Windy City Gridiron
The last time the Chicago Bears hired a new head coach (2022), a record-setting five first-year head coaches led their teams to the postseason.
That year, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Pederson took his team from worst to first. The New York Giants’ Brian Daboll took his squad from last in the division to an NFC wild-card spot. Kevin O’Connell helped get the Minnesota Vikings to the top of their division after being under .500 the year prior. The Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Todd Bowles rounded out the quintet of first-year coaches taking their new teams to the playoffs.
Chicago was in full-on tank mode in 2022 with Matt Eberflus, so them having the worst record in football wasn’t a shock.
But this time, with Ben Johnson at the helm, I’d be shocked if they weren’t in the playoff hunt graphics — for real this time. I’d love to say I’d be shocked if they didn’t make the playoffs, but the NFC North should be tough again this season, so in year one of the Johnson era, I’ll be pleased with a marked improvement over last year’s five-win squad, even if they fall short of the postseason.
Our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook currently have the Bears at +180 to make the playoffs, which puts their odds at twelfth in the NFC. A quick explainer on what that number means: if you wager $100, you’d win $180, so you can adjust the math accordingly on where you’re wheelhouse is.
To give you an idea of how far Chicago’s odds are from a hypothetical postseason spot, FanDuel has the Green Bay Packers with the seventh-best playoff odds of -128.
If you have more of a glass-half-empty mentality, then you can get the Bears at -255 to miss the playoffs.
FanDuel Sportsbook is conducting FanDuel Futures Day on Tuesday, August 26, where you can get profit boost tokens around various futures markets throughout the day. The markets will be split up throughout the day, but they will include odds to win the Super Bowl and hypothetical Super Bowl matchups, odds to make or miss the playoffs, win totals, division winners, and player milestones. Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook on Tuesday to take advantage of FanDuel Futures Day.
