NFC Playoff Picture: Vikings do Bears a favor heading into bye week

The Chicago Bears don't have to stress about anything entering the bye week at 7-2, as they will spend Week 10 watching NFL games from home. They'll have some interesting situations to monitor among the NFC playoff contenders.

Chicago is in a good spot, as they're first in the NFC North, but not by much. It's the only division in the NFL where every team has at least six wins.

This leaves the Bears in a really good spot to make the playoffs, but whether they can win the division is a whole other story. The playoff picture looks very competitive for Chicago this week, but they can't control how it plays out. Here is the playoff picture in the NFC entering Week 10.

Updated NFC playoff picture for Bears entering Week 10

1. San Francisco 49ers
2. Chicago Bears
3. New York Giants
4. Carolina Panthers
5. Detroit Lions
6. Minnesota Vikings
7. Green Bay Packers

A big reason the Bears jumped into the No. 2 seed is that the Vikings have started their collapse. Minnesota has lost two straight games, including a 23-6 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.

The whole NFC North is in the playoffs right now, so while the Bears feel pretty good about where they are, they can't afford to get comfortable. Remember, both of Chicago's losses are to NFC North teams, so they can't afford any more setbacks in divisional games. The Bears still have to play the Lions twice and the Packers and Vikings once each.

San Francisco is a team the Bears need to watch the rest of the season, as they are still winning games despite all the injuries they have had. At this rate, with some injured players slowing starting to return, the 49ers might end up being unstoppable by the end of the season.

Bears have strong chance at second-half run because of what they have done

Chicago survived a tough stretch of games, riding a four-game winning streak entering the bye week. In the final eight games, though, four were against NFC North opponents.

The Bears' first post-bye-week game is against the New Orleans Saints. Chicago still has to play the Miami Dolphins in mid-December, so those should be easy wins. Their other non-divisional games are against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills, which will be more challenging.

That will leave the NFC North games as the most important for the Bears to win. The hope is that if they can win three of the four, it should put them in a good position to at least be in the running for the division title. Going undefeated in those four games, though, would ensure they can take the title.

A big reason to believe that the Bears can win the division and potentially get a top spot in the conference is Jeffery Simmons. That trade has worked so well for the Bears so far, and the team has really benefited.

Simmons already has two sacks in two games and has elevated the defense's performance. Guys like Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Grady Jarrett, and more are playing better because of it.

The difference-maker that Simmons is should put the Bears over the top of the division and challenge the 49ers for the top spot. Chicago's trade for him is one of those moves that can change a franchise's fortune in a heartbeat.

Read more: Jaylon Johnson's Week 9 bounce-back game screwed the Bears at the trade deadline

This upcoming schedule in the second half of the year won't be easy, but the Bears have already fought through arguably the toughest part of it. They need eight more games to prepare for what could be a Super Bowl title run.

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