NFL analyst calls Bears a sleeper team for a deep postseason run. Here’s why originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Everyone wants to know one thing about the Bears this season: how high can they fly?
The 2024 season represents the first the Bears reenter contention and craft a new competitive window. Under the leadership of Caleb Williams, the Bears are creating a new era of Chicago football.
For that, NFL analyst Rich Eisen dares to dream with this team.
“Nobody’s sleeping on the team, but they’re potentially sleeping on how far they can go,” Eisen said. “The one more sleeper team of 2024 is the Chicago Bears making it to the NFC Championship game. What you’re talking about, and why I put them there, is because that’s one wrung up the playoff ladder than C.J. Stroud made last year. And that is the bar C.J. Stroud set last year; unicorn stuff.
“If Caleb Williams can do that, and the defense can play the way that they played, and the offense can start cooking with Caleb Williams, the Bears making the NFC Championship game is the sleeper team I’m adding to this mix.”
It’s a bold and daring projection to suggest the Bears could leap from a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in the last three seasons to making the NFC Championship game. It would take a season like C.J. Stroud’s rookie year from Caleb Williams to get the job done.
Last season, Stroud led the Texans to the AFC Divisional round before losing to the Ravens, 34-10. That was a monstrous jump for them, considering they finished 3-13-1 one season before, recording the league’s second-worst record (ironically, to the Bears).
To achieve the success the Texans did, Stroud threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions in 15 games. He earned the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award and finished eighth in MVP voting. It was an astonishing season for a team that had just been at the bottom of the league’s standings.
It’d be difficult to argue Williams could meet the expectations of Stroud’s rookie season. As Eisen said, Stroud’s rookie season was “unicorn stuff.” It was arguably the greatest season for a rookie quarterback in NFL history.
One could easily argue, however, that Williams has a far better situation at his disposal than Stroud did last season.
Nico Collins was Stroud’s best receiver last season, finishing with a hair under 1,300 yards. Before Stroud, Collins hadn’t eclipsed even a 500-yard season in his three-year career. Tank Dell, Stroud’s secondary passing option, was a third-round rookie drafted out of Houston with no NFL experience.
They didn’t have much of a run game to write home about behind Devin Singletary and Dameon Pierce. The Texans are a defense-first team led by defensive head coach DeMeco Ryans. So, yes, Stroud had the 11th-best defense to help get him the ball back.
But the Bears inarguably have better tools. DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze are a far better pass-catching collective. D’Andre Swift and Khalil Herbert combine for a formidable rushing attack to help Williams when he needs a break. And the Bears’ defense finished top 10 in points and yards per game allowed in the back half of last season.
Williams isn’t walking into a team typical of having the No. 1 pick in the draft. And that’s why Eisen thinks more people should be talking about the Bears’ chances of making some noise in the postseason.
“Nobody’s sleeping on the Bears,” Eisen said. “They’re on ‘Hard Knocks,’ everybody’s gonna be talking about it. But making it as far as I threw out there? I don’t think people are talking about that.”
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