Numbers are weird. They tell a story, sure, but in Chicago, they usually scream. If you look at the record of the Chicago Bears, you aren't just looking at a win-loss column; you’re looking at a century-long tug-of-war between greatness and "wait, what just happened?"
Honestly, the stats are staggering. The Bears were the first NFL franchise to hit 800 total victories. That happened recently, and it's a massive deal. Yet, if you talk to any guy wearing a Ditka sweater at a beef stand, they'll tell you it feels like they’ve lost a million games lately. It’s a paradox. You’ve got a team with more Hall of Famers than almost anyone else, yet they went through a brutal stretch where double-digit loss seasons felt like the new normal.
The 2025 Turnaround and Why the Record of the Chicago Bears Changed Everything
The 2025 season was a fever dream. After a miserable 5-12 finish in 2024, nobody—and I mean nobody—expected them to flip the script so fast. But they did. Under new head coach Ben Johnson, the Bears clawed their way to an 11-6 record, clinching the NFC North for the first time since 2018.
It wasn't just about winning; it was how they did it. Caleb Williams, in his second year, finally had a line that didn't collapse like a cardboard box in a rainstorm. They added Joe Thuney to that offensive front, and suddenly Williams had time to actually find DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. The kid threw for nearly 4,000 yards. In Chicago! We haven't seen passing numbers like that since... well, basically never.
The defense was a takeaway machine. Kevin Byard was a ball hawk back there, snagging seven interceptions. When you look at the record of the Chicago Bears from this past year, the most impressive part is that they won the division despite going 2-4 in divisional games. That's statistically bizarre. They are the first team since the 2010 Chiefs to pull off a division title while losing more games than they won against their own rivals. It’s kind of hilarious, actually.
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A Century of Wins and the Rivalry With Green Bay
Let’s zoom out. The all-time record of the Chicago Bears is a heavy piece of history. As of early 2026, the regular-season count stands at roughly 800 wins, 671 losses, and 42 ties.
- Total Games Played: Over 1,500.
- Winning Percentage: It hovers around .540.
- The Green Bay Problem: For decades, the Bears held the record for the most wins in NFL history. Then the Packers happened. Aaron Rodgers happened. Now, Green Bay has moved ahead in total wins, which is a bitter pill for anyone in Cook County to swallow.
The ties are the most interesting part. 42 ties? That's the most in the NFL. It speaks to an era where football was basically a muddy wrestling match that ended when everyone got too tired to move.
Breaking Down the Winningest Coaches
If you want to understand why the record of the Chicago Bears looks the way it does, you have to look at the three pillars of the sideline.
First, there’s "Papa Bear" George Halas. He won 318 games. That is a number that feels fake. He coached for forty years across four different stints. He didn't just coach the team; he basically invented the league. His .677 winning percentage is the gold standard that every coach in Chicago is measured against, usually to their detriment.
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Then comes Mike Ditka. The 1985 season is the peak of the record of the Chicago Bears. 15-1. A defense that gave offensive coordinators actual nightmares. Ditka finished his Chicago tenure with 106 wins. People remember the Super Bowl, but they forget that the Bears were a dominant force for the entire mid-80s, consistently racking up 10-win seasons.
Lovie Smith is the third guy. He gets a lot of retrospective love now because of how much the team struggled after he left. Lovie went 81-63. He had that "bend but don't break" defense that led to a Super Bowl appearance in 2006. Since he was let go after a 10-6 season (which is wild to think about now), the record of the Chicago Bears has been a bit of a rollercoaster.
The Modern Era Struggle (2011-2024)
Between Lovie Smith and the 2025 explosion, things got dark. You had the Marc Trestman era, which was... an experience. Then John Fox, then Matt Nagy, then Matt Eberflus.
The 2022 season was the statistical floor. 3-14. It was the worst record of the Chicago Bears in the modern era. But that failure is exactly what allowed them to draft Caleb Williams. It’s that "burn it down to build it up" philosophy that Ryan Poles stuck to. The 2024 season was a transition—5-12 doesn't look good on paper, but Caleb Williams set a franchise rookie record for total yards with 4,007. The seeds were there.
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Why the Record of the Chicago Bears Actually Matters for the Future
Most people think a record is just a reflection of the past. In Chicago, it’s a weight. The city expects a certain "Monster of the Midway" identity. When the record of the Chicago Bears shows a defense that can't stop the run or a quarterback getting sacked 68 times (like Williams was in 2024), the fan base loses its collective mind.
But look at the 2025 stats again. They ranked 9th in the league in points scored. They were 1st in rushing yards at one point. This isn't your grandfather’s "three yards and a cloud of dust" Bears team. They are becoming a modern scoring machine.
The record is also about the postseason. The Bears have 19 championships if you count the pre-merger era. They have one Super Bowl ring. That’s the number that haunts the franchise. An 11-6 regular season is great, and winning the Wild Card round 31-27 against the Packers in January 2026 was pure catharsis, but the record won't feel "complete" to this city until there's another trophy in the building.
Notable Statistical Milestones
- Walter Payton's Legacy: He finished with 16,726 rushing yards. That's a huge part of the franchise's identity.
- The 1985 Defense: They allowed only 198 points all season. To put that in perspective, the 2025 Bears defense allowed 415.
- Caleb Williams' 2025: 3,942 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions. That is arguably the best statistical season by a Bears QB in history.
The record of the Chicago Bears is finally trending upward after a decade of stagnation. The transition from a 5-win team to an 11-win division champion is one of the fastest turnarounds in the league's recent history.
If you're tracking the Bears' success, don't just look at the win-loss total. Look at the sack numbers. Look at the turnover margin. In 2025, they were +22 in turnover ratio. That’s why they won. They stopped beating themselves.
To stay on top of how the record of the Chicago Bears is evolving, keep an eye on the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft and the free agency moves regarding the defensive line. Sustaining an 11-win pace requires a more consistent pass rush than the 24 sacks they produced last year. You should also watch the development of the young secondary; if they continue to lead the league in interceptions, the Bears will be a perennial playoff fixture for the next five years.