With NFL Week One right around the corner, prediction season is in full swing. Analysts, hosts, and content creators alike are setting the record straight for what they expect to see in 2026. Among them is UP & Adams host Kay Adams, who made her Super Bowl LXI prediction clear.
“Here is my Super Bowl matchup…[Denver] Broncos…[Chicago] Bears,” Adams stated.
Just a single season into Chicago’s Ben Johnson era, the team is already a true contender.
“For the Bears, I’m trying to be pragmatic. They were a game away from being in the NFC Championship last year. They had the 29th-ranked defense, an offense that wasn’t always consistent, and I think last year was just a little aperitif for Caleb Williams. I think it was one of those things that needed to happen for him to have the offseason he did. To lean out, to refocus, to rededicate- blood in the water, whatever you want to say. To go through a bit of that heartbreak maybe. To get him on the path for what’s bigger and better for him, and he knows right there.”
Kay Adams Expects Caleb Williams To Be In The Running For MVP
“2026, I think, is like the main course, not the appetizer”, Adams said for Caleb Williams.
“[He] very much will challenge Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and Lamar [Jackson] for MVP. I believe that.”
While each candidate Adams listed is at the top of the Most Valuable Player candidates for the upcoming season, Josh Allen is the current favorite.
Williams broke the Bears’ single-season passing record in 2025, throwing for 3,942 yards. He also scored 30 total touchdowns while leading Chicago to an NFC North title for the first time since 2018.
For Williams to surpass the current MVP odds list, he’d have to cross 4,000 passing yards, a feat that has never happened in Chicago, and score more than 40 touchdowns.
CBS Sports writer Douglas Clawson boldly predicted the Bears offense to eclipse the 2013 Denver Broncos mark of 37.9 points per game. That feat would certainly have Williams as top dog for the best player in the NFL.
While the offense is expected to do the heavy lifting, the defense will certainly still need to carry its own weight.
Chicago Bears Defense Give Kay Adams Pause On Super Bowl Prediction
“The defense, I hope, is better. I have questions,” Adams stated.
“This is the non-pragmatic thing: like, ‘how are you going to stop people?’ I want to see it…They do have revamped secondary.”
Unfortunately for Chicago, the “revamped secondary” Adams mentioned has been ravaged by injuries. Their big free-agent signing, Coby Bryant, is out for four to six months following knee surgery, and Kyler Gordon was put on the PUP list with no designation to return for a calf injury.
Rookie defensive backs Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad, along with Bears veterans Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson, will have to hold together Chicago’s back end while their young front seven hopes to set the tone.
If the Bears defense can hold their own, the team’s Super Bowl chances are in a good spot. If not, Williams will almost certainly have to be the MVP for the team to have a shot at a title.
Bears QB Caleb Williams Predicted To Challenge Josh Allen In 2026 Ahead Of Season Opener