Sitting at 6-3 and the sixth seed in the NFC just over halfway through the NFL season, it appears that there is meaningful football to be played heading into and throughout December for the Chicago Bears. But is a playoff appearance for the first time since 2021 feasible?
Taken Care of Business Thus Far
Through their first nine games, the Bears have had the easiest strength of schedule in the league at just .351, including a .271 strength of victory.
In other words, Chicago has passed the trial run and defeated their lesser opponents. This includes the 3-5-1 Cowboys, 2-7 Raiders, 3-7 Commanders, 2-8 Saints, 3-6 Bengals, and 2-8 Giants.
Many of these wins have come down to the wire toward the end, and luck has very much been on the Bears’ side. Their most recent victory this past Sunday against the Giants, for example, required a miraculous 10-point comeback with under five minutes remaining. This featured two clutch, poised drives from Caleb Williams, which showed great growth from the sophomore quarterback.
The Raiders, Commanders, and Bengals also came down to last-minute plays. After the Bengals game, coach Ben Johnson said, “You don’t apologize for winning in this league.”
Johnson has a point, since on any given Sunday, every team has a chance to win. Ultimately, it’s on the players and coaching staff to execute.
Thus far, nobody should fault Chicago for simply playing who is in front of them. And the Bears are unapologetic about being in the thick of a playoff race.
Much Harder Here on Out
With that being said, the real test starts now.
The Bears are tied for the third-hardest remaining strength of schedule in the league at .562. This includes home games against the:
- 5-4 Steelers (Week 12)
- 2-7 Browns (Week 15)
- 5-3-1 Packers (Week 16)
- 6-3 Lions (Week 18).
And away games against the:
- 4-5 Vikings (Week 11)
- 7-2 Eagles (Week 13)
- 5-3-1 Packers (Week 14)
- 6-4 49ers (Week 17).
Chicago has already lost games against the Vikings (Week 1) and the Lions (Week 2) this season. The Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champions, the 49ers made the Super Bowl the year prior without much roster turnover, the Packers have “owned” the Bears within the last decade (17-3 in the last decade), and the Steelers now have the quarterback who self-proclaimed that he “owns” the Bears.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1449824886063603714?s=20
The Browns should be the only “sure” win. Even with their 2-7 record, however, they have given teams fits throughout the season, including defeating the Packers in Week 3. Again, any given Sunday.
Needless to say, Chicago will need to find another level against this better competition rather than barely scraping by against mainly bottom-feeder teams.
Optimism for Second Half of Season
That, however, is the glass-half-empty outlook. For all these games, there are viable reasons for having confidence in the Bears.
- Vikings: Johnson’s first-ever game as head coach. Also, the Bears held a 10-point lead against the Vikings in the fourth quarter.
- Lions: Johnson’s first road game. It also came against his old team, which likely knew his strategy and play-calling tendencies.
- Eagles: lost against the New York Giants earlier this season, who the Bears just defeated.
- 49ers: decimated by injuries, many of which are season-ending.
- Packers: slumping as of late (two losses in a row) with bad losses to the Browns and Panthers.
- Steelers: Rodgers is older and not the same player as he was when he tormented the Bears.
- Browns: widely regarded as a less-talented team than the Bears.
It is wildly unrealistic to expect Chicago to win all of these games, and even splitting the eight games and going 4-4 could be a challenge. There are likely eleven teams still competing and vying for one of the seven playoff spots, as seen in the image below (this was before Monday Night Football, which the Packers lost and fell to the seventh seed, and the Lions rose to the third seed).
https://twitter.com/WatchMarquee/status/1987713668688019950?s=20
Would a 10-7 record be good enough? Who knows. It likely depends on who they beat, as the 49ers game, the Vikings game, and the two games against the Packers have the most relevance to the playoff picture.
One thing that is for certain, though? This Chicago team has no quit. They have proved that time and time again, and expect them to continue that trend in a pivotal game on Sunday against Minnesota.
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