The Chicago Bears face an interesting situation. As things stand, their playoff hopes look grim. Recent calculations give them just a 3% chance of getting in. However, that might change if they could somehow run the table in December to go from 6-6 to 10-6. They’d need help from other teams, specifically the Minnesota Vikings who have to reach six losses. One of them to the Bears in the season finale of course. The question is have the Bears ever been in this kind of situation before?
Thinking about it, there is no question this is rare. An even .500 record with four teams angling to reach the playoffs themselves in front of them. After doing some research, there is indeed one other moment in team history where this same scenario crept up. It took place back in 1989. The Bears suffered two-straight losses to reach 6-6. Four games remained. Two at home and two on the road. Just like this time.
Sadly, the results were anything but what they’d hoped for. The Bears wound up losing every single game in that stretch. Not only did the offense fail to score more than 17 points in three of those games. The defense gave up at least 26 in each of them. Minnesota and Green Bay both finished 10-6 while the eventual champion San Francisco 49ers went 14-2. The Detroit Lions, aided by a rookie Barry Sanders, went 7-9.
It’s rather creepy that such a scenario happened to arrive exactly 30 years ago this season. Almost as if history is repeating itself. Then again, perhaps things might be different this time. Unlike the ’89 team, these 2019 Bears come into the final stretch with far more momentum. They’ve won three of their last four games including a thrilling comeback over the Lions on Thanksgiving. So they’re feeling far more confident than that Bears team did.
Then there is the fact they’ll get to start the stretch at home this time. Back in ’89, the team had to go on the road into Minnesota. A notoriously difficult place to win. They lost 27-16 and the rest snowballed from there. This time Chicago will be fully behind them at Soldier Field with the domed team coming into the cold, windy weather. So there are reasons to think it won’t go like that again.
Even so, it’s hard not to feel a little bit uneasy knowing the last time a Bears team stared down such a daunting task.
