Bears enter playoffs as NFC’s hottest team after win over Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago Bears delivered on their promise to treat Sunday’s regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings with a sense of urgency.
By doing so, the Bears could be handsomely rewarded when the playoffs begin next week.
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The Bears not only vanquished a division rival 24-10 — the Vikings have some serious soul searching to do in the offseason — but they ensured themselves a full head of steam entering the postseason.
The Bears fell short of clinching a first-round playoff bye by virtue of the Los Angeles Rams’ blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers, but Chicago opens postseason play as the hottest team in the conference, winners of four straight and nine of its last 10. They will play host to the Eagles next weekend in the wild-card round.
Credit Bears coach Matt Nagy for setting the proper tone.
Nagy declared, on more than one occasion throughout the week, the Bears were not content to simply go through the motions just because they had already locked up — at a minimum — the No. 3 seed.
Rather, the Bears played to win at U.S. Bank Stadium, within reason.
The Bears were never going to tempt fate with injured wide receiver Allen Robinson, safety Eddie Jackson and linebacker Aaron Lynch, all of whom were inactive on Sunday. Chicago also pulled receivers Anthony Miller (shoulder) and Taylor Gabriel (shoulder) out of the game at the first signs of trouble, and limited right guard Kyle Long to one half of action in his return from injured reserve.
Still, even after Los Angeles built a sizeable second-half lead over San Francisco, the Bears went for the knockout punch. Nagy kept Mitchell Trubisky and the rest of the starters on the field for Chicago’s deciding touchdown drive, and for good measure, called for Trubisky to throw the ball (successfully) to reserve linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski for the 2-pt conversion.
This wasn’t about the Bears worrying about next week’s opponent at Soldier Field.
As the No. 3 seed, the Bears shouldn’t be afraid to play anyone at Soldier Field, especially with that defense.
Of course, on paper, the Vikings would have been the easiest team for the Bears to play in the first round. Minnesota was a colossal bust in 2018. A team that was favored to reach the Super Bowl in the preseason, but instead the Vikings came out totally flat and uninspired — at home — in a do-or-die game with playoff ramifications.
The Bears beat a team they were supposed to beat. They buried the Vikings, and in the process, picked up their fifth division win of the year after winning three NFC North games under John Fox from 2015-17.
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles will be a tough assignment next week. Philadelphia embarrassed the Bears last year, a game that most of the holdovers from the Fox era are sure to remember.
But there is nothing to suggest the Bears won’t be up to the challenge.