The Chicago Bears surprised many NFL observers by winning the NFC North this season. Of course, repeating that feat is often more challenging than achieving it once. Fortunately for Caleb Williams and his teammates, two of their arch rivals will head into their 2026 campaigns without elite defensive coordinators that made them so hard to play against in 2025.
The Bears knocked the Packers out of the playoffs with a miraculous late-game victory, but Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley still gave their offense challenges. That's why the news that he's headed to Miami to become the Dolphins' new head coach is such good news to fans in Chicago.
The Vikings only managed to scrape out nine wins this year, but defensive coordinator Brian Flores deserves a ton of credit for any success his team achieved. The offense sputtered all season long with uneven quarterback play which put the defense under immense pressure on a weekly basis.
Flores has a real chance of turning that success into succeeding Mike Tomlin as the Steelers' new head coach. Reports indicate he'll return to Minnesota if he doesn't secure a head coaching job this offseason, but the Steelers are interviewing him this week. At the very least, he's a serious candidate to take over the reins in Pittsburgh.
How much does this actually help the Bears?
The departure of high-profile defensive coordinators won't sink either the Packers or Vikings, but it will cause each franchise to retool things on that side of the ball. Given just how tight things are in the NFC North that could be enough to tip things back into Chicago's direction for another season.
Green Bay does seem to be the better franchise of the pair to survive losing their defensive architect. Hafley did a terrific job covering up for a lack of talent on his side of the ball with the Packers, but the franchise sitll returns an explosive offense triggered by quarterback Jordan Love. It's hard to envision a scenario where Green Bay's offense is not explosive enough to keep them in the mix for a division title unless the defense falls off a cliff.
Things with the Vikings are a bit more fragile if they do lose Flores to the Steelers. Unlike Green Bay, they have major issues to sort out on the offensive side of the ball. J.J. McCarthy struggled mightily with injuries last year and was not productive enough when he was able to stay on the field. If Minnesota doesn't get things right at quarterback they will need their defense to be elite if they want to challenge for an NFC North title. They would need to land an elite replacement for Flores to harbor any legitimate hopes of doing so if he departs.
None of this removes the need for the Bears to continue to improve their roster ahead of next season, but it does do serious damage to two of their division rivals. The NFC North can be swayed via fine margins and these two data points do move the needle in Chicago's favor.