Matt: Well, it is fare thee well for the Chicago Bears, who lost to the Rams this week. I feel the thought of this team back when the season started was that they were going to be a better team than last year, but not THIS good. Caleb Williams took strides as a quarterback and the Bears defense always seemed to be good enough to keep them in games. What do the Bears need to do in the offseason to take the step to title contender? Or are they already there?
Brandon: It’s hard to believe that any team is a title contender from one year to another. The Eagles won last year, brought back most of their team, and got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. The Chiefs run gave an outsized image of what a perennial contender can look like, but the fact of the matter is, there is less certainty in football than any other sport. Every year, nearly half of the playoff teams will not return the next season.
For the Bears, it’s far from a sure thing that they will even return to the playoffs next year. You don’t need to look any further than the Washington Commanders, who went to the NFC Championship game last year before getting knocked down by injuries for the entire season in 2025.
They need to build out their defense with young players. Offense monopolized the draft in 2025, and the results are definitely encouraging, with Colston Loveland, Ozzie Trupillo, Luther Burdern, and Kyle Mononghai looking like long term contributors to the team. They need a massive infusion of youth at every level of the defense, and it’s not something that can really be done through free agency, anyway.
On the defensive line, Austin Booker started showing flashes of being an impact defensive end towards the end of the season, but he needs to prove he can not only have the production, but stay on the field. Montez Sweat has regressed from his 2023 post trade run that got him the contract extension. Finding another edge in the draft will be critical. As will getting young bodies into the interior of the offensive line. Grady Jarrett has a ton of miles on him, and Gervon Dexter has never been the consistent presence the Bears hoped for. I do hope the team tries to resign Andrew Billings, who I thought has been the most consistent contributor on the interior line over the past couple seasons.
In the secondary, you have to wonder if Tyrique Stevenson is on his way out, considering how little playing time he got compared to people being pulled off the street and put in uniform as injuries piled up. Kyler Gordon is a constant injury risk and can’t be counted on for more than eight games in a season. Jaylon Johnson has an entire offseason to get back into form and hopefully can return to being an anchor on the defense. Kevin Byard was an All Pro this season, but is an older player, and Jaquan Brisker is a free agent, and you have to wonder, with his concussion history, whether he is even going to get a second contract from the Bears.
That doesn’t even get into the linebacker spot, which was suspect considering the amount of money spent at the position, and the absolute lack of depth in that area. Noah Sewell is a special teamer on a good football team, but got a ton of run before he also got injured.
A lot of the Bears early success was turnovers, and that is not a stat that is replicable from season to season, or even within season, as the Bears managed to lose the turnover battle in both playoff games. A lot of turnovers are luck based rather than skill, and can’t be depended on. Solid tacklers and people that can pressure the quarterback are replicable and should be the focus going into the offseason if the Bears plan on contending again next year.
Matt: Before we look at who is still in the playoffs, I want to talk about who is watching from home. We are down to four teams vying for the title, and we have no Chiefs, no Bills, no Eagles, and no 49ers. These were four teams you could have bet money to be hunting for rings in the past half-decade. Which of these teams will be in the hunt next year and which teams need to blow it up and start over?
Brandon: All four teams have serious issues, and there is a decent chance we see a shift in power in the NFL over the next few seasons. Philadelphia probably is the closest to still being a contender due to the fact that they draft so well every season, that there always seems to be a backup in place. They have serious issues on offense, but have too much star power to not be able to figure things out. They are going to lose a few people on free agency from their defense, notably safety Reed Blankenship, but they seem well equipped to come into 2026 as the heavy betting favorite in the NFC East.
The 49ers are probably fine as well, though they fall into the same problem as the Chicago Bears next year, which is that they play in the toughest divisions in football. The two teams in the NFC championship game are both in the 49ers division. Only Arizona seems like a team you will be able to roll over next season. That being said, Kyle Shanahan is one of the great football minds and getting his team to the second round of the playoffs this year was absolutely impressive work, considering how many important players were injured. I expect San Fran to take a running back early in the draft, as I think everyone in football knows that Christian McCaffrey is probably not equipped to touch the ball 400 times in a season again, considering his injury history.
Up until the Bills press conference this week, i’d have said the Chiefs were in the most trouble, but any team that has Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid is going to find a way to be in contention.
The Bills on the other hand might be completely and utterly screwed. The press conference that was held by owner Terry Pegula and General Manager Brandon Beane was a level of embarrassing that no franchise should endure…except the Raiders. It will always be funny when it’s the Raiders. The press conference quickly devolved into a finger pointing game, with wide receiver Keon Coleman, most likely recovering from an injury or on vacation, caught in the crossfire. Now, to their defense, Coleman sucks. But to pass it off on the coach you just fired that dragged that raggedy ass defense that is given to him every year and a wide receiver room that would make XFL teams blush, into the playoffs every damn year, is a bad look. There are major issues with Buffalo. They still have one of the best players on the planet in Josh Allen at quarterback, and one of the most underrated running backs in the league in James Cook behind him. But this team has also not made the most of their drafts over the past four seasons, and with a quarterback on the salary that Allen is, they can’t afford to miss. Apparently, that is completely the coaches fault, with GM Beane getting to stand around playing the blame game and trying to absolve himself from any responsibility. With the Patriots looking poised to take over the division again after a brief respite, the only thing saving the Bills is the fact that they play in a trash division.
Matt: We talked about the Patriots last week, so I think it’s only fair to spend a paragraph on their opponent this week. The Denver Broncos had seven straight years of losing records before going 10-7 last year and having the best record in the AFC this year. I’m going to ask the same question I asked about the Patriots last week: How did they get here? Is this for real? And how can they advance to the Super Bowl?
Brandon: Sean Payton is one of the best coaches of his generation. His name will never be on the same level as Belichick and Reid due to the salacious reasons he ended up out of a job in New Orleans, but his credentials are there.
Bo Nix was a widely mocked pick when he was taken in the first round last year by the Broncos, but Payton isn’t looking at football the way most are. He saw an opportunity to bring a quarterback on a rookie contract that, while not having the upside of the bigger quarterbacks in the 2024 draft, provided a reasonable statistical baseline for which is team could function. The most valuable asset in the NFL is a quarterback on a rookie contract, and the fact that Nix was already 38 years old (age approx.) and had played in multiple offensive schemes in his decade plus in college (also approx.), that he would be able to grasp a playbook easily and build from it.
There are definitely long term concerns about Nix, he fits the program that Payton is willing to run, and I wouldn’t be shocked if, the moment Nix was due for a contract extension, he was traded some rube team like Las Vegas, at which point Payton would get another quarterback on a manageable deal, and keep the cycle going.
Cheap quarterbacks means expensive defenses. And with Nix out, that defense is going to have to have their performance of the season if they want to make the Super Bowl.
Matt: Can we talk about the Pro Bowl, mostly because I don’t think anyone else does. What should be a fun day of events featuring the best players in the league seems to be a nothing event that only exists so players could get contract bonuses for being selected. Both the MLB and the NBA have great events with all of their all-star festivities. Am I wrong about the Pro Bowl being a snooze-fest? If I’m not, what can the NFL do to spice things up? (My suggestion: a karaoke contest!)
Brandon: You know what the crazy thing is? If the NFL decided the Pro Bowl included bowling and Karaoke, it would not only be more entertaining, but the players would be more into it. The Pro Bowl has never been anything more than a way to fill time in the schedule between the playoffs and the Super Bowl. You always knew that you were generally not going to see all of the best players because anyone playing in the Super Bowl did not play in the Pro Bowl. When the game was being held in Honolulu, the players at least showed up, because it equated to a Hawaiian vacation with some scattered practices woven in. They took the incentive out of everyone playing by moving it back to Florida or wherever they are doing it now. They are trying to do things like the NBA, but it just doesn’t have the same feel. You could argue that the NBA doesn’t have the same feel as the NBA, but that’s a discussion for another time.
The flag football game is fine, but I think the most entertaining thing for me would be to have the best players that will actually show up to the Pro Bowl for the flag football game, and put them up against the national flag football team that is tantruming because when Flag Football becomes an Olympic Sport. Oh, you think you have a shot at beating NFL players in flag football, cornerback from Waubansee College who plays when he gets off work at UPS, well, Justin Jefferson just ran straight past you and jumped over you for good measure, and your linebacker won’t be returning to his job at Hobby Lobby any time soon, because Brock Bowers just murdered him while blocking across the middle.
Matt: All I heard from last week’s Bears-Rams game is that Matthew Stafford is the perennial favorite to be the league MVP. Is that true? And can the Rams win this week if he plays like he did last week?
Brandon: Matt Stafford has gained a bit of an MVP emeritus status at this point. He is in his 17th NFL season, and everyone tends to be sympathetic towards him due to the amount of years he was forced to play in Detroit. It’s also worth noting that there were serious concerns going into the season about whether Stafford would be able to play due to neck problems that have plagued him.
Instead, he has put on an incredible season that definitely has it down to either him or Drake Maye for MVP. There are two competing storylines at play here. Stafford is kind of the folk hero. The old man still fighting through injuries to get one more shot at a championship, which voters tend to sympathize towards. Drake Maye has the East Coast Bias going for him. The main arguments between the two are that Drake Maye didn’t play anyone during the regular season (he didn’t, and this is a regular season award, so nothing he did in the playoffs counts) and that Matthew Stafford wouldn’t be as good as he is without having two great wide receivers (true, but isn’t it on every franchise to get their quarterback guys to throw to?).
I do think Drake Maye wins the MVP, which is whatever. The award doesn’t go to the best player. It goes to the quarterback on one of the best teams. Christian McCaffrey probably deserves the award for killing himself on the field week after week to keep San Francisco in contention.
As for the Rams, they can probably win this week, but the Seahawks defense is a major step up in terms of competition. They are one of, if not THE best defense in the NFL, and they look ready to step in and go back to the Super Bowl.
Matt: Last but not least: Two games this weekend. Rams-Seahawks and Patriots-Broncos? Is this a chalk week for divisional leaders or will there be an upset?
Brandon: I’m going Seahawks and Patriots. That’s probably chalk, with the Bo Nix injury severely hurting Denver’s chances of moving the ball. That said, I got them all wrong last week, so hopefully I do that again this week!
Fancy Boys Club 