The Bears Can Exorcise Demons and Punch Their Playoff Ticket Today and Other Bullets

Not sure if coming back from a 21-0 deficit in NFL Blitz or posting a quadruple double in  NBA Jam Tournament edition was a better arcade game accomplishment, but doing both in the same night was pretty cool.

  • If you’re going to celebrate Clinchmas, do it in style:
  • It’s Week 15 and the Bears can clinch a playoff spot. Who saw this coming? Let’s discuss some playoff scenarios. The Bears need one of the following things to occur to clinch the NFC North for the first time since 2010: Beat the Packers or hope the Vikings lose to the Dolphins. Chicago could also clinch the division if its game with Green Bay and Minnesota’s contest against Miami both end in a tie. But where would the fun be in that?
  • At minimum, the Bears can land a postseason spot if Washington loses to Jacksonville in a game of two franchises no one wants to tune into watch.
  • Should the Bears officially make their way into the postseason for the first time in eight years, Head Coach Matt Nagy will probably have the inside track on joining the likes of George Halas and Mike Ditka. A panel of Associated Press writers have voted Nagy as their Coach of the Year … to this point. To be clear, this isn’t the official NFL Coach of the Year award, just a snapshot teaser of a micro-poll that hints at who the award winner could be when it’s announced. Should Nagy bring it home, he’ll join George Halas (1963, 1965), Mike Ditka (1985, 1988), Dick Jauron (2001), and Lovie Smith (2005) as award winners. Ditka won the Super Bowl when he won it the first time and Smith took his squad to the big game when he won. Could Nagy be next?
  • ESPN’s Louis Riddick is a fan:
  • Riddick is all-in on the Bears doing the thing, but …
  • This was a fun read:
  • Michael made the point the other day that Nagy runs so many “trick” plays, to the point where I’m hesitant to call them “trick” plays. Simply put, it’s creative play-calling on a higher level.
  • I’m not just saying this because I have Allen Robinson on my fantasy team, but it would be cool to see some creativity result in an Allen Robinson touchdown.
  • The Bears haven’t beaten the Packers at Soldier Field since September 27, 2010, so getting a win today would be a pretty big deal:
  • Good coaching and good players have raised to public profile of the 2018 Bears:
  • Well-deserved for obvious reasons, especially when you look at Khalil Mack, Kyle Fuller, Eddie Jackson, and Tarik Cohen. Strong safety Adrian Amos is a bit of a surprise considering he is having a down year by Pro Football Focus’ lofty standards, but is still a reliable defender in the secondary. Fan votes are just one-third of the equation, but perhaps this will give us an idea of how things could go when Pro Bowls nominations are officially announced.
  • In an ideal world, the Bears have no one in the Pro Bowl … because they’ll be preparing for the Super Bowl.
  • Leonard Floyd appears to have turned a corner and a strong finish to this regular season could really change the narrative surrounding his season:
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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