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The Bears’ freefall continues as they’ve dropped from the Playoff Picture to the dreaded “In the Hunt” category with other also rans and never weres. After using the old eyeball test the last 3 weeks, any Bears fan with a shred of common sense doesn’t think the Bears have a shot of getting invited to the post-season dance. But I’m not ready to give up just yet. Hear me out after the jump.
First and foremost, the Bears have to find a way to beat the Seattle Seahawks this week. More to the point, the offense needs to find a way to score; heck just find a way to consistently get a few first downs. The offense has gone from averaging about 32 points per game while they were on their 5-game winning streak under Cutler to averaging 11 points per game since Caleb Hanie was handed the keys to Virginia McCaskey’s orange and blue Buick. (Doesn’t she seem the type that would drive a Buick at about 30 mph in the left lane of I-94???)
Let’s assume that Tim Tebow’s laying of hands on Caleb Hanie during the post-game handshake cured Caleb and he can recapture some of last season’s NFC Championship Game’s magic. If the Bears can find a way to win, Week 16 in Green Bay could be interesting.
The Packers clinch home field advantage throughout this weekend with either a win in Kansas City or a Niners loss vs Pittsburgh. If they have nothing left to play for on Christmas night, could the Bears sneak in there and steal a win and a perfect season from the Packers? I think in a perfect scenario, Romeo Crennel can find a way to beat the Packers in KC and the Niners lose to the Steelers. That clinches home field for the Pack while losing their motivation to chase the perfect season.
Since Jay Cutler was playing catch last week in Denver, could he even consider putting on the Superman cape to try to save the Bears’ season? What’s the worst that happens, he breaks his thumb again? He’s got all offseason to heal up. Cutler at 80% is way better than Hanie. Hell, Cutler throwing left handed is probably better than Hanie. Could you imagine the ratings for that game if Cutty Comes Back???
I’m going to assume that the Falcons are going to make their way into the #5 seed with home games with Jacksonville and Tampa Bay sandwiching a trip to New Orleans. Falcons will finish the season strong at 10-6.
That leaves us to hope the Lions implode. They’re currently the #6 seed with an 8-5 record. They have a trip to Oakland this week followed by a a home date with San Diego before heading to Green Bay to finish the season. It will take losses to Oakland, San Diego and Green Bay to bring the Lions’ common opponents tie-breaker back to the Bears favor. If the Bears can only get 2 more wins, they’d need the Lions to lose out to finish ahead of them. It’s probably more likely to hope the Lions lose 2 of the final 3 and the Bears win out.
I know it’s not a likely scenario, but it’s all we’ve got left to cling to after botching the last 2 games. If the Bears had even split these last two abominations, they would be golden. Missed opportunities. When we write the obituary for this season, that will be the headline.
Buckle up those chinstraps and…