CHICAGO — Ben Johnson had preached the magic quantity for weeks. The primary-year Chicago Bears coach would not start to consider the postseason till his workforce crossed the 11-win threshold.
That occurred Saturday night time with an exciting, come-from-behind 22-16 win over the Inexperienced Bay Packers, however that did not clinch a playoff berth for the Bears.
Chicago needed to wait till Sunday when the Detroit Lions misplaced 29-24 to the Pittsburgh Steelers to have fun its first postseason berth in 5 years.
“It is a signature second for us as a workforce to have the ability to construct this confidence,” quarterback Caleb Williams stated after the win over Inexperienced Bay. “A signature second for us to have the ability to be within the place we’re with 11 wins and every little thing on the tip of our fingers is strictly the place we need to be, I will put it that means.”
The Bears are at the moment the No. 2 seed within the NFC.
Chicago final made the postseason in 2020 because the NFC’s third wild-card workforce when it completed 8-8. The Bears began out 5-1 that season earlier than enduring a six-game dropping streak. They backed their means into the postseason by choosing up three late wins over the Texans, Vikings and Jaguars earlier than dropping to the Packers within the finale.
The New Orleans Saints made fast work of the Bears within the 2020 wild-card spherical with 21-9 victory.
Solely three gamers from that workforce are nonetheless on the roster: tight finish Cole Kmet, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and kicker Cairo Santos.
For Kmet, who was drafted forty third in April 2020, the trajectory of that workforce and the place the Bears are at the moment, surging into the postseason, is the largest distinction.
“As a rookie, you do not know any higher,” he stated. “This does really feel just a little completely different. It seems like we have got quite a lot of issues occurring proper now that may carry over all through the remainder of the 12 months.”
The Bears have gained 11 of their previous 13, together with two in a row. Chicago has gained the turnover battle 10 occasions this season, essentially the most within the NFL, and gained all 10 of these video games. The Bears are 7-2 in one-score video games after going 6-20 in such video games the previous three seasons mixed. The final time they gained this many one-score video games was in 2010, after they misplaced to the Packers within the NFC title recreation. The Bears have six victories this season after trailing within the remaining two minutes of the fourth quarter, essentially the most such wins in a season because the 1970 merger.
Let’s dance 🕺 pic.twitter.com/U0FDG0hbJm
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 22, 2025
The Lions’ loss additionally earned the San Francisco 49ers (10-4) a spot within the postseason. The 49ers are at the moment the NFC’s No. 6 seed and host the Bears on “Sunday Evening Soccer” in Week 17. Chicago closes the common season at Soldier Area towards the Detroit Lions on Jan. 4.
The Bears’ final win within the postseason got here through the 2010 season after they have been the NFC’s No. 2 seed. After incomes a bye, Chicago beat Seattle 35-24 within the divisional spherical earlier than dropping to eventual Tremendous Bowl champion Inexperienced Bay within the NFC Championship Sport.
