Bears given a fraction of a chance to reach the playoffs entering Week 17
The Chicago Bears are still alive and in the running for the NFC playoff race, although it's become more of a slow crawl to the finish. And yes, you heard me right. After winning 3 of their last 4 games, the Bears have yet to be eliminated from playoff contention entering Week 17 despite the […]
The Chicago Bears are still alive and in the running for the NFC playoff race, although it's become more of a slow crawl to the finish. And yes, you heard me right.
After winning 3 of their last 4 games, the Bears have yet to be eliminated from playoff contention entering Week 17 despite the 6-9 overall record on the season. If Chicago has the cards fall just right (and trust me, it would be a lot of cards), the Bears could potentially sneak into the playoffs.
Heading into the Bears Week 17 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago has a less than one percent chance of claiming a spot in the NFC playoffs. It's certainly far from probable and even a win on Sunday won't do much to boost their odds.
But, as the great Han Solo once said: "Never tell me the odds."
According to the Next Gen Stats playoff probability machine, a win against the Falcons on Sunday would give the Bears a whopping 1 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. A loss on Sunday would officially eliminate the Bears from playoff contention.
For the sickos out there, or those just genuinely curious, here's the most logical scenario for the Bears to find a way into the NFC playoffs. First of all, the Bears will obviously have to win against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and defeat the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau in Week 18.
Next order of business, the Los Angeles Rams will have to lose out against the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers (who will now be forced to play their starters in Week 18). The Seattle Seahawks will also have to lose out against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals.
In Week 18, the Minnesota Vikings will have to lose their second game against the Detroit Lions for tiebreaker purposes. Finally, the New Orleans Saints will have to lose one of their final two games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Atlanta Falcons.
In this scenario, the Bears would enter into the playoff as the 7th seed in the NFC and will face the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles or San Francisco 49ers in the first round. The Packers would be the 6th seed, and the Cowboys/Eagles would be the 5th seed.
One would think that this improbable outcome could be the only thing left to save the jobs of Bears head coach Matt Eberflus and potentially quarterback Justin Fields. Those two are probably thinking the same thing as Lloyd Christmas right now: "So, you're telling me there's a chance."
For those waiting for the 2023 to mercifully come to a close and wanting something more tangible to look forward to, below is the updated 2023 NFL Draft order detailing where the Bears two first round picks stand entering Week 17.
Bears updated 2024 NFL Draft order entering Week 17
Sunday wasn’t the best outcome for Chicago’s future.
