The Chicago Bears should be cautious about potential bye week

The Chicago Bears should be cautious about potential bye week

As of today, the Chicago Bears are locked in as the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs. They have a chance at the No. 2 seed if the Los Angeles Rams lose to the San Francisco 49ers, and the Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings. If that were to happen, the Bears would get a bye week and an extra week to prepare for a home playoff game. While that sounds nice, the Bears have actually played their two worst games this season coming off extended rests/bye weeks.

The Bears should be careful what they wish for, because they just might get it.

Holding a 3-1 record, the Chicago Bears came off an early bye week against the Miami Dolphins. The Bears had an extra week to prepare for this game, while Miami ended up starting backup quarterback Brock Osweiler. For most people, this game was a lock to win. The Bears offense has been playing phenomenal and the defense looks great. While on the other hand, Miami is starting a backup quarterback and their defense often gives up a lot of points. Sounds like the perfect situation coming off a bye week right? Wrong. The Bears were trapped, and they played one of the sloppiest games of the season.

Chicago let up its first 100-yard rusher of the season as Frank Gore went for 101 yards on 15 carries. The Bears also allowed 380 passing yards and three touchdowns to Brock Osweiler. While they did intercept Osweiler twice, he still had a quarterback rating of 94.9. While a lot of these yards came on short passes to Albert Wilson, that just shows how bad the tackling was for Chicago during this game. Jordan Howard, who never puts the ball on the ground, fumbled at the goal line and Miami recovered. Tarik Cohen also fumbled late in the game on a drive in which Chicago seemed like they were destined to put up points. Throw in a missed Cody Parkey field goal, and the Bears would go on to lose 31-28 in OT. While Mitchell Trubisky played well in this game, it wasn’t enough to overcome all of the teams’ mistakes.

Fast forward to week 13, and it’s the Chicago Bears against the New York Giants. The Bears just won back to back divisional games and have an extended rest period from playing on Thanksgiving morning all the way to the next Sunday. While the Bears were playing with backup quarterback Chase Daniel, they did more than enough to win this game. Once again, sloppy play came back to haunt them.

While Eli Manning didn’t have a big game, rookie running back Saquon Barkley ran for 125 yards on 24 attempts. Odell Beckham Jr. also threw a touchdown pass. Chase Daniel went on to throw two interceptions, including a pick 6 to start the game. The Bears would ultimately claw themselves back into this game, only to have Daniel fumble multiple snaps in OT and lose the game.

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So, what happened in these two games? It came down to the better team not executing in key moments. Mistakes such as multiple turnovers are difficult to overcome and are the perfect formula to losing games. Luckily for Chicago, they’ve rarely played games like this all season and that’s why they’re sitting at 11-4.

Basic fundamentals seem to be the problem when it comes to games off extended rest, and that’s a problem. There is no doubt this team has struggled coming off extended rest, would they be able to prepare properly for the playoffs?

In all likely scenarios, the Bears are going to either be playing the Vikings for a third time this season in the wildcard round, or a red hot Eagles team lead by Nick Foles. The Vikings are the more talented team on paper and a divisional opponent, while the Eagles are coming off a championship run and have the experience to play through adversity in the playoffs. Neither matchup will be easy, but it may work out better for the Bears to play in this game rather than getting a bye week.

As history shows this season, extended periods of rest brings out the worst in Chicago. The Bears have the roster and defense to match up with anyone in the NFL, so regardless, an extended playoff run should be expected by Chicago fans.