MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – DECEMBER 20: Head coach Matt Nagy of the Chicago Bears fist bumps Mitchell Trubisky #10 during the first half against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 20, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
The Bears still have a path to the playoffs after beating the Vikings.
The Chicago Bears picked up a season-saving victory Sunday over the Minnesota Vikings to improve to 7-7 on the season. That has them sitting in the No. 8 spot in the NFC as the afternoon window of games begin.
The focus for the Bears now is jumping the Arizona Cardinals for the seventh and final seed. Let’s take a look at the scenarios for how the Bears can get back into the playoffs and save some jobs in the process.
How can Chicago Bears clinch a playoff berth this season?
Jumping ahead of the Cardinals is the easiest scenario in play. Arizona is taking on the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon and a win gets them up to 8-6 on the year. The Bears and Cardinals will not meet in 2020 so their conference record becomes the tiebreaker to analyze. The Bears are currently 6-5 and the Cardinals are at 5-4.
Basically, fans should be rooting for the Cardinals to lose each of their final three games. Chicago also finishing 9-7 is going to be necessary to have a realistic shot of getting in barring a total collapse by the Cardinals.
One fun scenario is the team actually getting ahead of both the Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady’s team improved to 9-5 with a victory, but the Bears hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. So if both teams finish 9-7, the edge goes to Chicago.
Winning the final two games of the year is a great starting point. Then comes rooting for the Cardinals to go at least 1-2 and for the Bucs to go 0-2 to finish the season.
The Bears have games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers to wrap up the season. A win over the Jaguars seems like a certainty. But a Week 17 showdown against the Packers with playoff implications? That right there would be a great game to be flexed into Sunday night to wrap up the regular season.