A weekly breakdown of how the Bears can make the playoffs

What needs to happen in Week 14

First and foremost, we are going to make the assumption the Vikings lost to the Seahawks tonight. The Vikings are now 8-4 as we enter Week 14.

The Bears only need to worry about two teams going forward. They need to worry about the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams. The Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not as big of a concern and let me explain why.

The Cowboys and Eagles will fight for the top spot of the NFC East. The Cowboys are leading that division with the same record (6-6) as the Bears. The Eagles are one game behind the Cowboys (and Bears) at 5-7 on the season. Whoever wins that division will sneak in with a poor record, but the other team has even worse odds of a Wild Card spot than the Bears.

The Bucs and the Panthers are in the same spot as the Eagles but do not have a chance at winning their respective division. This is why the Bears cannot and should not worry about them either as the Bears have a one-game lead over both.

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In Week 14, the Bears will face off against a struggling Dallas Cowboys team. They will need to rely on their defense who are currently sixth in Defensive DVOA. This is not a great matchup though as the Cowboys are currently second in Offensive DVOA. It will be interesting if the defense can take care of business after struggling against a third-string quarterback on Thanksgiving.

If we flip the matchup, the Cowboys defense is ranked 19th in Defensive DVOA. The team is 18th against both the pass and the run. The problem is that the Bears are ranked 27th in Offensive DVOA. With these matchups, the team does not look to be able to stand a chance against the Cowboys. That said, the Dolphins just beat the Eagles and anything can happen.

Moving onto the two teams the Bears need to worry about. The Rams finally woke up on offense this week as they decimated the Arizona Cardinals 34-7. Rams fans should not stay too excited. The team faces off against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14. The Seahawks (as projected) will be tied with the 49ers with a 10-2 record on the year. This means Seattle will be playing for a bye week and the top of the NFC West. They should take care of the Rams easily.

The Vikings are the other team the Bears need to be concerned with the rest of the year. The Vikings are playing the Lions and should have no problems beating that struggling team. After the Vikings take care of the Lions, the playoff race will remain the same after Week 14, but the Bears will inch one game closer to the seventh spot as they will find themselves 7-6 and tied with the Rams. Unfortunately, the Rams hold the tiebreaker.