As the Chicago Bears face the NFL‘s toughest schedule in the upcoming season, all-time great tight end Rob Gronkowski expressed serious doubts about the team duplicating last season’s success.
“No one’s really on board that the Bears are gonna be absolutely dominant. I mean, they had last season, but like you said, it was a magical season. Like, magical seasons don’t happen two seasons in a row like that,” Gronk said while speaking with Kay Adams.
Chicago’s 2025 season featured its first under brand-new head coach Ben Johnson, who instilled a strong belief in his players. Caleb Williams flourished in his sophomore season, delivering several late-game performances in high pressure situations.
There were also more than a few games that finished with their opponents making costly mistakes, resulting in the Bears taking advantage of those opportunities to seize victories.
The Bears finished 11-6 and won the NFC North Division, also achieving the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs. They eliminated their longtime rivals, the Green Bay Packers, in the NFC Wild Card Round and took the Los Angeles Rams to overtime in the NFC Divisional Round, where they lost.
Many critics have suggested that while last season was special and exciting for the Bears, the team could be due for a regression in their 2026 campaign.
“The only way the Bears will be able to make it is they take away that magic, and they show that they don’t need that magic. They stepped it up, say Caleb Williams became a better quarterback. You know, they became a better team, and they don’t need that magic to pull out of a hat, to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the fourth quarter to win the games. They can show they’re consistent throughout the whole entire game, the whole fourth quarter,” Gronk explained.
Gronk said they’re not going to keep experiencing that fourth-quarter magic like last season, and also explained that Williams has yet to display a “perfectionism” like his former Patriots teammate, the legendary Tom Brady had.
“When you saw Tom Brady go down the field, it was being perfect with everything, hitting the ring guy. It wasn’t throwing the ball up there after running 30 yards backwards and hoping a miracle happens and someone comes down with it,” Gronk explained.
He said the Bears’ main issue might be their “inconsistency” with fourth-quarter performances and being able to put away teams for wins.
That said, Williams is entering his third season, with expectations continuing to be high for him and a lot of pressure on his shoulders in the city of Chicago. During the offseason, head coach Ben Johnson indicated that he noticed that Williams had become a much more “composed” person when attending practices.
“This guy might’ve had a little bit of goofy to him a year ago, and I use that term with love. And now you just see a more serious player and intent every time I’m around him. And I think his teammates feel that as well,” Johnson said, explaining Williams arrived early for practices and stayed after to help out teammates.
“And so he’s taken a lot of pride in his approach right now. It trickles down to everybody around him. I think it’s a great thing. So, I think he continues to grow up and he’s going to be a huge leader for us this year,” the Bears coach said.
The Bears kick off their season with a road game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET.