I was wrong; sometimes I’m happy to be wrong. I thought the Bears were going to mail in the rest of the season after their 3rd ridiculous blown win of the season in Cleveland. I thought Arizona would beat us last week in Chicago. Instead, the Bears kept going; this is a good thing. They beat a team they should have beat. They defended their home turf. They doubled their win total from last year. And now, they have a chance to add to it. Welcome to Week 17.
The Bears are still mathematically alive for the playoffs, no shit. Sure, it may only be a 1% chance, but… there IS a chance. Besides the Bears needing to win out, which isn’t that far fetched, there are many other things that need to happen. Most of these other things, aren’t that far fetched either, except for one… actually one specific game. The Rams need to lose out. Next week they play the Niners, so that’s good, but this week… they play in New York vs the Giants. This is the biggest ask for turning this 1% into 100%, but hey… remember when the Bulls had a 1% chance to get the #1 pick the year Derrick Rose was coming out? It can happen. One of my favorite lines is from Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carrey is told his chances are like 1 in a million… his response of course was: So you’re saying there’s a chance… YES! The Bears chances are better than 1 in a million, so… I’m feeling pretty good… haha.
Back to our game at Soldier Field vs the Falcons. If the Bears won last week vs Arizona, you would certainly think they could beat Atlanta, right? Well, Papa Vegas didn’t really adjust, making the Bears only a 3 point favorite. Are the Falcons and Bears about the same teams right now? I’d argue no. Regardless of our “QB situation”, it’s better than the Falcons. And yes, our defense is playing better than most teams, including the Falcons. And at noon on Sunday, we’ll still have something to play for, but so do the Falcons. They sit only 1 game behind the Bucs; they could still win their division and/or make the Wild Card themselves. Is that why this line is so low? Remember, the Falcons just lost to the Panthers a couple weeks ago… this one seems too good to be true…
Final Score Prediction: Falcons 24 Bears 20
Ace in the Hole: DJ Moore 100 yards & 1 TD
Yeah, reverse psychology in full effect. After betting against the Bears last week (yes I did… mainly because I wouldn’t be watching the game, and, um, I thought they would lose), I have a perfect chance to make up for it this week, but… I’m a little worried. Sure, I won’t be betting against them again this week, but not sure if I’ll be able to pull the trigger for them. The Bears are still shaky about closing games. I DO think they’re the better team right now, and with additional motivation, certainly have a reason to finish strong, but the Falcons chances are better than 1%; they have been much better than expected in my opinion this year. Ah…I remember those old Falcons Bears match ups where Urlacher was chasing around Vick… those were some games. Not quite the same anticipation in this one, but… if the Bears were to win, and if a half of dozen other things were to happen this week, that percentage may jump a bit… and then we’d need a half a dozen things to happen NEXT week. You gotta have faith! Bear Down!
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