This offseason has been different.
The Bears went 12-4 and made the playoffs in the first year under coach Matt Nagy and were a missed Cody Parkey field goal away from winning their first playoff game since 2010. The year came after many members of that team fought through years of inconsistent, and often underwhelming, play on all fronts.
Safety Eddie Jackson remembers those days, and has even bigger plans in 2019.
“Everything — how short, and how far, we came,” he said. “From the losing record to the winning record. How short we came, with the first-round playoff game with the field goal. Right now we just want to build off everything and let that be the fuel to our fire. We plan on taking this whole thing.”
The Bears certainly are a team that could go all the way.
A defense that finished third in the league in yards allowed and first in the league in points allowed has Pro Bowl-caliber players on all three levels returning in Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith, and Jackson. An offense that made strides last season added Mike Davis and David Montgomery to a group of skill position players that includes Tarik Cohen, Allen Robinson, and Anthony Miller.
The biggest question marks still revolve around quarterback Mitch Trubisky, though. The now third-year player went from an underwhelming rookie year under John Fox to a Pro Bowler under Nagy in his second year. If he can make another sizable jump this season, the Bears can be among the league's best on both sides of the ball.
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