Recently, media personality Joy Taylor argued the Bears' playoff hopes for 2024 are lofty expectations.
She argued the Bears are in too competitive of a division with the Lions, who went to the NFC Championship last season, and the Packers, who upset the Dallas Cowboys on the road in the playoffs last year.
Taylor dismisses the idea of the Bears making the playoffs next season despite their much-improved roster.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"There's a lot of factors," Taylor said on "Speak." "To sit here and just expect Caleb Williams to come in and win four more games, as if that's an easy thing to do in the NFL, and then have the expectation just because he plays well, or even kind of good, that they're just gonna be in the playoffs? Did all these other teams just walk off the face of the planet?"
Bears safety Jaquan Brisker didn't appreciate those comments. He fired back at a video of Taylor's argument.
"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see .." Brisker wrote.
Bears News
Taylor made some fair points in her argument. The competition is stiff in the NFC North and the Bears are only getting started in their competitive window. The Lions and Packers have proven their competitive worth in the NFC and have ample experience already.
She argues that the presence of Caleb Williams won't simply make the Bears a playoff-worthy team. And she also claims the Bears additions this offseason haven't had time to play together and gel properly, leading her to favor teams who have an established core and a recent track record of winning.
"It's not about what I think Caleb Williams is capable of doing," Taylor said. "It's the fact that I can't seem to forget other teams are actually good, and that they are in the division, and they recently accomplished great things. I can't just dismiss what everyone else has been building to accommodate for one player that's going to a team that has no culture, that has no history of winning as of late, whose coach we do not know is a good head coach, to all of these new additions (who) are all on paper and have not played together."
Again, these are valid points. Williams is an unproven player in the NFL, who hasn't yet played a snap in the league. There's no concrete evidence to suggest the Bears are ready to make the playoffs, outside of their value on paper.
But her claims of the Bears culture and recent win history are brash and unaccounted for claims. No one truly knows how the culture of a team is defined unless you're on the team. To try and claim the Bears culture isn't in place is a wild and shallow claim.
The Bears' record, too, is trending positive. They went from having the worst record in the NFL two seasons ago to a 7-10 record last season. Since Taylor used the Lions as an example, let's use them in this scenario, too. Three seasons ago they finished 3-13, then 9-8 two seasons ago, then 12-5 this season. That's a linear trajectory the Bears can follow.
Especially considering the Bears have made paradigm-shifting additions to their roster. They added Montez Sweat at the trade deadline, Keenan Allen, D'Andre Swift, Gerald Everett and Kevin Byard. Not to mention, they have another draft in front of them and a class behind them still developing.
Just like Taylor refuses the Lions and Packers are creating momentum, the Bears are, too.