🔥 HOT NEWS: The Bears Are 15th in Super Bowl Odds, and That Disrespect Feels Intentional ⚡.DH

The Chicago Bears just finished a season that should have changed how the league looks at them. Apparently, it didn’t.

Despite reaching the Divisional Round and showing real staying power in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions, the Bears have opened the 2026 season sitting 15th in DraftKings’ Super Bowl odds. Not top ten. Not fringe contender. Fifteenth.

That placement matters more than it seems.

At +2500, Chicago is grouped with teams still trying to figure out who they are — wedged between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cincinnati Bengals. The message is subtle but unmistakable: last season might’ve been nice, but don’t expect a repeat.

That’s a strange conclusion to draw after everything we just watched.

The Bears didn’t stumble into the playoffs. They survived the NFC North, navigated a brutal conference, and lost in the Divisional Round without ever looking overwhelmed by the moment. This wasn’t smoke and mirrors. It was structure.

Yet the betting markets are acting as if Chicago barely belongs in the conversation. Seattle and the Rams sit atop the board at +950. Chicago sits closer to irrelevance than contention.

It’s hard not to notice the pattern.

Ben Johnson gets snubbed for Coach of the Year. Caleb Williams keeps getting “re-evaluated” whenever the quarterback class is discussed. And now this — a set of odds that quietly implies Chicago might not even be a playoff team next year.

That kind of skepticism usually has a reason. This time, it feels like habit.

The NFC was stronger than the AFC in 2025. The Bears played a tougher schedule than most. And still, they held their ground. Writing them off now requires ignoring context — and ignoring growth.

Oddly enough, that might be the best thing that could’ve happened.

Johnson isn’t wired to accept neutrality,. He feeds on friction. The more resistance he senses, the deeper he goes into the lab. And Williams, already showing elite poise for a young quarterback, has proven he responds better to doubt than praise.

This team doesn’t need hype. It needs fuel.

Chicago’s offensive core is young, dynamic, and improving. Williams took tangible steps forward late in the season, especially in managing pressure and protecting the football. The system around him held. The floor rose.

What’s left is obvious — and fixable.

The defense needs upgrades. Pressure needs to be more consistent. Depth needs refinement. None of that requires a teardown. It requires intent.

Vegas, intentionally or not, just handed the Bears something dangerous: invisibility.

Being ranked 15th means no spotlight. No burden of expectation. No weekly “prove it” games — at least not externally. Internally, it’s the opposite. Every number on that board is now material.

Teams with fragile confidence hate being overlooked. Teams with sharp edges lean into it.

Chicago doesn’t look fragile.

The irony is that oddsmakers are often most accurate when they’re least imaginative. They trust track records. They discount momentum. They prefer stability over trajectory.

The Bears don’t fit that model yet.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t.

If Chicago tightens the defense and lets its offense evolve naturally, 15th will look absurd by midseason. And if it doesn’t happen, the skepticism will feel justified.

That’s the gamble Vegas is making.

The Bears, meanwhile, are making a different one — that being doubted again is exactly what they needed.

And if there’s one thing history has shown, it’s this: giving a disciplined, angry team extra motivation is rarely a smart bet.