Goals are subject to change, and the Bears spent the past week recalibrating their dreams.
The day players reported for training camp at the end of July, quarterback Justin Fields and new wide receiver DJ Moore sat side-by-side at a news conference and shared their grand expectations for the — theoretically — rebuilt Bears.
Moore did nothing but lose in his first five seasons with the Panthers and thought he was getting in on the ground floor of something special at Halas Hall. He was measured, however, and didn’t go any further than targeting a winning record and a playoff berth.
‘‘Like DJ said, .500 or better and make the playoffs and go from there,’’ Fields followed. ‘‘But, of course, everybody knows what the ultimate goal is, and that is to win a Super Bowl.’’
New policy at Halas Hall: The Bears aren’t allowed to say the words ‘‘Super Bowl’’ out loud unless they get clearance from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes first.
After losing decisively in their first three games, including a 41-10 humiliation at the hands of Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday, the Bears simply are trying to stop a runaway season from sliding into a ditch.
General manager Ryan Poles said last week he still feels ‘‘good about this roster on paper,’’ but he warned, ‘‘It doesn’t happen overnight.’’ Coach Matt Eberflus said after the game Sunday that the most important thing is to ‘‘keep this thing tight in our locker room,’’ then grasped for positives that happened during mop-up time.
Moore seemed far more realistic about where the Bears stand and laid out a new goal after the defeat.
‘‘Next we’ve got Denver, and then after that we’ve got the Commanders,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve gotta find a way to win those two and not be 0-5 or 0-4. That’s the whole message.’’
That won’t be easy. Even with the Broncos losing by 50 points Sunday to the Dolphins, they opened as three-point favorites over the Bears. There’s a good chance the Commanders will be favored at home Oct. 5, too.
‘‘Let’s not be 0-5’’wouldn’t be a very inspiring slogan for the Bears to print on T-shirts this week, but it’s ambitious from where they sit at the moment.
‘‘Us and Denver are in a similar position, coming off a pretty bad loss,’’ receiver Chase Claypool said. ‘‘So the next game will be a big determinant of what kind of team we are.’’
Fields held out hope Sunday by pointing to the Lions’ 1-6 start last season, from which they rallied to 9-8 and barely missed the playoffs.
‘‘All we need is one to get this thing going,’’ he said.
Had the Lions pulled that off, it would’ve been the second time in NFL history. It’s the narrowest window possible. Teams that start that badly usually just stay bad.
While there’s no such thing as an easy game for the Bears, their next four opponents are beatable. After the Broncos and Commanders, they host the Vikings (0-3) and Raiders (1-2).
The thing is, while the Bears view those as opportunities to get right, all those teams are looking at them the same way.
