Die-Hard Bears Fan Jake Johnson Predicts Chicago’s 2026 Record Will Be…?

Jake Johnson calls himself the show's Bears insider, which is a title you earn through suffering rather than credentials. Rich handed him the 2026 schedule and let him run the win-loss game.

He came out at 12-5. And he did not get there by homering his way through it.

The start was easy. Johnson took Chicago at Carolina to open, then the Vikings at home, and Rich had him at 2-0 before the first real test arrived.

That test was the Monday nighter against Philadelphia, and this is where Johnson proved he was playing it straight.

"We slapped them so bad last year that they're going to be coming ready," he said. "So I'm not going to do this like a true goober. I'm going to try to do this right. I'm going to say Philly at home might take us on Monday night."

He barely paused before restoring order. "Don't even look at week four. We're winning that game," he said of the Jets visiting Chicago, and then he went to Green Bay and took that one too, noting the Packers do not have Parsons yet and might not until week six.

Rich immediately flagged what a road win at Lambeau would mean for the postgame handshake, which is now an annual event unto itself.

"It's going to get a little ugly," Johnson said. He also expects Matt LaFleur to have something planned. "LaFleur's going to make an adjustment. He's had all off season. I bet he doesn't even walk over. It's going to be petty, but something's going to happen."

Atlanta went in the win column, and Johnson took the Thursday night game against New England to get to 6-1, even while admitting he likes Drake Maye and likes what the Patriots have built.

Then reality. Johnson gave Seattle the Monday nighter to make it 6-2. Chicago beat up the Bucs, then beat up the Saints, which he framed as personal business given who is calling the defense in Chicago now.

"Dennis Allen's your DC," Rich said, and Johnson did not need it spelled out further. "It's a personal game. It matters. We're going to beat them up."

That got him to 8-2, and then Thanksgiving got him.

"Detroit, for some reason, they're going to beat us," Johnson said. "We had a really hard time with them last year. There's something going on with them and us."

From there he ran off Jacksonville and Miami, hit the Bills in western New York and folded, and gave a reason that was hard to argue with. The weather, and where Josh Allen is going to be by then.

Christmas night against Green Bay in Chicago got his attention. "This is going to be a big one, and we're going to win this one," he said, completing the season sweep of the Packers.

He beat the Lions at home to reach 12-4, and then did the thing homers never do. Johnson predicted Chicago would sit its starters in week 18 and lose.

Twelve and five.

"That's very reasonable," Rich said. "I think it's pretty close."

The obvious follow-up is whether 12-5 wins the NFC North. Rich thinks it might, and pointed out that the Packers sweep puts the tiebreaker in Chicago's back pocket. He is not sure Green Bay can get to 13-4.

Then Johnson volunteered the team that actually scares him, and it was not Seattle.

The Rams. Because of Myles Garrett.

Rich took the bit one step further and floated Aaron Donald deciding he wants back in, at which point Johnson issued a formal ban.

"He's not allowed to come," Johnson said. "Treat SoFi like it's the kitchen. You're not allowed to step in it."

His actual argument was a salary cap argument, and it was a real one. How many offensive linemen can you pay if you are paying Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald?

Rich's answer was that they will figure it out. Johnson's answer was that it is too much.

One of them is a Bears fan, so you can guess which.