Chicago Bears: Week 16 provided plenty of madness in the NFLVincent Pariseon December 27, 2022 at 10:03 pm

The Chicago Bears are incredibly bad. They showed that against pretty much everyone they have played this year which is why they are 3-12 going into Week 17. There have been some moments where they were looking like they are turning a corner which is good but they are still far away.

That was most noticeable against the Buffalo Bills on Christmas eve which proved to be a blowout in favor of Buffalo. The Bears stood their ground for a lot of the game but Buffalo just simply has more talent.

Now, the Bears turn their attention to two NFC North rivals in the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings to close out the season.

The thing that will help the Bears to most is to lose both of those games. If that happens, they will either have the first or second overall pick which is the most ideal when you are loudly rebuilding which they are.

The Chicago Bears are not going to be anywhere near a playoff team this season.

NFC Playoff Picture:

The Philadelphia Eagles are holding onto the number one seed. They are in a tight division race with the Dallas Cowboys. However, the NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings have their sights set on the number one seed as well. With Jalen Hurts potentially still out, it might be a battle.

The San Francisco 49ers have already clinched the NFC West but won’t be the one seed despite a common belief that they are now the best team in the conference.

The NFC South is the worst division in football as the under-.500 Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead it with the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints on their heels. It is honestly wild that one of these teams will get a home playoff game.

As for the Wild Card spots, this is a huge race. The loser of the NFC East top spot, either the Eagles or Cowboys, will be the top Wild Card team.

Then it comes down to the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers. Two of those five teams will sneak in. The Giants are the only one of the bunch already with eight wins so they are likely to be one of the two.

AFC Playoff Picture:

The Conference opposite of the Chicago Bears is the one that has the most Super Bowl contenders.

The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are fighting it out for the one seed in the AFC. Each of them has clinched their division (AFC East, AFC West) at 12-3. The Bills have the tiebreaker by virtue of their head-to-head matchup victory.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens have each clinched a playoff berth but the AFC North is still to be decided. The Bengals have the inside track as they have one more win than them. It should be wrapped up soon but the other will be a Wild Card team.

In the AFC South, the Jacksonville Jaguars have come all the way back to tie the Tennessee Titans who have lost five in a row. They play each other in Week 18 and that game may just decide who makes the playoffs as a division champion and who goes home.

Like the Ravens, the Los Angeles Chargers sit in a Wild Card spot with their ticket to the postseason clinched. That means there is one more playoff spot left that will likely either go to the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, or New York Jets.

The Dolphins are the only team listed there that is at eight wins and the rest are at seven. The concerning thing for them is that they have been sliding lately and are likely to be without their quarterback for a while.

The Chicago Bears might be out of this thing but it is still incredibly entertaining. Hopefully, the playoffs become as entertaining as the regular season has been.

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