The NFL’s Week 17 flexed schedule is out and the Chicago Bears are in a prime spot.
Let’s boogie, Cheesedoodles:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1343407045266059264
The most important Bears game of the year kicks off at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday January 3, 2021 in Soldier Field. Their opponent will be the Green Bay Packers. What’s at stake? Plenty.
Firstly, the Bears’ playoff chances are at top of mind. A Bears win against the Packers means they’ll clinch a playoff spot for the second time in three years. And that’s no matter what happens in any game elsewhere. But if the Bears lose, that’s when things get dicey. Should Chicago fall to Green Bay, then the Cardinals will qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2015. Arizona is playing a Los Angeles Rams team that failed to punch its ticket in Week 16. That’s important, because a Rams win would allow the Bears to back-door into the postseason (no matter what happens in their game against the Packers). The Rams-Cardinals game will be played at the same time as Bears-Packers, but on CBS. In other words, this schedule sets up to have me rocking two TVs on Sunday. Not that I’m complaining about it.
Once the playoff stuff gets sorted out, then we can move on to discussing the respective futures of GM Ryan Pace, Head Coach Matt Nagy, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, and a host of others. If the Bears take claim to a postseason berth, that chatter will wait (at least) a week. But if they don’t, well, you know the drill by now.
We’ll cross that bridge if/when we get there. In the meantime, we ride at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday. Giddy up!
And because I suppose you care about the rest of the NFL schedule for Week 17, here it is:
Updated times for Week 17 Schedule: pic.twitter.com/yKo6u34VSz
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 28, 2020