"Ben Johnson had preached the magic number for weeks. The first-year Chicago Bears coach wouldn't begin to think about the postseason until his team crossed the 11-win threshold. That happened Saturday night with a thrilling come-from-behind 22-16 win over the Green Bay Packers, but that didn't clinch a playoff berth for the Bears. Chicago had to wait until Sunday when the Detroit Lions lost 29-24 to the Pittsburgh Steelers to celebrate its first postseason berth in five years."
""I think it's a signature moment for us as a team to be able to build this confidence," quarterback Caleb Williams 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.""
"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. The New Orleans Saints made quick work of the Bears in the 2020 wild-card round with 21-9 victory."
Ben Johnson established an 11-win benchmark before considering postseason possibilities. The Bears achieved that mark with a comeback 22-16 win over the Packers and secured a playoff spot after the Lions' loss to the Steelers. Caleb Williams described the moment as a signature boost to team confidence as Chicago reached 11 wins and positioned itself for postseason play. The Bears are the NFC's No. 2 seed. Chicago's most recent postseason before this came in 2020, when the team finished 8-8 and lost to the Saints in the wild-card round. Only Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson and Cairo Santos remain from that 2020 roster.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]