The perpetual “next year” for which Chicago Bears backers have waited for nearly four decades was supposed to be this year.

Instead, a fan base giddy over the Bears’ appearance on a certain HBO-NFL Films collaboration merely three months ago is repeating an unwanted, unscheduled lesson at The School of Hard Knocks.

The Bears drag a five-game losing streak into Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day matinee at league-leading Detroit, baggage that continues to cloud a 4-2 start. If there’s optimism, it’s the cautious kind, and it has nothing to do with 2024—just the man who wears jersey No. 18.

Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams shined during his team’s latest defeat Sunday, passing for 340 yards and two touchdowns in an overtime loss to the NFC-contending Minnesota Vikings. As conventional wisdom suggests another coaching change may be afoot, at least the Bears know the new guy will have an improving and exciting Williams in tow.

Chicago trailed by 14 points entering the fourth quarter against Minnesota and was down 11 with 1:56 to play, but Williams rallied the team to force OT, making gutsy throws to lead two scoring drives down the stretch.

“He had me nervous a little bit,” Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison said. “I’ve seen him do some crazy things, so I was just crossing my fingers, hoping that it went our way.”

Indeed, Addison played alongside Williams at USC, where the quarterback won the 2022 Heisman Trophy to bolster a reputation and resume that helped him get drafted No. 1 overall in April.

As such, Chicago traded another would-be, franchise-resurrecting QB in Justin Fields to clear a path for Williams while acquiring and drafting a stable of skill position players.

Keenan Allen. D’Andre Swift. Rome Odunze.

That the bumbling Matt Eberflus remained the coach that shepherded Williams into the organization didn’t seem to matter to Bears brass. As with “Hard Knocks,” though, reality ultimately unspooled. Chicago lost in Washington in Week 8 on a Hail Mary at the gun and had a potential game-winning field goal blocked as time expired on a Week 11 loss to Green Bay.

In between, amid fans’ calls for his own dismissal, Eberflus (14-31 in two-plus seasons) fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after a 19-3 home loss to once-punchless New England.

In stepped Thomas Brown, whose alliance with Williams has harbored hope. After compiling a passer rating of 81 during Waldron’s nine games as OC, Williams has a rating of 95 in two games under Brown’s tutelage, narrow losses to the Packers and Vikings.

“He has a certain aura to him that he just allows you to play free,” Williams said of Brown. “He knows what he wants. You know he knows what he wants. Whether it’s checks, alerts, all of that, we still have a bunch of those, all these different things. Being able to play free.”

Suppose the success continues against a rugged schedule that still has road stops against every team in the league’s toughest division, the NFC North?

What if there’s a new regime this offseason?

What if Brown isn’t someone a new Chicago coach wants on his staff?

Bears fans—the ones dressed in Mike Ditka cosplay and otherwise—might be wise to let those questions slide for now.

Many know all too well where pondering the future gets them.