Chicago Bears Got Some Favorable Draft News To Start Week 15

The Chicago Bears fanbase doesn't have much to look forward to for the rest of the season outside of one thing. They can monitor the draft position of their top picks in 2023. Everybody is focused on the 1st round selection for obvious reasons. A bad enough record and a win by Denver in the final four weeks could hand them the #2 overall pick. However, attention is also being paid to the 2nd round. Having traded away their own to Pittsburgh for Chase Claypool, the Bears are at the mercy of the Baltimore Ravens in determining how high they pick on Day 2.

Things haven't looked good for the past few weeks, as the team won six of its last seven. The injury to star quarterback Lamar Jackson threatened to undo that momentum, though. Sure enough, the Cleveland Browns took advantage on Saturday afternoon, beating their division rivals in a 13-3 defensive slugfest. The loss drops Baltimore to 9-5 and in control of the 5th playoff seed. There is no reason to panic yet, but their grip on a postseason berth is no longer quite so secure.

Both the Chargers and Jets are 7-6 and not far off the pace. New England is 7-6 as well. One misstep and they could find themselves out of the playoffs entirely now that Cincinnati controls the division.

The Chicago Bears can use every break possible.

Baltimore isn't known for handing them out often. John Harbaugh is a fantastic coach, and he usually finds a way to get his team over the finish line. Their remaining three games will be against Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. Those first two should be wins, as the Falcons and Steelers aren't good teams right now. However, if the Ravens stumble against one of them, the finale against the Bengals could decide their season. Missing the playoffs would hand Chicago a pick closer to the middle of the 2nd round.

Much of this hinges on Jackson. His absence is painfully felt on Baltimore's offense. They've failed to cross the 20-point mark in any game since he went down. Their defense might be bad, but so was Cleveland's, and they didn't seem to struggle to stop the Ravens. If Jackson can't go, the margin for error gets painfully thin. The Chicago Bears may respect their colleagues out east. That doesn't mean they'll be cheering for them on Sunday for the rest of this year.