Chicago Bears on the rise and fall after losing to the Cleveland Browns
By Todd Welter
The Chicago Bears’ remote playoff hopes are over after the Cleveland Browns rallied back to win by a field goal on Sunday.
The Bears are not officially eliminated from the playoff race. They still have a 3% chance of getting the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs. This defeat proved the Bears are closer to being the team with the No. 5 pick in the draft (with their draft pick) than they are at pulling off a shocking upset in the postseason.
It was another snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. This team keeps finding new ways to have historic losses under head coach Matt Eberflus.
The Bears have lost three games this season where they had a 10+ point lead in the 4th Qtr.
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 17, 2023
That's tied for the most in a season in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/18AcNhfITY
This might be the toughest defeat of the season considering it was the first meaningful December game the Chicago Bears have played since 2020. We saw the Bears build up a ten-point lead in the third quarter and much like the Denver Broncos and at the Detroit Lions defeat, the team squandered it away in the fourth quarter.
"This one, it just sucks. I don't know what else to say."
— Mark Potash (@MarkPotash) December 18, 2023
The Bears' defense was phenomenal against the Browns, with three interceptions — including a pick-6 — and four sacks. And then it all came apart late in the fourth quarter in a brutal 20-17 loss.https://t.co/V4br1g4kjg
That is why the Bears will spend another offseason watching the postseason. This game was another reminder that the roster’s overall talent is not ready to win big games.
Hopefully, this loss finally motivates the franchise to fire Eberflus. Three major losses are on his ledger that has become the difference from drafting fifth with their own draft pick and being firmly in the playoff picture.
Beat Denver and the Browns and win that Lions game at Ford Field and the Chicago Bears are competing to host a playoff game. Instead, continually choking away games has become a common place under Eberflus.
That does not mean everything was awful. There were a couple players whose stock rose significantly while there were some players whose stock has tumbled.