Ex-NFL Player Makes Playoff Case for Chicago Bears

Can Caleb Williams Lead All-Star Offense Through Best Division in Football into the NFL Playoffs?

The Chicago Bears haven’t made the playoffs since falling in the Wild Card Round in 2020.

But, the vibes in the Windy City are more optimistic than ever thanks to the arrival of No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams at quarterback and a cavalry of explosiveness surrounding him.

General manager Ryan Poles and the Bears front office have built arguably the softest landing in league history for a quarterback chosen with the top pick.

Thanks to All-Pro wide receiver Keenan Allen arriving via a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers one year after plucking Pro Bowl wide receiver D.J. Moore in a deal with the Carolina Panthers, and drafting potential superstar wide receiver Rome Odunze with the No. 9 overall pick in this years draft to pair alongside Williams behind a burgeoning offensive line, there’s a belief that the grey skies of mediocre football will give way this season to a bright future, beginning now for the Bears.

One former player believes that the Bears have the pieces in place to make a charge for the NFC Wild Card and break the postseason drought, in Williams’ rookie season.

“The reason people are saying Caleb can have a C.J. Stroud-type season, is what’s around him,” former NFL tight end Clay Harbor said, during an appearance on the Between The Hashmarks Podcast. “If this is what Justin Fields had last year, I don’t think anyone would be saying that. But, I’m looking at D.J. Moore having 1,300 yards last year, Keenan Allen had 1,300 yards in 13 games, then you’ve got Rome Odunze, who was one of the top incoming wide receivers and a top-10 draft pick.

“Cole Kmet is a really good tight end, Gerald Everett is a really good tight end, D’Andre Swift and Khalil Herbert and Roshawn Johnson give you a solid running game, and then the offensive line has gotten better. Darnell Wright, the first-round pick last year is coming into his second season, they signed a new center, Coleman Shelton and Ryan Bates, not great, but they’re average at least. Nate Davis and Tevin Jenkins, and the left side with Braxton Jones.”

There is little question that if the Bears can develop cohesion along the offensive line, and Williams’ combination of sound decision-making from the pocket and the athleticism to make plays when things start to collapse around him all take root immediately that the talent at the offensive skill positions can compete with anyone in the NFC.

“The reason they have a chance is because of the talent around [Caleb.]” an AFC Scouting Director told me recently. “Very few GMs build around rookies with veteran players and the Bears have done that.”

Chicago is looking to and hoping that the additions along the offensive line, as well as Allen, Odunze, and Swift joining Williams’ supporting cast that the offense will vault up the rankings from finishing 18th in scoring offense while averaging just 21.2 points per game last season.

The biggest addition for Williams, though, might be new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron making his way to Chicago after helping architect a Geno Smith career renaissance in Seattle.

“Shane Waldron had a lot of success with Geno Smith,” Harbor explains. “In 2022, with Geno Smith, he helped revive his career when Geno had that 70 percent completion percentage that led the NFL and made it to the Pro Bowl, that’s why people are excited and why they think Caleb can have that C.J. [Stroud] type year.

“That’s why I think it’s possible to have something similar, even though I don’t want to put it on him. But, C.J. had Tank Dell, a third-round pick who nobody knew how good he was going to be, Nico Collins, nobody really knew how good he was, Dalton Schultz was solid, but he did it with a lot less, from what people knew, and that’s pretty impressive in its own right.”

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There is plenty of reason for hope to spring eternal before the Bears kick off the season against the Tennessee Titans, especially on offense. However, Chicago may sneakily have a defense that’s not only on the cusp of improving but perhaps also ready to serve as a worthy complement to Williams and the offense.

“Both sides of the ball, the defense last year, in the last eight weeks of the season was the No. 1 scoring defense and takeaways defense in the NFL,” Harber points out. “That’s when [edge rusher] Montez Sweat came over — he basically led two teams in sacks — when he came, and Matt Eberflus started calling the plays, that this defense really turned around and became a solid defense. The concern, obviously is the depth.”

For Chicago, though, in order to climb into the playoff conversation, this team is going to need to win some games it isn’t supposed to. Especially given that the Bears reside in a division that houses two legitimate Super Bowl contenders in the NFC, the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions.

While Bears slayed the Lions last December to earn a season-split, they’ve beaten their rivals 283 miles to the northeast just twice since 2021. Worse yet, Chicago has only taken down the Packers five times since Barack Obama was inaugurated as President of the United States.

So, it could be an uphill climb, given the young juggernauts built surrounding them in the division, alone.

Still, Harbor believes the pieces are in place in Chicago for the Bears to take meaningful steps forward.

“My expectations, and I don’t want to get too high here because I’ve done this before,” Harbor admits. “Last year I thought 9-8, and maybe sneak into the playoffs, but they were 7-8. They did lose some close games, in my defense.

“But, this year, I’m thinking the same thing. I think 9-8 is a good number there. They have a tough schedule in the second half of the season. They have to start quickly, maybe leaning 10-7 if the ball rolls their way, and sneak into that wildcard spot.”

Editor’s Note: The Between The Hashmarks podcast is hosted by Matt Lombardo and Mike Tanier. Subscribe to Mike Tanier’s Too Deep Zone, here, and subscribe to The Between The Hashmarks Podcast on Apple Podcasts.