BALTIMORE — The Bears are in a unique situation in which general manager Ryan Poles has been building the roster for four years, so it should be ready to contend by now, yet new coach Ben Johnson is just at the onset of putting his fingerprints on the organization.
It’s a problem of their own making by sticking with former coach Matt Eberflus too long and exacerbated by painful personnel missteps, but the reality is the Bears aren’t ready yet. Anyone can see that, and even with a 4-2 start, they still have the 20th-best odds to win the championship.
So when they run up against elite opponents, it’ll be quite an upset to beat them. They caught an incredible break, however, for their game at the 1-5 Ravens on Sunday: Two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, who appeared all week to be trending toward playing, was ruled out Saturday with a hamstring injury.
That means the Bears are taking on journeyman backup Tyler Huntley, who has never thrown for more than 270 yards in a game and posted a 76.5 passer rating when he last played two weeks ago, as well as a defense that has allowed the most points in the NFL at 32.3 per game.
If the Bears want to be taken seriously, that absolutely needs to be a win. Johnson, though, is focused primarily on process over outcome.
“When we have our process right with how we come into the building throughout the week, how we’re meeting, how we’re walking through and how we’re practicing, that’s what gives us a chance on game day,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to win, but we’re going to give ourselves a shot. I feel good about how we’re improving in that department each week. It continues to get better.”
If the Bears can win along the way and sneak into the playoffs, all the better, and a victory in Baltimore would give them significant leverage in that pursuit.
Nonetheless, at this stage in Poles’ rebuild, as well as with quarterback Caleb Williams no longer being a rookie, the Bears are in the NFL’s middle class. They’re not in ruins like the Jets and Saints, but they’re well behind Super Bowl contenders in the Packers and Lions in their own division.
A realistic view of where they stand should be accompanied by realistic expectations. The Bears should handle bad teams as they did the Saints and Raiders, show themselves to be on equal footing with teams in their tier like the Commanders and — at minimum — give heavyweights the fight of their lives.
Johnson, of course, would never concede the notion that the Bears would be outmanned against anyone.
“The mission’s always been to win and to win now,” he said, echoing his comments when the Bears introduced him in January. “That’s the end-all, be-all… I don’t see this as a team in transition. We have a chance to put a stamp on what this chapter of Chicago Bears history is going to look like.”
Regardless of the result Sunday, Johnson’s team must show progress. Most of all, that means Williams must be sharp. It’s also imperative that the Bears eliminate sloppy penalties and defend reasonably well despite missing several key players.
After their trip to Baltimore, they have winnable games against the Bengals (3-4), Giants (2-5) and Vikings (3-4) before a tough stretch against the Steelers (4-2), Eagles (5-2) and Packers (4-1-1). They get the Browns (2-5) before finishing against the Packers, 49ers (5-2) and Lions (5-2).
If they keep climbing, there are enough possible wins in there to threaten for a playoff berth, and that would be the best of both worlds.