Chicago Bears Have Chance For Playoff Bye, Chasing Rams, Saints For No.1 Seed After Beating Packers

The Chicago Bears clinched the NFC North title for the first time in eight years Sunday when they defeated the Green Bay Packers 24-17. Even though the Bears are guaranteed to be in the playoffs, they’ve still got something to play for with two weeks left in the 2018 NFL regular season.

Sunday’s events kept Chicago in contention to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. Not only did the Bears win, but the Los Angeles Rams were upset by the Philadelphia Eagles. L.A. is only a game ahead of the Bears for the NFC’s No.2 seed.

The Bears own the tiebreaker over the Rams because of their head-to-head win at Soldier Field in Week 14. That means Chicago will get a bye if they can finish with the same record as Los Angeles.

Doing so will be difficult, considering the Rams’ upcoming schedule is an easy one. Los Angeles will visit the Arizona Cardinals and host the San Francisco 49ers, who are among the NFL’s worst teams. The Rams beat the Cardinals and 49ers by a combined 63 points earlier this season.

It should be noted that L.A. was expected to roll past Philadelphia without the injured Carson Wentz.

The No.1 overall seed is technically still in play for Chicago, as well. The New Orleans Saints have a 1.5-game lead over the Bears.

New Orleans will conclude Week 15 with a road game against the Carolina Panthers on “Monday Night Football.” The Saints don’t exactly have an easy upcoming schedule with the Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers set to visit the Superdome in the last two games of the season. If the Bears win out and go 12-4, they’ll finish ahead of the Saints and Rams in the event of a tie.

Chicago enters Week 16 as the No.3 seed with a two-game lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC standings. If the playoffs began next week, the Bears would host the Minnesota Vikings in the first round.

The Bears will end the season with road games against the 49ers and Vikings.