{"id":463352,"date":"2025-12-22T01:34:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/463352\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T01:34:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T01:34:12","slug":"with-lions-loss-bears-clinch-first-playoff-berth-in-5-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/463352\/","title":{"rendered":"With Lions loss, Bears clinch first playoff berth in 5 years"},"content":{"rendered":"


CHICAGO — Ben Johnson had preached the magic number for weeks. The first year Chicago Bears<\/a> coach wouldn’t begin to think about the postseason until his team crossed the 11-win threshold.<\/p>\n

That happened Saturday night with a thrilling come-from-behind win over theGreen Bay Packers<\/a>, but that didn’t clinch a playoff berth for the Bears.<\/p>\n

Chicago had to wait until Sunday when the Detroit Lions<\/a> lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> to celebrate its first postseason berth in five years.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a signature moment for us as a team to be able to build this confidence,” quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a> said after the win over Green Bay. “A signature moment for us to be able to be in the position we are with 11 wins and everything at the tip of our fingers is exactly where we want to be, I’ll put it that way.”<\/p>\n

The Bears are currently the No. 2 seed in the NFC.<\/p>\n

Chicago last made the postseason in 2020 as the NFC’s third wild card team when it finished 8-8. The Bears started out 5-1 that season before enduring a 6-game losing streak. They backed their way into the postseason by picking up three late wins over the Texans, Vikings and Jaguars before losing to the Packers in the regular-season finale.<\/p>\n

The New Orleans Saints<\/a> made quick work of the Bears in the 2020 wild-card round with 21-9 victory.<\/p>\n

Only three players from that team are currently on the Bears roster: Tight end Cole Kmet<\/a>, cornerback Jaylon Johnson<\/a> and kicker Cairo Santos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Kmet, who was drafted 43rd overall in April 2020, the trajectory of that team and where the Bears currently are surging into the postseason is the biggest difference.<\/p>\n

“I think as a rookie you don’t know any better,” he said. “This does feel a little different. It feels like we’ve got a lot of things going on right now that can carry over throughout the rest of the year.”<\/p>\n

This Bears team has won 11 of its last 13, including the last two in a row. It’s a team that has won the turnover battle 10 times this season, the most in the NFL, and won all 10 of those games. The Bears are 7-2 in one-score games after going 6-20 in such games the past three seasons combined. The last time they won that many one-score games was in 2010, when they lost to the Packers in the NFC title game.The Bears have six wins this season after trailing in the final 2:00 of the fourth quarter, the most such wins in a season since the 1970 merger.<\/p>\n

The Lions loss also earned the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> (10-4) a spot in the postseason. The 49ers are currently the NFC’s No. 6 seed and host the Bears on Sunday Night Football in Week 17. Chicago closes the regular season at Soldier Field against the Detroit Lions on Jan. 4.<\/p>\n

The Bears’ last win in the postseason came during the 2010 season when they were the NFC’s top seed. After earning a bye, Chicago beat Seattle 35-24 in the divisional round before losing to eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game.br\/]<\/p>\n

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