One Reason The Chicago Bears May Shock Doubters In 2022
The thing to remember about the NFL is it’s unpredictable. Teams that are supposed to be good end up being bad, and teams that are supposed to be bad end up being good all the time. That is why football is so much fun to watch. Few teams exemplify this reality more than the Chicago Bears. Their history is riddled with unexpected outcomes. From 1984 to 1988, they’d won 10 games or more every year. Then in 1989, they collapsed to a 6-10 finish. Conversely, they hadn’t won more than six games between 1997 and 2000. Then in 2001, they reeled off a 13-3 record.
This is why it might be premature to assume the 2022 Bears will be bad. Yes, the odds are favorable. They have a brand new coaching staff. The team is coming off an ugly 6-11 season. Their best defensive player just got traded, and they have zero proven star power on offense. Yet there is still a lot of untapped potential on the roster, starting with quarterback Justin Fields. He could always take a big step forward. Good quarterback play makes winning a lot easier.
There is one other reason for optimism, though. A favorable schedule.
According to Sharp Football Analysis, the Chicago Bears will have the second-easiest slate of any team in the NFL going into this season.
“Based on projected win totals, the Washington Commanders have the easiest strength of schedule for the 2022 NFL season.
The next easiest schedules, in order, are the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, and Seattle Seahawks.”
It isn’t hard to understand the favorable projections. Five of the Bears’ 14 opponents made the playoffs last season. However, seven failed to finish with a winning record. It is also worth noting the good teams in that group all seemed to lose something significant over the past couple of months.
Green Bay lost both Davante Adams and Za’Darius Smith. New England lost Josh McDaniels. Dallas traded Amari Cooper, cut La’El Collins, and lost Randy Gregory to Denver. San Francisco lost Pro Bowl guard Laken Tomlinson and is also about to undergo a quarterback transition. So there’s no guarantee that any of those teams will be as good as last season.
The Bears might end up being bad like most predict. Still, there should be a window of opportunity for them to be surprised if they can get more out of this roster than Matt Nagy did last season. The schedule may break their way for once.