The 2019 season is being hyped to be one of the Bears’ best in a long time. Fans, current and former players feel like this year’s team has as good of a shot as anybody in the NFC to go to the Super Bowl.
But first, the Bears will need to make the playoffs, which some sports books don’t feel like is a foregone conclusion.
BetOnline.AG sports book released its odds for every NFL team ‘To Make the Playoffs’ for the upcoming season. Based on those odds, they provided the percentage chance each team has of making the postseason. The Bears were listed at -140 to make the playoffs — coming in at a 55.1% chance to play in the NFL’s postseason.
Per the sporks book, those are the fourth-best odds in the NFC behind the Rams, Saints and Eagles.
The Bears are narrowly listed as the most likely team to make the playoffs out of the NFC North, with the Packers coming in second in the division at a 52% chance to compete in the postseason under first-year head coach Matt LaFleur.
The Vikings are the third-most likely team to make the playoffs out of the NFC North with a 41.3% chance after missing the 2018 postseason with an 8-7-1 record, according to the oddsmakers, while the Lions come in last with an 18.9% chance.
The expected tightness of the playoff race between the Bears and Packers adds to their longstanding rivalry. The teams will open the NFL’s 100th anniversary season against each other on Thursday, Sept. 5 in Soldier Field.
The Packers hold a 97-95-6 advantage over the Bears, but Chicago got the last laugh in its 24–17 victory against the Packers on Dec. 15, 2018 to clinch the NFC North for the first time since 2010 and eliminate their rival from postseason contention.
A victory will give either team an early leg up on the other in their playoff and divisional title race. After a productive minicamp and 100-year celebration weekend, the Bears are ready to prove themselves worthy of their Super Bowl-contending bidding.
