Jack Quick, Staff Writer

For as long as I can remember, my family has spun tales about the 1985 Chicago Bears. Even my mom, who is one of the less intense Bears fans in my house, recalls the almost fairytale of characters that adorned that ‘85 team. Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary. It’s always been a joy to reminisce about the Chicago Bears of the past, especially since the Monsters of the Midway haven’t been so intimidating for the past couple of decades. 

That changed last season, though. With the revival of the Bears’ offense, with the crown jewel being Caleb “Iceman” Williams, there has been talk about the Bears not sucking anymore. It begs the question: could this be the season?

Bears fans are equally on edge and excited. The biggest concern in the past couple of weeks was obviously Williams’ hamstring injury during Week 3 against the Vikings and his emotional departure from Soldier Field, but that didn’t stop Ben Johnson from taking calculated risks on the gridiron. In week three against the Eagles, Johnson made the controversial decision to put in their third-string quarterback, Case Keenum. Second-stringer Tyson Bagent, had missed practice earlier in the week because of a concussion he sustained against the Vikings a week prior. 

It had been more than 1,000 games since Keenum had played a snap. On top of that, he was the oldest player to step onto Soldier field that night, at 39.

To say Bears fans were anxious would be an understatement. But Keenum proved to both the Eagles’ defense and Bears fans that he was ready. 

“I’m no cowboy, but this ain’t my first f***ing rodeo”  shouted Keenum during the Bears annual, post win, game ball ceremony. 

Keenum went on to throw for almost 250 yards, with a 66% completion rate, beating the NFL average by almost 16%. Chicago’s spirits were high after beating the 2024 Super Bowl champions 27-7. 

The following week, the Bears continued their reign of terror, with a win against the New York Jets. With Caleb still out, Johnson decided to bring out their other backup quarterback, who was just as hungry as Keenum. Tyson Bagent, the Bears second string, threw for 268 yards against the Jets, completing 25 of 34 passes. But the real talent on the offense came from behind the quarterback, with running back Kyle Monongai, who rushed for 146 yards with two touchdowns, putting petal to the metal against the Jets defense. 

Now it’s the end of week 5, and one of the most heated rivalry’s in the NFL, The Green Bay Packers, Versus The Chicago Bears, has come to a close, with the Lambeau Field natives coming out on top. The Packers beat the Bears 31 to 7. To say I’m disappointed as a Bears fan is an understatement. I really held hope that the passing of the Iron Mike would be enough to put some fire in the cleats of the Bears. 

Aside from the numbers and the far below game that Tyson Bagent had, I think the reason for the bears losing was simple. The Packers wanted to win. It’s been proven season after season of bad management and bad quarterbacks for the Bears, that even if you have a team of buckets, if you want to win badly enough, you will. The Bears haven’t been ‘successful’ in years, but the fact that we’ve  managed to at least win a few games proves that we have wanted to win badly enough in the past. Now that we have our golden ticket of offense and management, we need to remember the mindset we had when we sucked. 

If you want to win, you need to want to win. 

Jack Quick ‘28 is a journalism major from Chicago, Illinois.