Bears Playoff Picture

Well, the Vikings won't go 8-8 like I predicted but the good news is that a Vikings loss and a Bears win gets the Bears into the playoffs.

Here is the playoff picture for the Bears with help from ESPN:

The Bears clinch the NFC North with a Chicago win and Minnesota loss or tie OR Chicago tie and Minnesota loss. The Bears clinch a wild-card spot with a Chicago win and Dallas loss or tie and Tampa Bay loss or tie OR Chicago tie and Dallas loss and Tampa Bay loss.

NFC North Update

Recently I made my NFC North predictions and one of my predictions was already wrong. I wanted to pick the Texans to beat the Packers in my story but I didn't want to look like a Bears homer. I had a feeling the Packers would lose and I did pick the Texans in my Yahoo! pick'em league but I just couldn't do it here because I was afraid I might be wrong. I need to start trusting myself more.

Here's an update on my predictions:

Week 15

Saints @ Bears: Bears Win (8-6)
Packers @ Jaguars: Packers Win (7-7)
Vikings @ Cardinals: Cardinals Win (8-6)

Week 16

Falcons @ Vikings: Falcons Win (8-7)
Packers @ Bears: Bears Win (9-6 BEARS) (7-8 PACKERS)

Week 17

Giants @ Vikings: Giants Win (8-8)
Bears @ Texans: Bears Win (10-6)
Lions @ Packers: Packers Win (8-8)

FINAL NFC NORTH STANDINGS:

Bears 10-6
Vikings 8-8
Packers 7-9
Lions 1-15 (I can't imagine them going 0-16)

Bears Notes: Dear fans who predicted a 6-10 record,

First off...I got to address the Bears fans who said the Bears would go 6-10 (or worse). You need to have more faith in your Bears. As bad as the Bears were last season, they went 7-9. With better offensive weapons and an improved O-Line, I don't understand how people actually thought the 2008 Bears would do worse than the 2007 Bears. Maybe you were trying to send a message that you were frustrated with how 2007 ended but this is a new year. This isn't last year's Bears and they are proving it. I personally said the Bears would win at least 10 games this year. As of right now, I am right on track. If you are a Bears fan, it is best to be over optimistic than over skeptical.

Other things I want to say..........

What's up with the Chicago media trashing the Bears lately? First it was the St. Louis Rams game. After the win, all the media could talk about was not how good the Bears looked but how bad the Rams must be for the Bears to win so easily. Pretty much they said that the Rams got sacked 5 times because they can't block and got picked off 4 times because they can't throw. No mention of the fact that Urlacher and Briggs made nice deflections to set up the picks nor did they mention that not everyone was making sacks (only Harris, Brown, and Ogunleye I think). Instead of saying Matt Forte had a great game, it was about how poor the Rams are at stopping the run. Why is the media looking for ways to trash the Bears even when they win? They even went as far to say that the Bears are fortunate that there isn't a cheap win category in the standings.

Then there is Tom Waddle yesterday. I enjoy listening to him sometimes but he ripped the Bears on the NFL Network yesterday. He said that four of the seven Bears wins have came against the Rams, Jaguars, and Lions meaning the Bears are bad team taking advantage of weak opponents. That's not the Bears fault they had to face those weak teams. We had to be defended by Jim Mora of all people who was disagreeing with Waddle. Mora asked Waddle what he thought of the Vikings who by the way have 3 wins against the Jaguars and Lions and Waddle's response was the Vikings are the best of a bad bunch of teams in the NFC North. I personally don't care if we played in a division of 4th graders. A division championship is a division championship. Being the best team in your division is a big accomplishment no matter what Tommy Waddle says.

The last thing I want to say is that yesterday was a bittersweet sunday. I usually feel happy after the Bears win but this week was different. For the first time all season, the Bears don't control their destiny. Even though the Bears had to win and I'm glad they did, it was hard for me to get excited about the win knowing that the Vikings won. I still love the Bears chances to win the division but knowing that finishing 10-6 doesn't guarantee the Bears will make the playoffs is a frustrating feeling.

Chicago Pro Teams Prediction: Bears will win the NFC North

This is a tough one because I have a hard trying to pick with my head than with my heart but I do like the Bears chances. The Packers will be lucky to finish 8-8 and the Vikings may lose 3 of their next 4 games. It's very possible that the Bears can win the division at 9-7.

I'll show you my week-by-week predictions for the rest of the season:

Week 14

Jaguars @ Bears: Bears Win (7-6 record for Bears)
Texans @ Packers: Packers Win (6-7 record for Packers)
Vikings @ Lions: Vikings Win (8-5 record for Vikings)

Week 15

Saints @ Bears: Bears Win (8-6)
Packers @ Jaguars: Packers Win (7-7)
Vikings @ Cardinals: Cardinals Win (8-6)

Week 16

Falcons @ Vikings: Falcons Win (8-7)
Packers @ Bears: Bears Win (9-6 BEARS) (7-8 PACKERS)

Week 17

Giants @ Vikings: Giants Win (8-8)
Bears @ Texans: Bears Win (10-6)
Lions @ Packers: Packers Win (8-8)

FINAL NFC NORTH STANDINGS:

1. Bears 10-6
2. Vikings 8-8
3. Packers 8-8
4. Lions ?????

It looks like 9-7 might be enough for the Bears but they would have to beat the Packers. That game makes me nervous because a Packers win and a Bears loss could end up with both teams finishing 9-7 and the tiebreaker would go to the Packers. So believe it or not, the team we should worry more than the Vikings may be the Packers but the team we should worry the most about is the Bears. The Vikings WILL lose at least two more games but can the Bears win 3 more games or 4 more games? I think they can but we have to wait and see.