Bear Digest

Playoff payoff for Bears comes with irony and Detroit Lions' defeat

Longtime Bears arch nemesis posts the victory Sunday at Detroit that Chicago needed to secure a spot in the postseason after Saturday's big win over Green Bay.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams celebrates with fans after a win that, combined with the Steelers' win over Detroit, put the Bears into the playoffs.
Caleb Williams celebrates with fans after a win that, combined with the Steelers' win over Detroit, put the Bears into the playoffs. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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For the first time since a disastrous day in New Orleans during the pandemic, the Bears are taking part in the NFL' postseason.

It was none other than Aaron Rodgers who did them a favor by leading a 29-24 Pittsburgh Steelers victory over the Detroit Lions. The loss left the Lions with seven defeats and none of the wild card contenders who are currently unseeded can do better than seven losses. The Bears can do no worse than six losses and are in the postseason for the first time since 2020.

An offensive pass interference call on Detroit wiped out the go-ahead touchdown with 22 seconds remaining for an illegal pick and proved the Lions' undoing. The Lions also had an offensive interference penalty on the game's last play to wipe out a TD. Detroit didn't get eliminated with its loss, but it wouldn't be the Bears they could still overtake. It's Green Bay.

The Bears haven't yet locked up the NFC North. They need another win or another Packers defeat or tie for this to occur.

Beyond the division title, Ben Johnson's team remains in contention for a top seed. They need two wins and a loss by Seattle for this. The top seed gets them home field no matter as long as they're still in the playoffs, and also gives them a bye week while every other NFC playoff team would have to play.

It's a realistic scenario if they do win the last two at San Francisco and at home  against Detroit, the Seahawks still are playing at Carolina and at San Francisco.

Carolina has plenty of incentive to beat the Seahawks as they're now in first place alone in the NFC South after beating Carolina on Sunday, and the 49ers could need the finale for seeding or even to get into the playoffs as a wild card.

As second seeds, the Bears could very well wind up hosting the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round because the Packer are seventh seeds and second seeds face the seventh seeds. Then again, the Packers still must qualify for the playoffs. They must play Baltimore and Minnesota yet.

The Bears would rate a better seed than the Eagles because they own a tiebreaker and one-game lead over Philadelphia. They haven't played Seattle, but trail the Seahawks by a game in the NFC.

Sunday night’s Bears opponent, the 49ers, will be working on a short work week because their Week 16 game is not until Monday night at

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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.