The 2006 Chicago Bears season was their 87th regular season and 25th post-season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 13-3 regular season record, the best in the NFC, improving on their previous year’s record of 11-5. The Bears retained their NFC North divisional title, and won the National Football Conference Championship title against the New Orleans Saints, on January 21, 2007. The Bears played the Indianapolis Colts at Super Bowl XLI, where they lost 29-17. They finished the 2006 NFL season tied for second in points scored, and third in points allowed.

Due to the NFL's scheduling formula the Bears played 6 inter-division games, posting a record of 5-1. Because of rotating cycle scheduling, the Bears matched up against all four teams in the AFC East (going 2-2) and NFC West (going 4-0). In the remaining games, the Bears played the NFC's other reigning division winners, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants, posting a record of 2-0. During the entire season, the Bears played 10 games at home, 8 games on the road, and 1 game at a neutral field for the Super Bowl. Including the playoffs and Super Bowl, the Bears finished with a record of 15-4.

Noteworthy football stories for the 2006 season were replacing retired cornerback and kick returner Jerry Azumah, the quarterback controversy between productive but inconsistent and potentially fragile Rex Grossman and veteran free agent Brian Griese, the exciting and record setting returns by "Windy City Flier" Devin Hester, Bernard Berrian's breakout season, competition between the Bears' two top 10 picks at running back (Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones), 5th round draft pick Mark Anderson's 12 quarterback sacks as a rookie, and the proliferation of the phrase "Bear Weather."

Perhaps the most prevalent off-field occurrences were the actions taken by and against Tank Johnson and Ricky Manning, Jr. On December 14, 2006, Lake County police officers searched Johnson's home in Gurnee, Illinois, and discovered that he possessed six firearms, including two assault rifles. Johnson was charged with violation of probation and possessing unlicensed weapons. A Chicago media storm erupted shortly after when Johnson's bodyguard was shot and killed December 16th, after attending a club with him. Bears coach Lovie Smith deactivated Johnson for the following game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers based on the incidents. Speculation arose in Chicago that the Bears' defensive tackle would not be allowed either legally or by the team to travel to Miami to play in the Super Bowl, but he was ultimately allowed to play. Johnson eventually served 60 days in a Cook County jail because of the charges. Manning Jr. faced a similar situation that cost him a one game suspension. On April 23, 2006, two days after receiving an offer sheet from the Bears, Manning Jr. attacked a man in a Denny's restaurant after teasing him for working on a laptop computer. In September 2006, Manning pled no contest to felony assault in exchange for another probation deal, though later he proclaimed his innocence