Chicago Bears: Comparing Bears to NFC North Opponents

Where do the Chicago Bears stack up against the NFC North into 2020?

Having won the NFC North in 2018, the Chicago Bears had a relatively disappointing 2019 season. They finished 8-8 and never seemed to recover from a disappointing week one loss against the Green Bay Packers. But having said that, 8-8 is a really good disappointing season to have.

If you’re having trouble reading that sentence, it’s probably because it didn’t make any sense. What I’m trying to say is that if 8-8 is bad, the bar has been set pretty high. And for all the negativity around Ryan Pace, he has brought this team back up into the upper echelon of the NFL. The Bears are no longer a doormat for the Packers to wipe their shoes on en route to the playoffs; they’re a genuine threat in this division.

It seemed like the hierarchy of the NFC North was pretty much settled after a young Chicago squad won it in 2018, but last year changed things up and the lines are a little bit blurry. Looking at the numbers, you would assume Green Bay is the top dog, but with apparent chemistry issues after Rodgers’ replacement was drafted, you can’t be so sure.

Today I dive into this division. I’m trying to find out how Chicago stacks up against the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers. Unlike most other sports, these teams’ two performances against their three intra-divisional teams mean a lot. We’ve seen squads that aren’t playoff-ready make it anyway thanks to a bad division.

That being said, here’s how the Bears stack up against their NFC North foes.