Picking the Bears’ final 2020 record

The Sun-Times’ experts predict the Bears’ final record:

RICK MORRISSEY

Record: 8-8

See if this sounds familiar. The Bears have a very good defense and a not very good offense. The same issues that plagued the team last season appear to be loitering. The quarterback again is Mitch Trubisky, who had a poor 2019 but did enough in a bland training camp to beat out Nick Foles. Trubisky doesn’t have a great offensive line or a group of outstanding receivers. The defense has Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Jackson and newcomer Robert Quinn, among others. There’s a real have-and-have-not dynamic going on here. Again.

RICK TELANDER

Record: 10-6

In this season like no other, predictions are pretty much like target darts thrown in a late-night, drunken bar. (Those used to exist, right?) Yet the Bears seem — operative word: seem — to have a lot going for them. Quinn and Mack sound like a law firm. If they bookend foe quarterbacks with a devastating rush, the Bears could have a legally great defense. Offense? Who knows? If Trubisky fails at the helm, Foles seems capable. He won a Super Bowl, after all. So did the Bears — 35 years ago.

PATRICK FINLEY

Record: 8-8

The Bears have built a brilliant defense. When healthy, they have the league’s best edge rusher, one of its top-three safeties, a top-five defensive tackle and a top-10 cornerback — all in their primes. All the offense needs to do is upgrade to merely-not-a-tire-fire to produce a playoff team. The NFL added one extra playoff team per conference, remember? The bet here, though, is they fall just short.

JASON LIESER

Record: 8-8

Let me stress that this is an optimistic projection that has them opening 3-0, winning a game at Tennessee and going 3-3 in their division. The Bears have tough draws in the Buccaneers, Saints and Colts, difficult road games against the Rams and Titans and there’s no solid evidence they’re better than the Vikings and Packers. They have major questions at quarterback, tight end, offensive line and kicker. But if finishing .500 again sounds dreary, keep two things in mind: 1. It could get a lot worse, and 2. Going 8-8 might get them in the playoffs.

MARK POTASH

Record: 9-7

Just as the Bears with Trubisky and that 29th-ranked offense look like an expected win to their opponents, the Bears’ schedule has plenty of winnable games at this point — including the likely improved Colts and Buccaneers. Last year the Bears could have started 5-0 but went 3-2 — and it made a difference. If the Bears’ defense can avoid injuries, their offense could either turn them into Super Bowl contenders if coach Matt Nagy is the real deal, or drag them into the muck. No promises, but an age-old mantra could play in their favor: Never underestimate the mediocrity of the NFL.