LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears are feeling good about themselves, still knowing they can do better after a 4-2 start to the season.

That obviously applies to the state of Ben Johnson’s Bears as they head towards their seventh game.

Here’s an oddity: That same first sentence could’ve also applied to last year’s Bears. The 2024 version had the same record and a heightened level of optimism from a prolonged winning streak.

This 4-2 is far different than last year’s 4-2. Bears players who experienced both were clear about that. Their reasoning had nothing to do with hindsight. The 2024 Bears lost 10 straight games after that, with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus fired in-season.

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Quarterback Caleb Williams was a centerpiece in both 4-2 starts. He recalled a similar feeling in the moment, but found some procedural differences that mean a great deal and provide confidence in how this team will fare moving forward.

“I would say (they’re) similar in a way, obviously, just because you’re 4-2 and you’ve got things rolling,” Williams said after Sunday’s victory over New Orleans. “But, I think, at this moment, living in the known of, ‘if we do the right things throughout the week, if we practice the right ways, if we do enough studying and watch enough film, do all the right things, we’ve got the coaches, we’ve got the players, we’ve got the belief in each other, coaches, players, everybody, everybody inside that building, that we will come out with a win.’ I think that’s the difference.”

Williams is describing proof of concept in what the coaches are doing, how they’re preparing players and the culture in the building. There’s confidence in this: do it Ben Johnson’s way and good things will come.

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That was not the case last year. The Bears opened the year against some struggling teams. We can’t forget the Week 3 disaster in Indianapolis, where players were publicly demanding to be coached harder. There were some poor fits with coaches and players, most notably Waldron and most of the offensive players.

The Bears’ first four wins in 2024 – vs. Tennessee, Carolina, L.A. Rams and Jacksonville – came against teams with a combined 4-18 record at the time.

This year’s Bears have four wins against Dallas, Las Vegas, Washington and New Orleans, with a combined 8-18-1 record. The losses look the same, but these records come a week later in the season. Yes, the Saints and Raiders are struggling, but the Cowboys and Commanders are expected to contend.

There’s also the nature of how these Bears have won, finding ways to win close and tough games. They have come through in the clutch several times.

Safety Jaquan Brisker, who always leans toward honesty, said the relationship with coaches is night and day.

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“We have a different coaching staff, a couple different players on offense and defense and special teams,” Brisker said in a Monday press conference. “We’re closer.

“We’re actually closer – players and players-coach. I would say that, too. We’re on one line; everybody is on the same type of level. I feel it’s different. And obviously, we’re creating turnovers, things like that. We’re feeding off each other – special teams, offense, defense. And we really haven’t played a complete game on defense and special teams, and Coach Ben would probably say offense, too.”

Brisker brings up a great point about the relationship between players and top coaches. It’s not just the attention to detail and hard coaching they were looking for early last year. It comes in subtle ways.

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“Just the confidence they have in us, the way they talk to us during the week,” Brisker said. “They have confidence and you can tell the way they talk that they believe in us, that we’re gonna win, that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be clean. It can be ugly. We just have to find a way to win. As long as we stay together, as long as we keep doing our jobs and things like that, we’ll have a chance.”