The Chicago Bears playoff odds seemed all but dead by the start of November. The team had stumbled to a 4-6 record while the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings were creating tons of distance in the race for the NFC North. However, things can change fast in the NFL. With December beginning, the Bears have fought their way back to 6-6. While a ton of work is left to do including a sweep of their four remaining games, their window to January just grew a little bit.
This comes courtesy of a Monday Night Football game that saw the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Seattle Seahawks. The timing couldn't be better. It drops the Vikings to 8-4. This means if they lose two more games, they'll be at six losses. All the Bears need is for one other team to beat Minnesota this month and then deliver the knockout in the season finale to reach the same record of 10-6. At that point, Chicago would hold the tiebreaker and better odds of reaching the playoffs.
It's a lot to ask. Beating Minnesota will be hard enough for the Bears. They'll also have to take down Dallas, Green Bay, and Kansas City. All of those teams boast Pro Bowl quarterbacks. Given how inconsistent the Bears offense has been this year, it's hard to trust they'll be able to pull it off. Then again, less talented Bears teams have made magic happen.
The Chicago Bears playoff hopes are in their hands
The reality is the Bears can only control what they control. That is the games they play. None of these discussions matter if they can't handle their business by beating their last four opponents. One loss makes it all meaningless. One thing is for sure. If they overcome everything they've been through this season and reach the playoffs? They'll be one of those teams that nobody wants to play due to the incredible momentum they'd have.
It's not something that has happened much in Bears history. Most of their playoff trips were due to winning the division and having one of the better records in the NFC. They've only won a wild card berth one time in the past 25 years. So this would be a rather special sequence of events if they managed to somehow pull it off. The best thing for fans to do is not to get their hopes up too high.
Just sit back and enjoy the fact this team is still playing meaningful football this late into the season.
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