The Chicago Bears suffered a disappointing loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, allowing their division rivals to take control of the NFC North after Chicago’s brief stay at the top.
While Green Bay looked like they might pull away with a home victory, the Bears kept fighting and evened the score at 21-21 in the second half. After Green Bay got back ahead with a Josh Jacobs touchdown, Caleb Williams’ late-game attempt to hit an endzone touchdown pass resulted in an interception, sealing the Packers’ win.
Before losing at Lambeau Field, the Bears were surging, with a surprising Black Friday win over the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, their fifth-straight. Sunday’s 28-21 loss made things a bit more complex for Chicago’s attempts to gain a spot in the NFL Playoffs, after being on the outside looking in last year.
Read more: Packers’ Matt LaFleur Has Blunt Response on Ben Johnson Postgame Moment
After the game, head coach Ben Johnson spoke about his team’s challenge as they move forward, with four more games left on their regular-season schedule.
“I mean, we’ll be a playoff team once we earn enough wins to become a playoff team. Right now, we’re a nine-win team, and I don’t think nine wins is gonna get you in this year,” Johnson said during his postgame remarks.
“We gotta do what we can to get enough wins to find a way to get into the tournament,” he said before leaving the podium.
Johnson praised the Packers’ overall effort, including their defense with the pass rush. The Bears coach claimed his quarterback, Caleb Williams, “put his Superman cape on” several times during the game to get away and make plays, and called his team a “prideful” group that kept fighting.
Chicago (9-4) gets what some might call a favorable matchup next Sunday at home, as they’ll take on rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders and the 3-10 Cleveland Browns. In addition, Chicago plays the currently playoff-bound San Francisco 49ers and division opponents, the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, to finish its season.
The NFC Playoff picture is still uncertain. The Bears briefly held the No. 1 overall seed until losing to the Packers (9-3-1) on Sunday. Now they’ve dropped to No. 7 among potential playoff teams, which puts them in some trouble if they can’t win enough going forward.
Right behind them are division rivals, Detroit, the 7-6 Carolina Panthers, and 6-6-1 Dallas Cowboys. Interestingly, another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings (5-8), is still in the hunt.
Basically, the Bears can control their destiny by stacking wins in their remaining four games. Bears fans are likely hoping the team hasn’t regressed after finding the confidence to secure some thrilling, and often close, wins in their previous games this season.
Read more: Browns’ Shedeur Sanders Sends Clear Message on Jerry Jeudy Dispute
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