Chicago Bears suddenly have a shot at 1st round bye

The Chicago Bears are still busy celebrating their victory on Sunday. It’s not hard to understand why. So many streaks came to an end.

They defeated the Packers at Soldier Field for the first time since 2010. They won the NFC North title for the first time since 2010. It was accomplished going from worst to first. Something they haven’t done in over a decade. The defense picked off Aaron Rodgers for the first time in 402 passing attempts. Mitch Trubisky posted the highest quarterback rating a Bears passer has had against them in 18 years.

Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times on top of it all. There was so much to digest that fans haven’t really had a chance to think about the rest of the league. Most are simply grateful for being in the playoffs. Yet the good news didn’t end there. It started with the Dallas Cowboys losing in ugly fashion to the Indianapolis Colts. This further cements the likelihood that Chicago will end up with the #3 seed in the playoffs. This guarantees them at least one home game, which is huge considering they’re 7-1 at Soldier Field.

It didn’t end there though. Things got really interesting with what happened on Sunday Night Football.

Los Angeles Rams loss opens the door for Bears to get a Bye

The win last week for the Bears over the Los Angeles Rams is proving more crucial by the day. Things took a shocking turn when the team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles at home, marking the first time in the Sean McVay era that the Rams had lost two-straight. This dropped their record to 11-3 with two to play. This is important for one big reason.

If the Bears were to win out the remainder of their games for a 12-4 record, all the Rams would have to do is lose one of their final two games and the two teams would have identical records. In such a case Chicago would hold the advantage due to their victory a week ago, granting them rights to the #2 seed in the conference and a requisite 1st round bye in the playoffs.

This would be huge given it grants a chance for injured players to heal and also having to just win three games to claim a Super Bowl title instead of four. Never mind it also ups their odds of hosting two playoff games at home depending on what happens with the Saints and their #1 spot.