Bears: Making the playoffs is more possible than it seems for Chicago
By Ryan Fedrau
The teams in the hunt to worry about are the Rams, Eagles, Vikings, Cowboys, and mathematically the Panthers. The Eagles and Cowboys both play in the NFC East so chances are, only the division winner will get in the playoffs.
Los Angeles Rams (6-5): Remaining Schedule: at Arizona, Seattle, at Dallas, at San Francisco, Arizona.
The Rams hold the tie-breaker against the Bears after their 17-7 win against them. The Rams need to lose two games for the Bears to have a shot. They still have to play the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams are on fire right now and have the power to beat them.
The Rams have been playing bad football with their most recent loss being 45-6 against the Ravens. If they keep playing how they have been, they’ll lose to both Seattle and San Francisco.
Losing two gives them a 9-7 record, which isn’t better than a 10-6 Bears team.
Philadelphia Eagles (5-6): Remaining Schedule: at Miami, New York Giants, at Washington, Dallas, at New York Giants.
The Eagles hold the tie-breaker against the Bears with their 22-14 win against them earlier this season. The Eagles have the easiest schedule of the remaining teams but they only hurt the Bears if both teams finish 9-7. I could see the Eagles finishing 10-6 and winning the NFC East. I could also see them finishing 8-8. The Eagles are a hard team to predict.
Dallas Cowboys (6-6): Remaining Schedule: at Chicago, L.A Rams, at Philadelphia, Washington.
Just like the Eagles, the Cowboys are hard to predict. Since they share the same record with the Bears, next week’s game is make-or-break for both teams. The Cowboys really could finish 8-8. The best case for Chicago would be beating Dallas and then having Dallas beat L.A. That wipes the Rams right out of the wildcard conversation.
The Cowboys play the Eagles Week 16. The winner of that game likely wins the division. Since both teams have lost six games, a 10-6 Bears team makes it in over a 9-7 team. It’s better for the Bears if the Eagles win the NFC East since the Bears don’t have the tie-breaker against the Eagles.