At 6-4 and tied atop the NFC North (Detroit holds the tiebreaker),
the Chicago Bears have positioned themselves to make a run to reach the
playoffs. In order to obtain a playoff berth, the Bears will likely have to go
4-2 over their last six games to finish with a 10-6 record. Even with Jay Cutler’s
status up in the air, I believe the Bears will get those four wins, maybe even
more. The remaining schedule is as follows:
November 24th – at St. Louis (4-6)
December 1st – at Minnesota (2-8)
December 9th – vs. Dallas (5-5)
December 15th – at Cleveland (4-6)
December 22nd – at Philadelphia (6-5)
December 29th – vs. Green Bay (5-5)
I understand that four of those
games are on the road, but I believe all six games are winnable. Will the Bears
win all six? I doubt it, but it is possible. What is more likely is that the
Bears will win at least four of those contests and position themselves for a
playoff berth.
Probably the biggest reason as to
why I think the Bears are about to go on a roll is because of the reemergence
of their defense. In their last three games, the Bears have allowed just 61
points, good for a solid average of 20.3 points per game. One of the knocks on
the Bears defense earlier this season was their lack of pass rush, but that
appears to be turning around. The Bears have recorded eight sacks in the last
three weeks, with Julius Peppers accounting for three of those sacks. Peppers
had a poor first-half of the season, but he seems to be getting hot at the
right time. Peppers is coming off of one of his best games of his career with
12 tackles, 2 sacks, and 2 additional tackles for loss. If the Bears are going
to make a run, then the defense needs to continue to perform well until Jay
Cutler gets back.
Yes, Jay Cutler is still the Bears’
quarterback. As well as Josh McCown has played during Cutler’s absence, Jay is
still the best option for this team when healthy. McCown supporters (or Cutler
haters) will point to the fact that McCown is 2-0 in his two starts this
season. While that is certainly true, the Bears still win those games with Cutler
under center. The victory against the Green Bay Packers was more about Aaron
Rodgers not being on the field than the Bears’ offense. Last Sunday, McCown
made some great throws to pull off the win versus the Baltimore Ravens, but he
also made many poor throws. Obviously the weather was less than ideal, but I
have a feeling Cutler’s arm strength would have been better suited for the
windy weather than McCown’s. Either way, the Bears are winning and that is all
that matters. McCown has done exactly what every team wants their backup to do.
Step in, perform adequately, and keep the offense clicking as much as possible.
Personally, I’m looking forward to
the final six games of the season. Hopefully, the Chicago Bears will make this
an exciting winter.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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