The Sun-Times’ experts make their picks for the Bears’ 2026 record:
Patrick Finley
10-7: I believe this year’s team is better than last season’s. I also believe it’s ridiculous to presume the Bears’ takeaway, turnover and late-game good fortune can possibly continue at last year’s pace — particularly against a first-place schedule.
Jason Lieser
11-6: A lot has to go right merely for the Bears to match how they finished last season. The most important factor is whether Ben Johnson can help problem-solve on defense as well as he has on offense.
Scoop Jackson
10-6-1: The 14 teams above the Bears in the NFL’s Football Power Index indicates that (especially with the Lions and Packers ahead of them) they might not know what we know. Or is it what we believe? Or what we hope?
Steve Greenberg
10-7: There’s this thing in football called defense, and — at the risk of sounding like a dinosaur — it’s still kind of important. You say you’ve got a pretty good feeling about this Monsters “D”? Yeah, well, that makes one of us. I’m going with 10, but it’s closer to a nine than it is to an 11.
Jeff Agrest
9-8: Remember all those “nail-nibblers” last season, as Jeff Joniak calls them, that went the Bears’ way? The football gods do, and they’ll make sure a lot of breaks don’t go the Bears’ way.