Don’t look now, but the Chicago Bears are about to play meaningful football in December starting Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys.
While the Bears cling to slim playoff hopes, they got plenty of help throughout Week 13. The Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers both lost, which dropped them to 5-7. Chicago sits in eighth place in the NFC heading into Week 14.
Although it wasn’t a perfect Week 13, as the Los Angeles Rams routed the Arizona Cardinals to improve to 7-5. Given the Rams hold a tiebreaker over the Bears, they need to lose two of their final four games — and the Bears to win out — for Chicago to best them. That, or the Bears can lose just once if the Rams lose three of their final four games.
But perhaps none more so important than the Minnesota Vikings losing to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. The loss dropped the Vikings to 8-4, and the Bears are now just two games out of that final Wild Card spot.
According to FiveThirtyEight, the Bears playoff chances shifted from a 2% to 3% chance with Minnesota’s loss to Seattle.
The Bears still have a long road ahead of them. Not only do they need to win out just to have a chance, but they need a lot of help from the Vikings and Rams along the way.
If the Bears do win out — which is a big if, considering they have games against the Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and Vikings — they need both the Vikings and Rams to lose two of their final four games to take control of that final Wild Card spot.
