2018 Chicago Bears season
The 2018 season was the Chicago Bears' 99th season in the National Football League, as well as the first under head coach Matt Nagy, who took over the job after John Fox was fired in 2017 following a three-year tenure.
2018 marked the Bears' first winning season since 2012 and their first playoff appearance since 2010. The Bears ensured improvement over their 5–11 record from the previous season in Week 10 when they defeated their division rival Detroit Lions. In Week 12, they scored their eighth win of the season, also against the Lions, ensuring that the Bears would not have a losing season for the first time since 2013. With a Week 14 win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Bears clinched their first winning season since 2012. With their Week 15 win over the rival Green Bay Packers, the Bears clinched their first playoff berth and division title since 2010. They finished the season 12–4 with a win over the Minnesota Vikings. Mitch Trubisky became the first Bears quarterback to make it to a Pro Bowl since Jim McMahon did so in their Super Bowl XX-winning 1985 season.
The season ended in disappointment as they lost to the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who they had helped get into the playoffs in the last game of the season, in the NFC Wild Card Game 16–15 on January 6, 2019, at Soldier Field after Cody Parkey's game-winning field goal was blocked and hit the crossbar twice as time expired, which was the first time since 2005 that the Bears went one-and-done and their first Wild Card playoff loss since 1991. The Bears did not have another winning season or division title until 2025.
Offseason
Organizational changes
On January 1, 2018, head coach John Fox was fired after spending three seasons with the Bears, compiling a 14–34 record. Two days later, the Bears began interviewing for the position starting with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, followed by Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards, Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback coach John DeFilippo, and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. The day after his interview, Nagy was ultimately hired as the 16th head coach in franchise history.Nagy's first assistant coach hiring was Harry Hiestand as offensive line coach, joining the team on January 10; Hiestand had spent the last six seasons with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the same position, while also working as the OL coach for the Bears from 2005 to 2009. Two days later, the Bears replaced offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who departed the Bears to join the Miami Dolphins in the same position on January 4, with former Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich, while also hiring three new coaches: former Bears assistants Chris Tabor and Charles London as special teams and running backs coaches, respectively, and Mike Furrey as wide receivers coach. Tabor served as an assistant special teams coach with the team from 2008 to 2010 before joining the Cleveland Browns as the special teams coordinator, while London had spent the last three seasons as the running backs coach of the Houston Texans. A former wide receiver, Furrey was Nagy's New York Dragons teammate in the Arena Football League in 2002, which was followed by an eight-year NFL career, including a 2006 campaign in which he ranked second in the league in receptions with 98; he was most recently the head coach of the Limestone Saints football team. During the day, Fangio signed a three-year extension to remain in Chicago. On January 13, the Bears hired New York Giants tight ends coach Kevin M. Gilbride to serve in the same role. Brock Olivo, a former colleague of Nagy in Kansas City and Denver Broncos special teams coordinator, joined the Bears as an assistant special teams coach on January 19.
In January, head trainer Nate Breske was released by the team, as were strength coaches Jason George and Rick Perry. In their places, the Bears hired Browns trainer Andre Tucker and Washington State University strength and conditioning coach Jason Loscalzo, respectively.
On February 27, the Bears formally announced their full staff, with every defensive coach returning to their posts for the 2018 season. Other newcomers included Brad Childress as a senior offensive consultant, Donovan Raiola as assistant offensive line coach, Brian Ginn and Mike Snyder as offensive quality control coaches, Shane Toub as an offensive assistant, and Bill Shuey as defensive quality control coach. Childress was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings before joining the Chiefs in 2013, and served as their co-offensive coordinator alongside Nagy in 2016. He had intended to retire after 2017, but elected to rejoin Nagy in Chicago. A former center, Raiola was on the Bears' practice squad in 2009 and worked with Hiestand in Chicago before following him to Notre Dame as a graduate assistant for two years. Ginn was Nagy's wide receiver at Delaware before becoming a coach for the school. Shuey was a colleague of Nagy's during their tenures with the Eagles and was most recently working as the Widener Pride's defensive coordinator. Toub, the son of Chiefs and former Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub, was a graduate assistant for the Illinois Fighting Illini under ex-Bears head coach Lovie Smith in 2017.
Roster changes
The Bears entered free agency with 25 free agents, including 19 unrestricted, four restricted, and two exclusive rights free agents.Acquisitions
On January 1, the Bears signed wide receivers Demarcus Ayers, Tanner Gentry, and Mekale McKay, offensive linemen Travis Averill and Will Pericak, tight end Colin Thompson, and defensive back Doran Grant to reserve/futures contracts. Nine days later, Montreal Alouettes cornerback Jonathon Mincy signed with the Bears; in 32 games in the Canadian Football League, Mincy recorded 108 tackles with three interceptions and two forced fumbles. He was named to the Eastern Division All-Star team in 2017.The NFL's legal tampering window, during which teams could negotiate with incoming unrestricted free agents, opened on March 12. During the period, wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, tight end Trey Burton, and kicker Cody Parkey expressed their intentions to sign with the Bears. Robinson tore an anterior cruciate ligament in the first game of 2017 with the Jacksonville Jaguars; in the three prior years, he recorded 2,831 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns, and was named to the 2015 Pro Bowl. During the 2017 Atlanta Falcons season, Gabriel caught 33 passes for 378 yards and a touchdown. Burton, who played for the Eagles in 2017, had 23 receptions for 248 yards and five scores. In Super Bowl LII, he threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles. Parkey, who worked with Tabor during his tenure with the Browns, converted 21 of 23 field goals with the Miami Dolphins in 2017. The four signings were officially announced on March 14.
When free agency began on March 14, quarterback Chase Daniel signed a two-year deal with the Bears; Daniel worked with Nagy in Kansas City, establishing himself as a liked backup quarterback with the Chiefs and New Orleans Saints. During the so-called second wave of free agency a few days later, the Bears signed defensive end/linebacker Aaron Lynch from the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Tyler Bray from the Chiefs. Lynch, who played with Fangio in his 2014 rookie season, registered six sacks in his rookie campaign and 12.5 in his first two NFL seasons before a PED suspension and calf injury cut his production the last two years. Bray was Alex Smith's backup in Kansas City under Nagy.
On April 3, Arizona Cardinals guard Earl Watford signed with the Bears, becoming the third ex-Cardinal on Chicago's offensive line alongside Bradley Sowell and Bobby Massie.
Departures
On February 20, the Bears announced they were releasing linebacker Jerrell Freeman and declining a 2018 option on offensive lineman Josh Sitton; in 2017, Freeman was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in the first game of the year, followed by a ten-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. Sitton missed the last two games of the season with an ankle injury. Six days later, linebacker Pernell McPhee and safety Quintin Demps were cut. McPhee recorded 14 sacks in three seasons with the Bears, but also struggled with injuries. Demps was benched following the emergence of Eddie Jackson and Adrian Amos as the new starters during the 2017 season. Outside linebacker Willie Young, who only played four games in 2017 due to a torn triceps, was released on February 28. Cornerback Marcus Cooper was released on March 14, but was brought back by the team thirteen days later on a one-year contract; he started the first four games of the 2017 season before suffering a back injury and losing his starting spot.During free agency, various free agents signed with other teams. On March 15, linebacker Christian Jones and kicker Cairo Santos signed with the Detroit Lions and New York Jets, respectively; in 2017, Jones set career highs in tackles and sacks in addition to forcing and recovering a fumble. Santos played two games for the Bears before suffering reaggravating a groin injury. Defensive end Mitch Unrein, who recorded 32 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 2017, was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on March 16. Andrew DePaola joined the Oakland Raiders for 2018 and became the highest-paid long snapper in the league. On March 22, offensive lineman Tom Compton, who started five games at guard for the Bears in 2017, signed with the Minnesota Vikings, with receiver Kendall Wright doing the same eight days later. In early April, wide receiver and restricted free agent Cameron Meredith was offered a two-year, $10 million contract by the New Orleans Saints, which the Bears elected to not match after five days.