The Chicago Bears are in solid control of their playoff destination on the final week of the regular season. If Chicago wins in Week 17, they will reach the national season for the first time since 2018.
But it’s not going to be an easy task, especially since the Bears are welcoming the red-hot Green Bay Packers into Soldier Field, where Chicago must secure a win to secure the berth after the best season. It’s the Bears or the Arizona Cardinals – possibly both – who make the post-season when the final week of the regular season is over and done.
Here are three scenarios that need to happen for the Bears to clinch a playoff spot in Week 17.
Scenario # 1: The Bears beat the Packers
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Result: Bere klink nr. 6 or no. 7 seeds
It’s simple enough: if the Bears win, they’re inside. Although a win could get Chicago either the sixth or the seventh seeded, depending on how things shake next Sunday. But, as Bears fans know, nothing was easy with this team. It gets all the more complicated when it involves the Packers, a team that has had Chicago’s number for a better part of a decade. The Bears cannot allow the Packers to win this game in the first quarter as in their previous meeting four weeks ago. If Chicago wants to win the playoffs, they have to take matters into their own hands. And that means ending the final uproar against their Goliath.
Scenario # 2: The Bears lose to the Packers and the Cardinals lose to the Rams
Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic
Result: Bere closes number 7 seed
Chicago can still reach the national season if they lose to Green Bay next Sunday, but it’s not ideal to leave your fate in the hands of another team. Especially one that can be without its starting quarterback. If the Los Angeles Rams find a way to beat the Cardinals, the Bears will still make the playoffs with a loss to the Packers. That sounds like the most realistic scenario of the three, given Chicago’s fight against Green Bay. But with Rams full-back Jared Goff possibly on the sidelines with a broken thumb, this is not a favorable situation for the Bears.
Scenario # 3: The Bears beat the Packers and the Cardinals beat the Rams
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Result: Bere clinch no. 6 seeds
Believe it or not, there is a scenario in which Chicago could end up with the number 6 in the NFC. But if the Bears can beat the Packers and the Cardinals beat the Rams next Sunday, Chicago will clinch the No. 6 seed with Arizona locking up the No. 7 seed and putting the Rams out of the playoffs.