The Chicago Bears’ 2025 season gave them plenty to feel good about. They finished 11-6, stood atop the NFC North, and did it with an offense that finally looked like it had a real identity under Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.
Johnson’s impact showed up fast. Chicago’s scoring output climbed into the top 10, and Williams looked far more efficient than he had before. The sacks came down, the operation got cleaner, and while his completion percentage slipped, there’s still a clear path for him to push that number above 60 percent and, ideally, closer to 65 percent or higher.
That’s the kind of progress the Bears want to build on in 2026. Even with that momentum, there are still some issues hanging over the roster.
The loss of safety Coby Bryant hit the defense hard at exactly the wrong time. But on Tuesday, Chicago caught a break from a division rival that keeps making life harder on itself.
The Minnesota Vikings announced veteran Kyler Murray as their starting quarterback, a move that could effectively shut the door on J.J. McCarthy’s chances to break through with the team.
ESPN sources: the Vikings have named Kyler Murray their starting QB. pic.twitter.com/VBE4azfGoF
- Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2026
Murray is the better quarterback right now, but the decision says a lot about where Minnesota is headed. McCarthy is only 23, and while he has played just 10 games across two seasons, he did go 6-4 as a starter last year and had stretches where he looked solid. He also missed a significant amount of development time after his season-ending injury in 2024.
That’s why the move feels so restrictive. If the Vikings were thinking more long term, McCarthy would have been the cleaner path. Instead, their apparent win-now approach has all but closed off the chance for him to work through 2026 and see whether he can become the quarterback they hoped for.
There’s still a case that McCarthy has the higher ceiling. More reps would help him grow into that upside, while Murray looks more like a finished product. He’s not a bad quarterback, but his career profile suggests a ceiling around top-16 at the position, which is where he’s largely lived.
If this Vikings regime were still in its first or second year, McCarthy might have had a stronger argument to start. But with pressure to deliver now, Minnesota clearly chose the veteran.
For Chicago, that’s the kind of division move that matters. The Bears already have one of the league’s better quarterback setups with Williams, who remains on his rookie deal for a while longer. Their Super Bowl window has opened over the past two seasons, and the Vikings still can’t say the same.
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Johnson has been clear that the next step is less about learning calls than about playing through the inevitable rough patches together. For a team trying to settle its offensive and defensive identities at the same time, the issue is whether the Bears can function smoothly when a drive goes off track or a defensive snap breaks down. That kind of cohesion usually shows up only after reps, and it can become the difference between a team that looks organized in camp and one that actually holds up once the games count. [Read more 🡒]