Well, the Bears proved alot of people wrong this week. Leading into this game just about all of the "experts" were predicting that the Vikings would come into Chicago and roll over the Bears on the heels of their come from behind victory against the Arizona Cardinals last week. Then the two teams played, and the Bears absolutely dominated the game, especially in the second half. Jay Cutler had his best performance of the season since week 2 at Dallas, the offensive line did a nice job of giving Cutler time and space to move when the pocket did collapse, the receivers played an excellent game, and the running game worked very well. When you combine the improved (and very well balanced) offensive attack with an aggressive Bears' defense and a mediocre Vikings' offense, the Bears probably should have won this game with ease.
With the win, the Bears improved to 6-3, and moved into a first place tie with the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North. The Vikings are all but dead, not only in the division, but also for the wildcard. I would expect the Vikings to lose this week against Green Bay, and that should eliminate them from all the talk completely. However, I am not sure many people believe the Bears have what it takes to make the playoffs. Even after a big win, in which they dominated a team that is supposed to be competing for a championship this year, people are still doubting our Chicago Bears.
Granted, the Bears' schedule down the stretch is brutal. The last seven games of the season are at the Dolphins, home against the Eagles, at Detroit, home against the Patriots, at the Vikings, home against the Jets, and finally, at the Packers. Those are six teams that have played some pretty good football at times this season (the Lions included). None of those games are going to be guaranteed wins for the Bears. They have to play with the effort and intensity they played with in yesterday's ball game to give themselves a shot at winning the division. I think the playoffs are well within reach though.
All of the games remaining on the schedule are winnable for the Bears. They play against all three division opponents one more time, and they have already beaten those teams. Again, that isn't a guarantee that they will beat those teams on the road, but they can win those games. The Eagles and Dolphins are also winnable games. I will be very interested to see the Bears play against the Patriots and the Jets, who are two of the elite teams in the league. Those will be huge tests for the Bears as they near the end of the season. However, when you look at the schedule, at least five of the remaining seven games are winnable. If they can win at least 4 games down the stretch, you'd have to like their chances of getting into the playoffs as a wildcard.
The teams still in the hunt for the playoffs include: The Atlanta Falcons (7-2), The New York Giants (6-3), the Green Bay Packers (6-3), The Chicago Bears (6-3), The New Orleans Saints (6-3), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3), the Philadelphia Eagles (5-3), and whichever pathetic team in the NFC West wins that division (right now it looks like the Seattle Seahawks, who actually beat the Bears earlier this season). To me, none of those teams are really that much better than the Bears. All of the teams are very close, and it should be an interesting finish to the season. At the beginning of the season I said that I wouldn't be shocked to see the Bears win 10-11 games. They might not be that far away from that total after all. Go Bears!
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