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Bears: How the L.A. Rams win Sunday night hurts Chicago

By Ryan Fedrau

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 17: Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears scrambles in the pocket to avoid a tackle by outside linebacker Clay Matthews #52 of the Los Angeles Rams in the second quarter of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 17, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 17: Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears scrambles in the pocket to avoid a tackle by outside linebacker Clay Matthews #52 of the Los Angeles Rams in the second quarter of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 17, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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The Chicago Bears are 7-6 and are needing help to make the playoffs. The Rams winning gives the Bears another hurdle to climb.

Before Sunday, there was a chance the Chicago Bears could do less and get more. Doing less would be finishing 9-7, the more was the Minnesota Vikings and the L.A. Rams losing Sunday. The Rams game seemed like a for-sure win for Seattle. With the Rams playing the Seahawks and 49ers, it looked as they’d finish at best 9-7, maybe even 8-8. Now, at 8-5, everything is different for them.

The Vikings just need to lose one game, either against Green Bay or against the L.A. Chargers. That drops them to five losses, where a Bears’ team winning out makes the playoffs. That is only if the Rams finished 9-7. To make the playoffs, the Bears will need a 1-2 stretch from the Rams. They’ll also need to win out. Chicago winning out means getting wins against Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes.

Let’s forget about the Eagles, they’ll probably win the NFC East, if anything. They won’t win out which gives the Bears nothing to worry about. The NFC second wildcard race is between three teams, Chicago (7-6), L.A. Rams (8-5), and Minnesota (9-4).

It’s fair to expect Minnesota will lose to the Packers. The Vikings are a great fundamentally sound team. There is no reason to count them out. For the Bears to make it now, different things need to happen. The Vikings need to lose one game before their Week 17 matchup against Chicago and the Rams need to lose two games. The last is Chicago winning out.

If they lose to Green Bay this week, the Bears will be on “life-support” to save their 2019 season. To be blunt, the season would be over. These next three games are must-win games. If the Rams would have lost, there was more hope for Chicago.

The only hopeful thing to look at is the Rams have two straight road games coming up. They play in Dallas and then San Francisco. The negative is they have a home game Week 17 against Arizona. 9-7 is a safe bet for the Rams, maybe even 10-6.

The Bears really needed the Seahawks to win Sunday night. That loss could have been one of the final nails in the Bears’ season. My theory is if the Bears finish 10-6 and still miss the playoffs, they still did their job. If Mitchell Trubisky and Matt Nagy finish strong and have success, there will be fair excitement for 2020.

A 10-6 finish means they would have won six straight games to finish the season. Even a 9-7 finish means they went 5-1 to finish the last six games. The losses against the Chargers and Raiders shouldn’t have happened. There are no excuses for either of those games.

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CBS Sports have the Chicago Bears at a 2.7% chance of making the playoffs. Those odds aren’t in their favor. Like said in previous articles, crazier things have happened. The Bears don’t control their destiny but they do control their future. If they can finish strong and bring that momentum into 2020, they won’t be in this situation next season. This is a learning experience for Nagy and Trubisky. Let’s see if they can turn this negative into a positive.

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