There’s been a lot of downs, but there have been some great ups!
For decades, we have heard about the Chicago Bears in the 1980s and how great those teams were. And they certainly were great. The Bears probably had as many great seasons in the 1980s as they have from 1990 to the present.
There have been way too many losing seasons and not enough joy for Bears fans over the last 30+ years, but some of the highs have been pretty great. A couple of days ago, we lost former Chicago Bears head coach Dick Jauron who was the head coach for one of those great seasons, the magical season of 2001.
How does that 2001 season compare to the other great seasons the Chicago Bears have had? We take back at the five best seasons the Bears have had since 1990.
5. 2013 Chicago Bears: 8-8
It may seem weird to have an 8-8 season in the top five. The Bears have certainly had better seasons in terms of their records than this one, but I don’t know if Bears fans had five seasons where they had more fun than this one.
Marc Trestman’s first season in Chicago didn’t result in a great record, but it did result in an offense that the Bears haven’t matched over the last quarter century. The Bears had the second-highest-scoring offense in the entire NFL. Jay Cutler and Josh McCown combined for 32 touchdown passes, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery both had over 1,000 yards receiving, and Matt Forte was just shy of 2,000 yards from scrimmage.
The fact that Bears fans got to sit back and watch an elite offense score points, even if it didn’t result in wins, makes this season one of the most enjoyable ones Bears fans have had since Walter Payton retired.
4. 2010 Chicago Bears: 11-5
Lovie Smith is the only Bears coach who puts two of his seasons on the list. This one wasn’t the most exhilarating season. The Bears started 4-3 as they hit their bye week and I don’t think Bears fans had incredible expectations at that point, but the Bears ripped off wins in seven of their next eight games, catapulted themselves to an 11-5 record, and won the NFC North. That streak earned them the division championship and a bye into the Divisional Round.
The Bears at that point knocked off the Seahawks and found themselves in the NFC Championship game and were a Caleb Haine away from reaching another Super Bowl. I don’t think this team is remembered with much love because the offense was one of the bottom ten in the leagues, but Lovie’s defense had an excellent season and when you’re an eyelash away from the Super Bowl, you have to look back on it fondly.
3. 2018 Chicago Bears: 12-4
We all remember this season well, probably too well. The bitter end of the “double-doink” is what resonates when people look back on this season because fans truly believe that had that field goal gone through the uprights, this team could have reached the Super Bowl.
It’s hard to argue after what Vic Fangio did to the Rams in the regular season and the fact that Bill Belichick ran the Bears’ defense in the Super Bowl and the Rams scored three points. Had the Bears been able to knock off Brady and Belichick? Who knows, but this will always be a season with a big “what if” attached to it. But if you look back at the season as a whole, with the dominance of Khalil Mack, the defensive touchdowns, the fantastic touchdown celebrations, and some hope surrounding Mitch Trubisky, this one was one of the best seasons the Bears have given us in a very long time.
2. 2001 Chicago Bears: 13-3
This Bears team came into the season with practically zero expectations. The Bears had gone 4-12, 6-10, and 5-11 the previous three seasons. They had Jim Miller and Shane Matthews as their quarterbacks. Cade McNown had just busted his way off the team. There was no reason to think anything spectacular was going to happen this season.
But Dick Jauron’s boys had some magic.
The Bears started the season against the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens and lost 17-6, an expected type of score, but the Bears then won 6 straight including two miracle Mike Brown game-winning pick-sixes in overtime against the 49ers and Browns (which of course also included the James Allen Hail Mary) and other than the Packers, the Bears didn’t lose to another NFL team the rest of the season.
They lost their first playoff game to the Philadelphia Eagles, but Hugh Douglas knocked Jim Miller out of that game, and you have to wonder if Miller finished that game, would the result of that one have been different? The Bears had a 14-13 lead early in the 3rd quarter, but the Bears’ passing game was nonexistent all game and eventually, it was too much for the Bears’ defense to overcome.
1. 2006 Chicago Bears: 13-3
Of course, this was going to be the top season. The Bears have been in the Super Bowl one time in the last 35 years, and this, of course, is the season. This season’s excitement went far beyond just the Super Bowl, this was, of course, the start, of the electricity that is Devin Hester.
Between Hester’s electricity, the ridiculous “They are who we thought they were” game against the Arizona Cardinals and of course, a Super Bowl appearance where you have to wonder if they kept feeding the ball to Thomas Jones in the second half, perhaps the electricity that Devin Hester’s opening kickoff touchdown return produced would have continued all the way to Rex Grossman holding up the Lombardi Trophy after the game. What a sight that would have been.