like a nightmare on paper
- How long will it take for everything to gel


Bear Down.

Did you miss the UDFA level speedster they drafted in the 4th round?

He may not be able to play linebacker but at least he can win a race!

 

[msadows]

I’m always optimistic for the new season. And even if we suck, I still root for the Bears and watch the games.

1) New head coach. We gotta see if he’s better than the last one. I think he’s capable of being better than Eberflus. But can he be a decent head coach and play caller? We want this head coach to be able to compete against good teams. Not just show up and look like shit.

2) Looking forward to see if Caleb Williams can progress from last year.

3) Can the offensive line pass protect better? We lost 12 games last year. Week 2 by 6 points, week 3 by 5 points, week 8 by 3 points and a hail mary, week 11 by 1 point, week 12 by 3 points, week 13 by 3 points, Week 17 by 3 points.

7 games that we lost by 6 points or less that were winnable. This was with a very bad interior o-line that everyone here was talking about, and the same two tackles we have right now. The 3 interior guys were replaced with better players. That alone should give us more winning plays in a game, to have a better chance of winning those games. Even with the same tackles.

The line and Caleb gave up 68 sacks. That’s an average of 4 sacks a game. If we can cut those in half this year with better play from Caleb and better protection by the o-line, we gain at least an average of 2 more positive plays a game. Some games more or less because that’s just an average between 17 games.

4) We have even more better weapons than last year offensively. So we have that. Plus a better DT than last year on the defensive side.

Yeah I’m optimistic, even if everything is in disarray early in the season. But I just hope we can compete. That’s all I ask for. I don’t expect we win all games. Because the other team gets paid to win too. But I want us to be able to go toe to toe with them. That’s all.

We literally have the most stacked offense skill position wise in the entire NFL

If the oline is even average caleb has zero excuses not to be a pro bowl level QB this year.

 

[IBleedBearsBlood]

We literally have the most stacked offense skill position wise in the entire NFL

If the oline is even average caleb has zero excuses not to be a pro bowl level QB this year.

I don’t care if he has an excuse or not. Hopefully he can correct things in year 2 and play better with the rest of the team.. If he can’t and doesn’t pan out for us in the next 2 years, it is what it is. Obviously we want him to be the guy, but things play out like they play out, no matter what the outcome is.

If I had to guess if he can become a better QB than last year, I would guess, yes.

 

[Xplosive]

Did you miss the UDFA level speedster they drafted in the 4th round?

He may not be able to play linebacker but at least he can win a race!

He had 10 different personal visits with teams during the process, he wasn't going to be a UDFA. Considering the Bears drafted a punter in round 4, I think it's safe to say that Poles believes special teams players are worthy of being picked in the 4th round. I wouldn't have drafted Hyppolite there but as long as he makes the team and contributes to wins, I think its fine.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

I don't understand what Poles was doing. That guy that I saw play once against a bunch of guys who will be selling insurance or managing a Target played really well and Poles didn't draft him.

0-17.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Bears will go as far as caleb takes them.

If he's still overthrowing open guys downfield then we in trouble

This is the elephant in the room that no one is talking about

 

[bamainatlanta]

He had 10 different personal visits with teams during the process, he wasn't going to be a UDFA. Considering the Bears drafted a punter in round 4, I think it's safe to say that Poles believes special teams players are worthy of being picked in the 4th round. I wouldn't have drafted Hyppolite there but as long as he makes the team and contributes to wins, I think it’s fine.

I do love to see speed in the linebacking core

 

[policeman]

The good
Offensive line looks a lot better- on paper- but depth is still a question
Caleb has weapons
Play caller will be better than anything we've seen
Secondary is still really good

Concerns
Is there an impact player in the front 7 on defense?
Remains to be seen if they can consistently stop the run and rush the passer.
Young guys need to step up- Booker, Amagaje, Stevenson, etc. Need to make big strides if the team is gonna make a playoff run
Caleb is still an unknown..I'm optimistic about his future- but he's got a lot to prove

 

[GoDJtop10]

Optimistic. I expect the Bears to be in the postseason. At this moment, every single team in the NFL has a chance to make the playoffs. The Bears would have been in the playoffs two seasons ago, if not for Flus losing 3 games in the 4th quarter. Last season didn’t go well because our rookie quarterback was extremely inaccurate downfield and Flus was again terrible.