Updated NFC playoff picture and standings after Week 7 is good news for the Bears

Going into Week 7, the Chicago Bears had the luxury of enjoying their bye while all three division rivals were locked into some tough, close matchups.

To begin the early slate on Sunday, it was the Minnesota Vikings taking on the Detroit Lions in a battle for first place in the NFC North.

Check that ... first place in the NFC.

This division is the best in football, as many of you have read and heard all this last week. This matchup between the Lions and Vikings was no shocker. It went down to the wire, with Detroit pulling out the victory in the end by a score of 31-29.

The Packers, meanwhile, took on the Houston Texans in another extremely close game that also happened to go down to the wire. The Packers prevailed in the end, though, by a score of 24-22. These wins for Green Bay and Detroit put them at 5-2 and 5-1, respectively while Minnesota dropped its first game of the season and fell to 5-1.

It was a phenomenal early slate for fans of the division, and the Bears were probably somewhat glad they were able to watch from the comfort of their homes. Now, as they go into a Week 8 matchup with the Washington Commanders, where do things stand, playoff-wise?

Updated NFC Playoff picture and standings after Week 7

1. Detroit Lions (5-1)
2. Washington Commaners (5-2)
3. Atlanta Falcons (4-3)
4. Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
5. Minnesota Vikings (5-1)
6. Green Bay Packers (5-2)
7. Chicago Bears (4-2)

More Bears news:

Thanks to owning the tiebreaker over the Philadelphia Eagles due to having a better conference record (2-0 versus 3-2) the Bears find themselves locked into the no. 7 seed for the moment. However, things are awfully tight right behind them.

• Philadelphia Eagles (4-2)
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3)
• Dallas Cowboys (3-3)
• San Francisco 49ers (3-4)

Next week's matchup with Washington is going to have some early playoff implications on this season, already, and won't be dry of any juicy storylines.

The one thing everyone will be talking about, for the next few days, is the health of Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who left the Week 7 matchup with Carolina due to a rib injury. If fans are unable to get the long-awaited Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels matchup they've been longing for, that will put a damper on this one.

And, whether Bears fans like it or not, this game will also have an asterisk if the Bears win and Washington doesn't have a healthy Daniels.

For now, though, this is how the standings look and we'll be awaiting more news as this week goes on, in hopes of what might be fireworks in Week 8.