After the Bears won on Sunday, maybe you felt like there was life… a chance, maybe, an outside shot, of making the playoffs. Fine. However you felt after that Bears win… how do you feel now? Did you watch those Monday night games? Most importantly, the Packers took one on the chin. Secondly, both the Giants and the Titans improved their crappy records to tie us, which for the draft pick crowd, was good news. Where do we go from here? Let’s take a deeper look.
I think we’re all familiar with the Bears schedule. If our toughest remaining game was this W against the Lions at home, then our next toughest is this week in Cleveland. After that, home games against the Cardinals and Falcons, and of course, the season finale in Lambeau. It’s not the toughest schedule in the world, and, and… really trying not to be biased here, but the Bears are playing their best football all year; I know, the bar was low. But this defense… it’s legit; defense travels too, so… who knows. But what about everybody else?
Let’s start with the Vikings. They are 1 game ahead of the 6-7 bunch, and 2 games clear of the Bears. They’ve also lost 2 of their last 3 games, with the win being of the 3-0 variety. The Dobbs magic is long gone, and the only reason they’re still where they’re at is because of their defense. They head to Cincy this week; toss up game IMO. Then they play 2 games vs Detroit and 1 at home against Green Bay. Are they going 3-1 to end the season? I don’t think so. So 2-2 will put them at 9-8; they should still be in with that record. Again, that’s assuming they win 2 of those remaining games. Staying in the division, you have the Pack at 6-7. I’d love to say they just lost their easiest reamaining game on the schedule, but they go to Carolina in 2 weeks. Before that they host the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Bucs; after that they go to Minnesota, which could be a toss up. Of course, they finish at home vs us. Let’s call it 2-2. So 8-9 for the Pack?
The rest of the 6-7 teams are the Rams, Seahawks, Falcons, and Saints, all of which I will be rooting against from here on out. Honestly, I’m done with this exercise. The only other team in the mix is tied with us, the Giants. Out of these 5 teams I just mentioned, the only one that I think is any good is the Rams. So Vikings only because they’re 2 games up on us, and the Rams because I think they’re the best of the bunch. With 4 games each to go, there are too many variables to go through; we’ll get back to this IF the Bears win again this Sunday.
Until then, keep believing. We were left for dead; the season was written off. To even be having a halfway serious conversation about this is amazing. The Bears are salvaging their season from the dumpster fire that it was. I don’t know what else to expect, but I’m thankful that Bears games matter again. Can’t wait to see them in Cleveland next week; I have already bet on them getting 3.5 points… surely, the kiss of death, sorry… Bear Down!!!
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