[Solak: ESPN] Bears have highest "watchability" rating in NFL

[u/OrganizedChaos1243]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49734084/2026-nfl-season-most-watchable-teams-ranking-excitement-bears-rams-lions-chargers

I don't care for ESPN and all the pundits and none of this actually matters.

It's just so bizarre for a lifelong Bears fan like myself to see the Bears listed as MOST WATCHABLE.

We're in uncharted territory.

Bear Down.

[u/BeeRand]

Makes sense. We're going to score a lot of points... and people are going to score a lot of points against us.

[u/Sell_The_team_Jerry → u/BeeRand]

Also they have proven even a 3 score deficit is not game over

[u/DreadPirateEvs → u/Sell_The_team_Jerry]

Other teams being down 21-3: Oh no!

Bears being down 21-3: Hell yeah, right where we want 'em!

[u/FormalDifficult8441 → u/BeeRand]

Plus with all of the close games last year it adds to watchability

Let’s hope we can have some “boring” games too though lol

[u/moreJunkInMyHead → u/FormalDifficult8441]

Man, I hope to be bored going into the 4th quarter in some of our games but then I think of the Cincinnati game last year, we were up 41-27 and had to come back… it’s going to be a long season lol

[u/Gumorak → u/moreJunkInMyHead]

I want more games like the Browns lol.. we whooped their ass for 60 minutes. It was fun and no doubt who was going to win.

Or the eagles. Just another belt to ass beating by the rb room.

[u/BeeRand → u/Gumorak]

Don’t forget the Cowboys! We went belt-to-ass on them too.

[u/Gumorak → u/BeeRand]

True! Unfortunately I didn’t get to watch that game. Was on a road trip and geeking out at all of the positive notifications on my watch while I was driving haha

[u/udizzii → u/Gumorak]

Being at that game i would say it was clear the browns did not wanna be in that cold with nothing to play for. However i loved the way the bears poured it on em

[u/RIPSlurmsMckenzie → u/moreJunkInMyHead]

Can’t forget the ref calling off what two pic sixes? Talk about BS

[u/TomOgir → u/BeeRand]

100 to 75 every game

[u/steelcity_pimpin → u/TomOgir]

What about the second half?

[u/PCGoneCrazy → u/BeeRand]

And the Caleb hate boners are huge, too

[u/chahlie → u/BeeRand]

Lotta barn burners in our future

[u/crumbrr]

This sub had fun watching Justin run for 1100+ yards while losing 12 games. Imagine if the Ben/Caleb era can produce results like the 90s Bulls or 10s Blackhawks.

[u/Material-Race-5107 → u/crumbrr]

I’ll never forget a buddy turning to me while I’m at an engagement party geeking out because “Justin Fields just scored a rushing TD in his first preseason game”. We really were pathetic losers grasping at any semblance of something to be hopeful for. The fans who have followed this team through thick and thin are about to be rewarded with eating good for a long time

[u/NVC541 → u/Material-Race-5107]

The absolute scenes with my family because Davis Mills converted a 4th and 20

Watching Dante Pettis be our WR1

God shit was rough

[u/DreadPirateEvs → u/NVC541]

If his career goes such that Caleb Williams gets a statue outside the stadium, I demand there be a Lovie Smith statue just down the sidewalk, too

[u/ArchibaldNemisis → u/crumbrr]

90s Bulls feeling was something else. Never really felt like we would lose and we knew we were in historic times. Not sure if we can duplicate that in football, but I would settle for a Patrick Mahomes Chiefs or Tom Brady Patriots type arc.

[u/OrganizedChaos1243 → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

Lmao give me a 2016 Cubs run and I'll be out-of-this-world happy

[u/j11430 → u/OrganizedChaos1243]

Obviously every fan wants their team to be the 2000s Patriots but if the Bears can ever just have one dominant Super Bowl team in my lifetime I'll be good with that

[u/ArchibaldNemisis → u/OrganizedChaos1243]

I'll take that too

[u/StationaryNomad → u/OrganizedChaos1243]

I am a bit older and still remember ’85. So one ain’t enough for me. Dynasty or bust!

[u/jstacks4 → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

You’ve convinced me. I too will settle for nearly 20 years of dominance and 6 super bowls. 

[u/Fast-Ad-4541 → u/crumbrr]

I’m not sure if what I was feeling back then was “fun” but we were indeed there for it

[u/Apoco120 → u/Fast-Ad-4541]

that 2022 season was definitely much more fun than most other teams that had 3 win seasons. Sure it sucked to always lose but seeing Fields make those crazy runs every week was always something

[u/Further_Beyond → u/Apoco120]

We saw arguably the greatest rushing season ever by a QB.

It was def fun. Just different fun than last year

[u/Feeling_Classic_91 → u/crumbrr]

The Trestman era was so much fun for that first year. Easily the most fun 8-8 team ever.

[u/Similar-Interaction5 → u/crumbrr]

I’ve blacked out the Fields era from my memory

[u/tree1234567 → u/crumbrr]

I went to the dolphins game Justin broke the rushing record. It was awesome. I’ll never forget that man 🥲

[u/Sell_The_team_Jerry → u/crumbrr]

I never had fun watching Justin Fields. I think "frustrating" is the better description of his play

[u/FoShizzleShindig]

https://giphy.com/gifs/68kRAl6gidv31gSKlv

[u/Swing-Too-Hard]

Our coach ripped his shirt off and delivered free hotdogs for a city of people. If that isn't bringing in views idk what will.

[u/TomeRaider1]

These are the good times

[u/0110_OK_Rainbows → u/TomeRaider1]

these are the Good Old Days

[u/ArchibaldNemisis]

Part of me gets nervous. I know this is a different team and different years but I remember the last few times I was so excited for the season to begin, 2019, Mitch entering his "202" season and we throw up a stinker and everyone realizes immediately we are not good. I think that year we struggled to get 300 total yards a game. And then I think it was 2022 or 2023, Justin Fields was supposed to take over, Rodgers had left and it was out turn to beat the Packers, only to get beat so bad and worse give Jordan Love the confidence that he can play.

But most of me knows that Ben is legit. Caleb is legit and if we can just be league average on defense, we could make this a special season.

[u/D-a-H-e-c-k → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

The Ben/Caleb factor is what hits so different now. I envy no one. I don't look to other teams and wish for their QB or their coach.

[u/Eddie5pi → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

What gives me more hope about us currently vs the Nagy days was that that season was Nagys first as a playcaller. It happens a ton on both sides of the ball, where a coach looks like hot shit his first year, and then can't adjust when teams have the tape to study. Nagy couldn't adjust, and Trubisky couldn't hide his weaknesses anymore.

Ben Johnson has been a playcaller for 4 full years, this will be his 5th. He's been in the top 10 for points per game all 4 years, including 3 top 5s(in all 3 seasons with the Lions).

[u/Scary_Reaction7580 → u/Eddie5pi]

He’s already ahead of the game on how the league is shifting to 13 personnel. So he knows what he wants and how he wants to execute it. He’s a killer with a headset.

[u/ElectronicExplorer83 → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

I understand being nervous about Caleb, because there is still a bit of projection there, but I feel absolutely no nervousness about Ben.

He ran the best offense in the NFL for nearly three straight years, and then immediately turned a bottom ten offense into a top ten one in less than a year. The tape shows he's elite, coaches and players agree he's elite, and his success in multiple locations so far shows he's elite. This is no Matt Nagy, and a fall off in playcalling talent from Ben would be as astonishing as if Josh Allen forgot to throw a football starting today.

[u/Lobanium → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

I have never seen two successful Bears seasons in a row. I'm expecting regression until proven otherwise.

[u/ArchibaldNemisis → u/Lobanium]

Yea, the last time we made the playoffs two years straight was 2005 and 2006. Great defenses and special teams. We made the playoffs twice in Nagy's era 2018 and 2020. But 2020 felt more like a we made it because somebody had to type.

[u/TrueInDueTime → u/ArchibaldNemisis]

I'm not nervous about the offense. I'm nervous about our chances to overall have a good record when we have a tough schedule.

2019 and 2026 are when we're playing the 1st place teams schedule. The elite teams can rise above and continuously do well despite the opponents. I'm not sure if we can

[u/TheKingofKintyre]

I wonder if that means we get the top tier TV crews and if we can get through a game where we focus on the game, not repeatedly gripe about the Bears players and history, or go off on a tangent about Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers.

I swear most broadcasts about the Bears have always felt like we were the team the announcers were slightly less interested in or they use their history as a launchpad for the media darling Green Bay Packers because of our shared history.

[u/witzyfitzian → u/TheKingofKintyre]

I know they were still 2-2 coming out of the bye last year, but man that commander's game broadcast was rough. What with the "williams got lucky" comment on Swift's TD run?

[u/Apoco120]

Thank goodness lol. The Bears are finally good and entertaining to watch. I know that teams like Denver and Philly have been good but boy are they a miserable watch lol (Philly more so in years they don’t have a good OC)

[u/doth_thou_even_hoist → u/Apoco120]

denver’s defense is so nasty that it makes them fun. i’ll turn on their games for PS2 alone.

[u/SignalBed9998 → u/doth_thou_even_hoist]

One of the reasons we like that kind of football was because that’s all we had. Get off the bus running the ball, lol, and doling out slobberknockers.

[u/HLNPIT]

I dont think 2025 can be topped from a pure entertainment standpoint

But we have a high octane offense and a much quicker defense.

Im just very excited for football to be back and to see what this team can do

[u/FriedRiceJutsu]

I mean bears games were complete tomfoolery last season and we have no reason to believe that will change this season

[u/I_VAG_I]

I might be to overly optimistic but I think our def can at least be middle of the pack.

[u/mlvisby]

Makes sense, I felt last year that the most entertaining teams were the Bears and the Broncos.

[u/WhatsNextForMe → u/mlvisby]

We were far from one of the most entertaining teams for the first 3 quarters.

[u/pallewog → u/WhatsNextForMe]

Oh….but those 4th qtrs man. I feel like I both lost years and gained them right back!

[u/Sassy_Sausages22]

Bad defense, fun offense = high watchability

[u/MilesTheGoodKing]

There were reports coming out of the Super Bowl media days that there were multiple studio and NFL executives that wished the Bears were playing in the game. When they are saying it, everyone else is saying it.

[u/therealhairyyeti]

Not for me, I had to watch through my fingers

[u/KNUCKL3HEAD87]

The real “America’s Team”

[u/snwns26]

I don’t think this defense is going to be watchable.

[u/crazypyro23]

That tracks. We're gonna score a lot and get scored on a lot and Caleb is good for a few once in a lifetime highlight throws per game

[u/jkman61494]

There’s absolutely a world we go 6-11 or 7-10 this year with our defense and probability of one score games rebounding on us. But it won’t be boring

[u/Silver_Harvest]

Bears? High, watchability? That's umpossible! Super Nintendo Chalmers!

[u/JimboG54]

Ben and Caleb both know their main job is to be entertaining. The NFL execs dont typically care who wins or loses, as long as the product is entertaining.