Bears clinch NFL playoff spot after Lions lose; NFC North title next goal

The Chicago Bears officially are an NFL playoff team again.

The Detroit Lions’ 29-24 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday was the last push the Bears needed to clinch their first playoff berth since 2020.

While that’s cause for celebration, first-year head coach Ben Johnson’s team has its eyes on another prize.

The Bears’ 22-16 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night put them in firm control of the NFC North. Chicago is 11-4 and Green Bay 9-5-1, meaning just one Bears win and/or one Packers loss settles the division.

“It does hurt,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the loss. “You feel like you’re rubbing salt in the wound there. But that’s the reality of it. It should hurt because these guys, all of us, we put a lot into this thing. And we had opportunities. You’re up two scores late in the game. And unfortunately, it flipped pretty quick.”

If the season ended today, the Bears would be the NFC’s No. 2 seed and, perhaps more importantly, host a playoff game — against the No. 7 Packers.

“I’m not even there with my mind,” LaFleur said. “I’ve got to process what happened, how that happened, and just try to find ways for us to not put ourselves in these tough situations because the majority of the game I felt like we were pretty much in control of the game. And certainly it’s extremely disappointing when you can’t finish the job.”

Johnson, meanwhile, is enjoying his first taste of the Bears-Packers rivalry.

“This has always been a big one,” he said. “It’s my first two games with it, but it means a lot to the people in the organization, it means a lot to the city of Chicago. It came down to the wire, really, in both the games. It’s going to be an exciting future, I think.”

The Bears also still have a shot at the No. 1 seed, and the accompanying first-round bye, if the 12-3 Seattle Seahawks slip up in their final two regular-season games, against the playoff-contending Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.

The Bears close the regular season against the 49ers and Lions. If they win both, the Bears would have their first 13-win season since the 2006 Super Bowl-bound team did it.

“That’s the cool part about destiny: You have to get to the end to know,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said after the win. “We’re going to keep working. We’re going to keep striving for wins. We’re going to keep striving for being the top team in this league, and we’re going to keep fighting until that clock says zero. From there, we’ll look up and see who wins.”

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