Chicago Bears: How the path to the playoffs is still alive

The Chicago Bears need to win out

With three games remaining, the Bears need to win out if they have any hope of the playoffs. The Bears put themselves in a hole by falling short to the Detroit Lions 34-30 last week. If they win out, they finish 9-7 giving them a good shot at the playoffs.

The Bears’ remaining schedule makes it very possible as well. They finish the year facing two teams below .500 and additionally have to play the Green Bay Packers in Week 17 as the Packers may be resting their players for the playoffs.

First, the Bears face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The Vikings beat Nick Foles and the Chicago Bears right before their bye week, but this offense looks much better than last time the Bears faced them. The Vikings’ poor defense and the shaky offense could easily get shut down by the Bears and the Bears could light them up as well. They are currently 6-7 like the Bears as they just fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After that, the Bears play the Jacksonville Jaguars and likely Gardner Minshew. As the Jaguars are essentially tanking this season, they only have one win this year, but their offense is no pushover. Minshew is a solid quarterback who has some electric weapons at wide receiver. They additionally have arguably the best rookie running back in the NFL in James Robinson. Their defense is extremely weak though.

Finally, if the Bears win those two games, they have to beat the Packers to finish 9-7. That game is a winnable game even if the Packers aren’t resting their starters. The Packers also have a weak rush defense, but their offense looked unstoppable last time they played. With how well Montgomery has been playing, they could run over them all game.

The Bears need to win these three games if they want any chance of making the playoffs.