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For the first time since 2018, and only the sixth time this century, the Chicago Bears are NFC North champs.
The Green Bay Packers’ loss Saturday night to the Baltimore Ravens clinched the division for the Bears less than 24 hours before they take on the San Francisco 49ers on “Sunday Night Football.” It means the Bears will host a postseason game at Soldier Field for the first time since the infamous “double-doink” loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 6, 2019.
It’s been a remarkable and surprising season for the Ben Johnson-led Bears. They began the season 0-2, losing to NFC North rivals in different ways. They blew a lead to the Minnesota Vikings in the season opener and then got destroyed by the Detroit Lions, giving up 52 points.
But then things got on track, and the Bears became this season’s “How do they keep winning like this?” team with three walk-off victories and six total wins when trailing in the fourth quarter. Johnson is a candidate for NFL Coach of the Year after the team bought into his intensity. Caleb Williams has been among the league’s best fourth-quarter quarterbacks. Dennis Allen’s defense leads the NFL in takeaways. And a revamped offensive line leads the league’s No. 2 rushing attack.
The Bears guaranteed a trip to the playoffs last week for the first time since 2020, a berth clinched after their instant-classic win over the Packers, followed by a Lions loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Johnson had talked about 11 wins being a goal, and their next goal was achieved Saturday night with Baltimore’s win.
“There’s never been an 11-win team to not make it, and so we felt pretty good about that being the number going into the season. That was step one,” Johnson said Monday. “Step two is we want to win this division. We want to have at least one home playoff game, and then step three would be clinch a number one seed.”
The third goal is still in play, too. The Bears (11-4) need to beat the 49ers (11-4) and then the Lions in Week 18, and have the Seattle Seahawks (12-3) lose to either the Carolina Panthers or the 49ers to get the NFC’s top seed.
As a division champion, the Bears could host the rival Packers in the wild-card round, which would be the third matchup in six weeks. If the Bears lose to the Lions in the regular-season finale, they’ll be the first division champion with only two wins in the division since the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs.
General manager Ryan Poles said at his introductory news conference in January 2022 that his goal was to “take the North.” It became a punchline after three consecutive last-place finishes, but with Johnson at the helm, the Bears have finally retaken the division.
