Well, well, well… who would’ve thunk it? After the Bears blew a game to the division leading Detroit Lions a few weeks back, they closed the deal this time around in Chicago with an impressive 28-13 victory. The win brings the Bears to 5-8 on the season. Currently, that’s good for last place in the division.
So why should we be excited about this victory? First off, I’m excited about any Bears win; a win is a win is a win. Beating a division foe (although I prefer wins over one of the other teams), who in this case is leading the division, is nice. Defending our home turf is a good starting place for any team learning to win. This stuff is all true. The “learning to win” part is especially important; IMO this is more important than improving our draft position. Remember, the Panthers are doing a fabulous job protecting our other first round pick. Yes, winning some games is something the Bears haven’t done a whole hell of a lot of lately. 3 wins last year; 5 wins this year… but this year isn’t over yet. I think that’s the other important thing. Yes, doubling our win total was probably the ground level of success for this season, so there’s that. But what about the playoffs? Yeah, I’m not joking… Remember, there’s that extra wild card spot, which means 7 teams get in from each conference. Let’s take a closer look.
The 49ers, Cowboys, Eagles, Lions, and whoever wins the NFC South, will all be in. This leaves 2 spots up for grabs. Currently, the Vikings and Packers hold on to those 2 spots. If the Packers lose on MNF, they will drop down into the mix of 6-7 teams which include the Rams, Seahawks, Falcons, and Saints. If you wanted to extend the “teams in the hunt” group one more game down, that’s where we sit… along with the Giants if they can beat the Cheese on MNF. If you’re familiar with our schedule from here on out, maybe you can start to see where I’m going. Look, just a few days ago, I wasn’t buying into winning out, which probably is what will be required to get in. But, with this win against Detroit, our toughest remaining game is out of the way. The Browns, Falcons, Cardinals, and Packers remain. Is is still a stretch?
This defense has been really good. As a Bears fan, we especially like when that is true. Again, say what you want about Eberflus, but man… he’s got the defense going, and yeah, the addition of Sweat has looked pretty good. Adding another guy or two next year… and keeping the guys we should keep of course… yeah, there is promise. On offense, we did enough. I thought Fields played well for the most part. His elusiveness in the pocket is something else. Yes, sometimes it leads to “why didn’t you get rid of that ball?”, but other times, it leads to nice jaunts down the field. I thought winning should be an important part of the Fields’ evaluation down the stretch… well, that’s 2 in a row.
After the way this season began, to even THINK about what I’m talking about above… it’s really wild. But, that is the NFL; look around. Because of that, anything is possible, even for a team that was left for dead a long time ago. Playoffs?!?! It may not be as crazy as you think. Bear Down!!!
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