Ben Johnson and the Bears Have 1 Question to Answer This Season

The Chicago Bears are back at camp, and there’s a ton of excitement surrounding the team this year. Now that the Bears have Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions has made his move to the Windy City, the team has one of the best offensive minds in the league leading them up.

Of course, the Bears can’t expect a total turnaround overnight, but there’s reason to hope for a much better season than the 2024-25 run. Johnson has been working with quarterback Caleb Williams, and hopefully he’ll work some magic with him.

Now, the NFL power rankings are beginning to come in, and while it’s still fairly early to look at NFL power rankings, it’s really not too early. NFL analysts started sharing their power rankings as early as February, so August seems like a reasonable time to seriously look at power rankings. Now, Ralph Vacchiano at Fox Sports has released his 2025 NFL power rankings, and it’s interesting where he has the Bears.

The Chicago Bears and 2025 NFL Power Rankings

In his story, which was published on Monday, July 28, Vacchiano says that, yes, these are early power rankings that that things could change a lot before the first NFL snap takes place.

In the article, he states, “The summer could change a lot, especially when the preseason games (and the injuries) begin. But for now, here’s our preseason look at how the league is ranked from bottom to top after free agency and the draft, and now that every NFL team has officially opened camp.”

As for the Chicago Bears, he has them at No. 17, which isn’t great, but it’s not at the bottom of the league. He says that the one question that the team will get answered this year is whether or not Caleb Williams is as good as they have been hoping.

“The Bears did everything they could this offseason to make sure they’d get the most out of franchise quarterback Caleb Williams,” he notes in the piece. “They hired Ben Johnson, the offensive genius from Detroit. They spent big to completely revamp their offensive line.”

He adds, “They drafted tight end Colston Loveland in the first round. They still have some defensive issues that could hurt them. But their season will really be about one thing: Is Williams as good as they think he is, or not?”

The NFL’s No. 1 Team Ahead of the New Season

So, which team did Vacchiano select as the best in the NFL heading into the 2025-26 season? The team to beat is the reigning champions: the Philadelphia Eagles.

“The defending champs deserve the No. 1 spot for now, but they only have a tenuous hold on it,” he notes in the piece, crowning the Eagles with that honor. He adds that “as long as Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts are healthy, they are as good, deep and talented as any team in the league.”

So, it should be no surprise that the Eagles are the team to beat.