Why Chicago Bears fans must root for Raiders Sunday

The Chicago Bears are eliminated from the playoffs and do not have much to watch on Sunday because their star rookie quarterback Justin Fields will not even be suiting up. Still, there will be something for Bears fans to watch Sunday night as the Las Vegas Raiders take on the Las Angeles Chargers.

The Raiders join the Jaguars as the only two teams that are without a head coach. The Chicago Bears are expected to join the list, and other than Minnesota and perhaps Denver, no other teams are expected to move on as of now.

With that in mind, the Chicago Bears are going to have a good look at their pick of coaches. Most years seven or eight vacancies are open, so three or four would help Chicago. With that in mind, if the Raiders win, they make the playoffs. This helps Chicago in two ways,

One, the Raiders cannot interview new coaches while competing for a championship. What message are they sending? This is a team that is all in. On the other hand, the team may be looking at their interim Rich Bisaccia and wondering if they should just stick with him.

The idea is not too crazy, and Albert Breer or SI confirms this is a real thought.

"The idea that the Raiders could stick with Rich Bisaccia shouldn’t be completely ruled out—owner Mark Davis likes his interim coach, and came out of the Jon Gruden mess wanting to give him a real shot."

If Davis wanted to give him a real shot, and he made the playoffs, it would be hard to fire him after that. Beyond that, Breer notes that the Raiders paying Gruden so much still will want them to go a cheaper route and possibly stick with Bisaccia.

This would be huge for Chicago. The Raiders are a big draw and have reportedly been in competition with the Chicago Bears for Jim Harbaugh. If you take the Raiders out of the mix, the Bears now are looking at the Vikings, and Jaguars as the other teams who may need a coach.

If a candidate wants a shot in the NFL next season they are probably looking at Chicago as their best and possibly only shot this year. A Raiders win could go a long way.