By: Peyton Schultze

Fans of Chicago have rallied behind the 12 win Bears en route to an NFC North crown.

A long time ago, in a not so distant land, the Chicago Bears found themselves in the NFC Championship against their top rival, the Green Bay Packers. On a 20 degree day on the grass of the ancient Solider Field, the Bears had a real a chance to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since losing to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on February 4th of 2007, led by a dominant defense with guys like Brian Urlacher and Charles Tillman, along with key offensive weapons such as Matt Forte and Greg Olsen. The Packers did have Aaron Rodgers… but could they really match up at all against the favored Bears? The short answer is yes. The long answer is much more complicated for the beloved franchise. During the game, Bears QB, Jay Cutler, notoriously was hurt. However, sideline reporters and cameras alike caught Cutler simply riding a medical bike with a carefree expression across his face, as if the magnitude of the NFC Championship Game meant nothing to him. Cutler was indeed hurt, yes, but seemed as if he could at least try to play under the massive circumstances involved in the game. Instead, however, backup Caleb Hanie was forced to enter the game and threw 2 crucial interceptions to put the Bears in a big hole. Rodgers was not at his best either, throwing two picks also and only having a QB rating of 55.4, a small number for the owner of the top QB Rating of all time over the course of his career. Yet Green Bay overcame their flaws and the crowd noise of The Windy City and was able to escape with a 21-14 win, placing them in the Super Bowl two weeks later against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, the Bears have been nothing short of a disappointment. Fired coaches. Cutler making Bears fan cringe on a weekly basis. A declining defense that resembled nothing of the past. All of this became true until this year, first with the hire of Matt Nagy. Setting the tone for the franchise to signal they were going in a new direction, Nagy helped change the culture of Chicago once again with a new outlook, but with similarities to the past. But what were their real similarities? All you have to do to understand the 2018 Chicago Bears is to dig deep back into their franchise history and discover who the organization is and always will truly be, which has helped them to be in their exact position heading towards the 2019 NFL Postseason.

Franchise icons, such as Walter Payton, set the tone in the past about the true standards of the Bears organization for years to come.

Looking back into the past, the Bears have really always been “who we thought they were”. As players and coaches have changed over time, the standards of the organization have never really been altered. Sure they’ve had some tough years with the atrocity known as Jay Cutler, but the franchise has rebounded with a new attitude this season. Unexpectedly coming out of nowhere this season, the Bears have shocked the league by finding themselves on the scene of NFL contenders that look like a major threat for years to come. But shouldn’t we have seen this coming? After all, the Chicago Bears have simply prided themselves on two main things over the course of their history: pounding the football and playing dominant defense. And once again the Bears have found that formula to work over the course of this season, partially due to a great coaching staff, but also partially due to one major acquisition. Joining the likes of Butkus, Urlacher, George, and Singletary, Khalil Mack has entered the scene as a top linebacker in the game being part of the organization with riches of dominant linebackers over the decades. While Mack certainly can not be fully credited for the success of the Bears this season, he has helped transform their defense from good to great with his otherworldly talents. Along with Pro Bowl studs like Eddie Jackson at safety, Akeim Hicks on the defensive line, and Roquon Smith at linebacker, the Bears have once again found a way to return to their roots of the past. Combine that defense with an offense that prides itself on running the football with backs like Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard, and getting players on the outside open into space and the Bears have themselves a true title contender worthy of possibly making a run to the Super Bowl this season.

The Bears hope to continue their magical season in the playoffs, starting with a matchup against the defending Super Bowl champions.

Which then leads directly into the present day. As the Bears prepare for a Sunday afternoon matchup against the reigning Super Bowl champs in the Philadelphia Eagles, Soldier Field will be thrilled and absolutely ecstatic for the return of playoff football to a city that truly loves their Bears. The matchup is actually quite tough for Chicago; the Eagles are currently riding a 3-game win streak going into the playoffs with a red-hot and scary playoff QB at the helm in Nick Foles. The Eagles, in this case, are the veteran team that is battle tested and ready for a wild environment such as Chicago. Meanwhile, the Bears are the new kids on the block, with a young quarterback and head coach duo to go along with the best defense in the league. A major key for the Bears will be how they are able to get QB, Mitchell Trubisky, in rhythm early and often so that he is not a victim of the moment. The Bears will also have to expose a weak secondary in Philadelphia with deep plays down the field early, with a nice mixture of pass/run to involve their playmakers. However, the likely key to the game will be how this dominant Bears’ defense performs under the spotlight of Wild Card Weekend. The 2018 Bears may be the closest reminiscent of the Super Bowl winning 2015 Denver Broncos, a team so dependent on its spectacular defense that had to show up on a weekly basis to win. However, that Broncos team plowed through the AFC, securing huge win over Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, and the MVP of that season, Cam Newton. For the Bears to reach heights of that magnitude this season, they will likely have to overcome some type of mixture of Nick Foles, Drew Brees, Jared Goff, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, or Patrick Mahomes. Yet this Bears team seems ready. As major Sunday Night Football matchups with the solid Vikings and high flying Rams showed, the Bears are not scared of the moment and will be a very difficult out in a postseason that is as wide-open as any in recent memory.

The Bears hope to secure their first title since 1985 this season.

If the Bears end up beating the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, analysts will begin to talk about how this Bears team reminds them of 1985. And maybe they actually should. After all, that 1985 Bears team is one of the best teams in NFL history and deserves high recognition. However, this Bears’ team is not only just like that team from 1985. In fact, this Bears’ team is just like any of their dominant teams in franchise history, with a unique spin on offense involving misdirection and screens cooked up by Coach Nagy. Yet the Bears are still Monsters of the Midway on defense and run the ball with power on offense, common traits from any great team in the franchise’s old history. This season, the Bears face a tough uphill challenge that will likely find themselves against the defending champions, possibly against one of the best QBs in the league, or in a hostile environment such as New Orleans. However, if the Bears truly want to reach Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII , they will have to overcome these tough challenges ahead, which they have proven they are capable of on numerous occasions. NFC teams be weary. These Bears are dangerous and ready to compete in the NFC with a shot to go to another Super Bowl, and are locked and loaded to face any team that stands in the way of the Monsters of the New Age.