The story of Chicago Bears offensive lineman Charles Leno proposing to his girlfriend after the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday was fun.

But pay special attention to what he said when asked if he would have still proposed had Chicago lost.

“I knew we would win,” Leno said, according to Bears sideline reporter Mark Grote.

That’s a good line after you’ve already won, but there’s a message attached. The Bears don’t seem to view this wildly successful season, which now includes an NFC North championship, as a temporary thing. Nor should they. They expected to beat the Packers, and rightfully so. It has been a long time since they could feel that way.

It might just be the beginning. The Bears have the pieces to win the division next season, and the season after that, and maybe a couple more after that. This isn’t a fluke.

Chicago didn’t even play its best game on Sunday and still won 24-17. A failed fake punt in the middle of the field was probably ill-advised, but give head coach Matt Nagy credit for staying true to his aggressive style. The Bears fumbled away a Tarik Cohen-to-Jordan Howard handoff on a tricky play. The Bears’ mistakes kept the Packers in the game. At no point, though, did the Packers seem like the better team.

It was similar to Week 11 in Chicago, when the Vikings were clearly outclassed by the Bears.

A few weeks ago, when Aaron Rodgers was trying to rally his team, he spoke about the steps for winning out and making the playoffs, and that included “go to Chicago, a place we’ve won a number of times, beat them.” The Packers had won eight in a row at Chicago. The days of the Packers, Vikings or both counting on a couple wins against the Bears each season seem to be over. The Packers’ chances at upsetting the Bears (that line would have seemed odd three months ago) basically ended late in the fourth quarter when safety Eddie Jackson picked off Rodgers, snapping his NFL record streak of passes without an interception. It was fitting.

“It was special as hell. I’m not going to lie,” Bears defensive lineman Akiem Hicks said, according to Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “I’m not going to sit here and lie to you guys and say I didn’t enjoy taking it. Green Bay is not our friend.”

Chicago’s success this season is surprising only because it came earlier than expected. It was easy to be optimistic about the future, once the Bears were freed of John Fox and his overmatched staff. The Bears had a tremendous offseason, culminating with the Khalil Mack heist. It seemed this could be a growth season for them, then they would be a problem for the rest of the division in 2019 and beyond.

They instead arrived this season. And they’re not going anywhere.

Every significant Bears skill-position player is 27 years old or younger. Of the team’s top 13 tacklers, only three are older than 27: Hicks, linebacker Danny Trevathan and cornerback Prince Amukamara — and none of them have hit their 30th birthday. It’s a young team with a young dynamic head coach in Nagy. They’re the best team in the NFC North this season and they’re going to get better. Having Mitchell Trubisky on his rookie contract for a couple more years helps their flexibility.

That’s a scary thought for the Packers and Vikings (the Lions need to get much better before they’re worried about who’s the top team in the division). Maybe Green Bay makes a grand-slam coaching hire and rebounds right away, or the Vikings figure out how to beat a good team over the offseason. But it sure didn’t seem like the Bears’ division title on Sunday will be the last one for this group.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy celebrates after clinching an NFC North title on Sunday. (AP) More

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 15 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

Indianapolis Colts: There’s no need to panic about the Dallas Cowboys. Last week was virtually a playoff game for them. They beat the Eagles in overtime, practically clinching the NFC East title, yet they had no shot at a first-round bye in the NFC. It’s no surprise they were flat Sunday.