One of the biggest Chicago Bears rivals, the Minnesota Vikings, is already the NFC North Division champions. The San Francisco 49ers are the NFC West Champions. The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys are fighting it out and nobody in the NFC South wants to make it.
There are going to be some Wild Card teams as well which always makes this thing a whole lot of fun. In a few different ways, the Chicago Bears are going to influence how it goes in one way or another. They will either pull out a major upset win or they will be beaten and help some teams.
It starts this weekend against the 7-8 Lions who are trying to squeak into the postseason for the first time in a long time. They are probably happy to be playing the Bears as it is a game that they should be able to win. However, a loss for the Lions will just about finish them.
One week later, the Bears will be playing the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings should mop the floor with the Bears but it will all depend on the status of Minnesota’s starters. If the Philadelphia Eagles clinch the number one seed, the Vikings may just rest their guys.
If they don’t, the Vikings will be all in on beating the Bears. Again, the Bears will either roll over for the Vikings because they are a bad football team or they will stun them and take away their chances of a first-round bye. Anything is possible in this league.
The Chicago Bears will have some influence on the NFC playoff picture this year.
Bears fans should be rooting for the Bears to lose them both. Neither the Vikings nor the Lions are likely good enough to win the Super Bowl so seeing them get into the playoffs won’t hurt the Bears at all. It will, however, help the Bears inch closer to a top-two pick.
If the Lions beat the Bears this week, that will also keep Detroit ahead of the Green Bay Packers which would be amazing to see. No Bears fan wants to see the Packers go on a run into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league.
Yeah, the Bears could cause havoc in the NFC in terms of the postseason field but the best-case scenario in every way would be for them to just lose both games.