Chicago Bears' Playoff Hopes Gone With Week 11 Loss, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings Rolling

It’s safe to say that one reigning division champion isn’t going anywhere in the 2019 NFL season. The Chicago Bears have been all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after 10 games.

A Week 11 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams dropped Chicago to 4-6. The Bears are 3.5-games out of the wild-card race and four games behind the first-place Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.

Even if the Bears found a way to end the season on a six-game winning streak, they still might not reach the postseason in a very competitive conference. Chicago is much more likely to finish the year with a losing record, leaving them searching for a new starting quarterback for the 2020 season.

It was only a year ago that the Bears cruised to an NFC North title. With the conference’s best defense, Chicago went 12-4 to earn the No.3 seed. The Bears had four more wins than the second-place Minnesota Vikings.

Chicago’s defense has regressed, but it remains among the best units in the NFL. Mitchell Trubisky and Matt Nagy’s offense have virtually eliminated the Bears from contention well before the final month of the regular season.

Only three teams have given up fewer points than the Bears. Chicago ranks 30th in total offense and 28th in points per game.

The Bears might still be alive if they played in a weaker division. Green Bay and Minnesota are both competing for a playoff bye, giving Chicago no chance to make a miraculous comeback in the division.

Minnesota has the NFC’s final wild-card spot heading into their Week 12 bye. The Bears beat the Vikings in Week 4. The division rivals will meet again in the regular-season finale.

A collapse by Minnesota would only help Chicago so much. The Bears would still have to jump the Rams and Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card race. Both teams own head-to-head victories, and thus the tiebreaker, over Chicago.

Los Angeles is two games ahead of Chicago. The Eagles and Carolina Panthers both sit at .500 and a game in front of the Bears in the wild-card race.