Bears accomplish Step 2 of Ben Johnson’s regular-season plan without even playing a game and lock up a key advantage for the playoffs
The Chicago Bears have officially won the NFC North.
The Chicago Bears spent the day traveling to Santa Clara and are dealing with a few illness concerns going into their primetime game against the San Francisco 49ers, but the team can go to sleep with a smile on their face on Saturday night.
After the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Bears have now clinched the NFC North title for the first time since 2018, without even playing a game yet in Week 17.
Step 2 is now complete for the Bears when it comes to playoff positioning
Step one for the Bears’ goals in the regular season was making it into the playoffs, something they locked in last week after beating the Packers and then watching the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Bears head coach Ben Johnson met with the media for the first time after punching the ticket to the postseason, he laid out the next two goals for his team.
“That was step one,” Johnson said. “Step two is we want to win this division. We want to have at least one home playoff game. And then step three would be clinch a No. 1 seed. So there are a lot of things still out there to play for. Our guys know that.”
Well, step two is complete, and attention can turn to step three starting on Sunday.
Road to the No. 1 seed is still attainable for Chicago
For the Bears to clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference, Chicago has to win out against the 49ers on Sunday night and then beat the Lions at Soldier Field in Week 18, plus have the Seattle Seahawks lose one of their final two games against either the Carolina Panthers or the 49ers.
The last time Chicago obtained the No. 1 seed in the NFC was in 2006, which was also the last time the Bears reached the Super Bowl, ultimately losing to the Indianapolis Colts.
Securing home-field advantage can go a long way toward another Super Bowl appearance
After clinching the NFC North title, the Bears will for sure play at least one home playoff game at Soldier Field, and securing the top seed would ensure all roads go through Chicago. The Bears have a ton of confidence playing in front of the home crowd, with a 6-1 home record in 2025.
‘‘Getting that momentum from the home crowd and just hearing how loud it is, it’s definitely in your favor,’’ Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said this week. ‘‘So, if guys just take what they took from the game (last) Saturday, they will know exactly what it’s going to feel like having a home playoff game here. I could imagine it will be even louder.’’
Two more critical games still await this team before anyone can start to think about the playoffs, but excitement is really starting to rise for this team and the entire city of Chicago, for good reason.
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