- It was a special season.
 - Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) celebrates with teammates after catching the go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against the Packers on Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
- A year earlier, the Bears had similar optimism after starting 4-2 under Matt Eberflus, but a 10-game losing streak consigned them to a 5-12 finish.
The Bears fired Eberlus the day after Thanksgiving, hired Ben Johnson in January 2025, and the former Detroit Lions play caller not only revitalized the offense, but also methodically changed the culture.
After starting 0-2, the Bears had four- and five-game winning streaks, clinched their first postseason berth since 2020 and beat the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round for their first playoff victory in 15 years.
It wasn’t just about winning again — it was how they won that made the 2025 Bears special.
They engineered seven fourth-quarter comebacks, including two in four weeks against the Packers on DJ Moore touchdown catches — one in overtime and one in the last two minutes of regulation.
To show the topsy-turvy nature of the season, here’s a quick summary of each game.
- Week 1 vs. Vikings: Gave up three fourth-quarter touchdowns to J.J. McCarthy in a 27-24 collapse.
- Week 2 at Lions: Johnson got blasted 52-21 by his old team, and the naysayers got louder.
- Week 3 vs. Cowboys: Caleb Williams broke out with four touchdown passes and no interceptions to hand Johnson his first win.
- Week 4 at Raiders: D’Andre Swift scored with 1:39 left, and special teamer Josh Blackwell sealed the first comeback win by blocking a late field-goal try.
- Week 6 at Commanders: The Bears defense recovered a late fumble, and substitute kicker Jake Moody booted the game-winner with three seconds left.
- Week 7 vs. Saints: A rare uneventful victory.
- Week 8 at Ravens: Backup Tyler Huntley did his best Lamar Jackson impression and upended the Bears.
- Week 9 at Bengals: Rookie tight end Colston Loveland scored a go-ahead 58-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left to bank another comeback.
- Week 10 vs. Giants: Down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Williams scored twice in the rally.
- Week 11 at Vikings: After going down 17-16 with 50 seconds left, Devin Duvernay’s 56-yard kickoff return helped set up Cairo Santos’ game-winning 48-yard field goal with four seconds left.
- Week 12 vs. Steelers: Three TDs and no picks for Williams, and the Bears held off a Pittsburgh comeback bid.
- Week 13 at Eagles: Kyle Monangai and Swift combined for 255 rushing yards to shock the defending champions on Black Friday.
- Week 14 at Packers: Williams’ fourth-and-1 throw for a potential tying touchdown was intercepted by Keisean Nixon.
- Week 15 vs. Browns: The Bears defense picked off Shedeur Sanders three times.
- Week 16 vs. Packers: After a successful onside kick, Williams tied the game on a touchdown throw to Jahdae Walker with 24 seconds left, then won it with a 46-yard, walk-off TD to Moore in overtime.
- Week 17 at 49ers: Williams threw incomplete to Walker as another comeback bid feel short in a 42-38 shootout loss.
- Week 18 vs. Lions: The Bears came out flat in the regular-season finale.
- Wild-card round vs. Packers: Moore, connoisseur of foam cheese-grater hats, struck again with a 25-yard score with 1:48 left, capping off a 25-point fourth quarter and a seventh comeback win.
- Divisional round vs. Rams: Williams gave the Bears life with a backpedaling touchdown lob to Cole Kmet with 18 seconds left, but he sealed their fate with an overtime interception, his third of the night.
Looking back on the whole season, safety Kevin Byard III said, the thing that stood out was “just the resiliency.”
“We had so many magical wins this year,” Byard said. “We had so many come-from-behind wins, the Cincinnati game, the Green Bay wins, Minnesota. It’s (a) countless amount of games. … It was a special year.”
Still, Byard noted that in his 10-year career, he has learned playoff runs can be fleeting. He recalled how his 2019 Tennessee Titans lost the AFC championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs, and then he was one-and-done in his next three postseason appearances (2020 Titans, ‘21 Titans, ‘23 Eagles).
“This is not something that’s very easy to do at all,” he said, “but I have belief in this group, in this team, in this organization. We’re all having these talks like, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got to run this back,’ but there’s no guarantee that it’s going to happen again.”
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