Near the end of a disappointing season — and with playoff odds dwindling — you can’t blame more cynical Bears fans for thinking this second-half surge is too little too late. But that’s not how defensive end Akiem Hicks sees it.
“It’s too little, too late for them, not for us,” Hicks said. “Everything’s on the line.”
Indeed everything will be on the line for the Bears on Sunday against the rival Packers at Lambeau Field. With the Rams’ victory over the Seahawks on Sunday night, the Bears (7-6) likely will have to sweep their final three games — against the Packers, the Chiefs at Soldier Field and the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium — to even have a shot at the postseason.
Nagy, whose team has won four of its last five games, is ever-positive but also a realist. He isn’t playing the playoff-watch game. He’s not analyzing the scenarios it would take to get the Bears in. With the Bears not in control of their playoff destiny, he’s not using their slim hopes as motivation to beat the Packers.
“The help stuff — we’ve created that,” Nagy said. “We’re in a position where we’ve gotta have help. But none of that matters if we don’t win. It means nothing. Let’s just control what we can control. Let’s do everything we can to win this week, see what happens, let it play out.”
The Bears sweeping their final three games is the least likely part of the equation. The odds of the Bears beating the Packers on the road, the Chiefs at home and Vikings on the road aren’t good — the Bears are 4 1/2-point underdogs against the Packers on Sunday and likely will be underdogs of a field goal or more against the. Chiefs and Vikings.
But the Bears’ convincing win over the Cowboys last Thursday at Soldier Field breathed a little life into the pie-in-the-sky scenarios. The Bears’ offense scored 31 points against a Cowboys defense that ranked eighth in the NFL in points allowed. Mitch Trubisky threw three touchdowns and rushed for 63 yards — and had his first 100-plus passer rating (115.5) against a defense ranked in the top-10.
So in the unlikely event of a Bears sweep of their final three games, here’s one scenario that would get them into the playoffs at 10-6:
Vikings (9-4) — at Chargers (W); vs. Packers (L); vs. Bears (L). Final record: 10-6.
Rams (8-5) — at Cowboys (L); at 49ers (L); vs. Cardinals (W). Final record: 9-7.
Simply, if the Bears sweep, the Vikings have to lose one of their next two games and the Rams have to lose two of their final three games for the Bears to make the playoffs.
First things first of course for the Bears. They’re 2-9 against the Packers at Lambeau Field since Aaron Rodgers became the starting quarterback in 2008. And only one of those victories came with Rodgers playing the entire game — 17-13 in 2015 under John Fox. (The other was a 27-20 victory in 2013, when Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in the first quarter on a Shea McClellin sack and was replaced by Seneca Wallace.)
The only real expectation is that the Bears’ won’t fold down the stretch — even if their playoff hopes are extinguished. Nagy has been pretty good about that. With nothing to play for in Week 17 last year, they outplayed and beat a desperate Vikings team at U.S. Bank Stadium. And they will be motivated to finish strong — even if it’s too little, too late.
“That’s how we’re built,” Hicks said. “That’s the culture we’ve tried to bring here since 2016, or even before I got here, 2015, is just, No. 1 — playing good football; but always knowing that there’s something on the line, whether it’s playoff contention, winning this game or playing better than you did last week. Just always having that fight.”
