Bear Digest

It's shocking but Bears fans should be Packers fans on Thanksgiving

Analysis: The best thing for the Bears in their pursuit of a playoff spot could be if the Packers knock off the Lions in their Thanksgiving Day game for several reasons.
Gene Chamberlain|
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs for a first down against the Green Bay Packers. Who's a Bears fan to pull for on Thursday?
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs for a first down against the Green Bay Packers. Who's a Bears fan to pull for on Thursday? | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Detroit's Frank Ragnow is back, which was predicted here and by anyone else who realized he was far too young to retire from snapping footballs between his legs this past offseason.

Of course, it's far too soon to expect he'd play on Thanksgiving in what might be Detroit's biggest game of the season. It's the traditional turkey day game and against Green Bay, a battle of the Bears' closest pursuers in the NFC North.

While the Bears are not in this one, their fans do have a stake in the outcome.

Whoever wins, Bears fans are sure to feel better on Thanksgiving than they did last year when Matt Eberflus looked like the big turkey for keeping a timeout and losing yet another game.

The only way to go on this game for Bears fans is with Green Bay, and it has nothing to do with Detroit being better now that Ragnow is back.

Sure, it might mean taking a Pepto-Bismol so it all goes down easier, but in the end it is the best thing.

Besides, Detroit already lost tight end Sam LaPorta for the year and that looks like a bigger blow to their chances than getting Ragnow back for four or five games.

Sure, it's always fun for Bears fans to see the Cheeseheads melt down but there really are more reasons to pull for a Green Bay win.

1. Wild card race

The Bears are in no position to assume anything. Their first goal needs to be making the playoffs. Taking the North is a nice goal but the playoffs come first. Any way one of the playoff contenders picks up more defeats is good news for the Bears, regardless of their division. But getting someone to stack up losses who is behind them is the best situation possible.

The Bears need either Detroit, Green Bay or San Francisco to finish with one more loss than they have. Just one of those three needs to finish with a worse record for the Bears to get into the playoffs, barring some kind of late, unlikely miracle Carolina playoff run.

Detroit would have five defeats with a loss to the Packers and would be in the eighth seed, two games behind the Bears in the loss column pending the Bears-Eagles game.

2. Packers schedule

Green Bay is only half of a game back and has the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL, based on opponents' records. The Packers have to play Denver, Baltimore, the Bears twice and the Vikings, besides Detroit on Thursday. Green Bay's chances of getting through that gauntlet unscathed enough to win the division looks lower than Detroit's and not a good deal better even if they win Thursday. But if the Lions lose this one, it means a tough time ahead for both of the Bears' NFC North challengers--it's just going to be a bit easier for the Packers than before the Thanksgiving game.

3. Tiebreaker

Even though a win makes the Packers 4-0 in the NFC North, the Bears can still control the tiebreaker against Green Bay because they have two games left with the Packers besides the game with Detroit. If they sweep the Packers and beat Detroit, they would have any tiebreaker they need. Then again, if they sweep the Packers and beat Detroit, they probably wouldn't even need a tiebreaker anyway.

4. The Finale

Having already lost badly to Detroit, anything the Bears can have happen that makes their season finale with Detroit become meaningless is better. Getting a two-game edge on the Lions is the way the Bears make it impossible for Detroit to come to Chicago with a chance to tie the Bears and apply their tiebreaker edge.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.