Of all the things Bears coach Ben Johnson has changed at Halas Hall in his first year on the job, and that’s a long list, the relentless, full-throttle mentality might be the most noticeable. The defeatist feeling that spread under previous coaches as losing streaks dragged on has been fumigated from the building and replaced by unflinching confidence.
Johnson isn’t about to take his foot off the gas now.
That would undercut everything he has preached, and he’s thinking bigger than just playoff positioning heading into the final regular-season game Sunday against the Lions. The Bears can secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC with a victory, but more importantly, they need to maintain the intensity that got them to this point, continue their upward trajectory and move on from their dramatic loss to the 49ers.
“We’re constantly improving — that’s the goal, at least,” Johnson said Wednesday. “We’re going to stay true to our process throughout this thing. This is the next one. Certainly coming off a loss like that, too, you don’t want to go into the postseason with two losses in a row. You want to have a little momentum.”
The Bears need that across the board, from quarterback Caleb Williams building off arguably the best three-game stretch of his career to the defense bouncing back from getting burned by Brock Purdy. But they also need that No. 2 seed, by the way.
With the NFC North crown in hand, the Bears can clinch that spot with a win over the Lions or by the Eagles losing to the Commanders. If the Bears lose and Eagles win, the Bears drop to the No. 3 seed. The NFL set both of their games at 3:25 p.m. so that one doesn’t render the other meaningless.
The Bears will open the playoffs at home either way in the wild-card round, but the No. 2 seed would guarantee them a home game if they advance to the divisional round. They also would be in line to host the NFC Championship Game if the No. 1 seed — the winner of the Seahawks at 49ers game Saturday — falls.
Little of that appears to matter to the head coach of the defending champion Eagles. Nick Sirianni dodged a question about it, but The Philadelphia Inquirer reported his team plans to sit quarterback Jalen Hurts and other starters rather than go all-out against the Commanders and hope the Bears slip.
If the Bears and Eagles both survive the wild-card round, they would face each other next in a rematch of the Bears’ dominant win in Philadelphia in November. Whoever claims the No. 2 seed would host that game.