Chicago Bears: Predicting the Second Half—Will They Make the Playoffs?
Published by Joshua Edwards on October 31, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Bears are 4-3 coming out of the bye week and have playoff hopes with nine games to play.
If the season ended today, the six NFC playoff teams would be:
1. Green Bay (7-0)
2. San Francisco (6-1)
3. New York (5-2)
4. New Orleans (5-3)
5. Detroit Lions (6-2)
6. Chicago Bears (4-3)
The Bears have the same record (4-3) as the Falcons and Bucs, but they hold tiebreakers over both teams. Chicago is in the hunt and needs to keep winning.
The remaining schedule is:
@Eagles (3-4)
Lions (6-2)
Chargers (4-2)*
@Raiders (4-3)
Chiefs (3-3)*
@Broncos (2-5)
Seahawks (2-5)
@Packers (7-0)
@Vikings (2-6)
* Record prior to Monday Night Football matchup.
Sizing Up the Competition
The Bears need five wins to finish 9-7, likely the minimum to make the cut. But teams with nine wins will be reliant on tiebreakers, making it important that the Bears can count victories against Tampa Bay and Atlanta. And that means this week’s matchup with Philly is a potential tiebreaker they must win, too.
The Lions are on a bye next week, but they have a brutal schedule the rest of the way. Their eight remaining games include Green Bay (twice), New Orleans, San Diego, Oakland, a talented Carolina team and division contests against the Vikings and the Bears at Soldier Field.
It sounds harsh, but the Lions could finish with just eight or nine wins, too. They need to win half their remaining games to reach 10 victories—that will be tough.
Truth is, if the Bears take care of business against Philadelphia and beat the Lions at home in two weeks, Detroit should worry about missing the playoffs altogether.
Ten wins will ensure a playoff spot. And thanks to a soft schedule, the Bears could go 6-3 to end the year and reach 10 wins. Even a 5-4 finish puts them at 9-7.
How will they end up?
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