Less than 24 hours after beating the Green Bay Packers in an overtime thriller, the Chicago Bears have received the best news about their NFL playoff chase.
The Bears officially clinched a berth in the 2025 NFL Playoffs on Sunday, December 21, after the Detroit Lions suffered a 29-24 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16.
The Bears had already taken a commanding lead over the NFC North when they rallied back from a 16-6 deficit to beat the Packers at Soldier Field on Saturday Night Football. While that win vastly increased the Bears’ playoff chances heading into Sunday’s slate of games, the Lions punched their ticket for them before they even played another game.
Chicago will now return to the NFL playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season, when they snuck in as the No. 7 seed and lost to New Orleans in the wild-card round. It will be the seventh time the Bears have made the playoffs since the turn of the century.
What Seed Will Bears Earn in 2025 NFL Playoffs?
While the playoffs are now a lock, the Bears (11-4) can still improve their standing in the NFC over the final two games of the 2025 regular season, starting with Week 17’s Sunday Night Football showdown on the road with the San Francisco 49ers (10-4).
According to PlayoffStatus.com, the Bears are most likely to finish as the No. 2 seed in the NFC (66%) and earn home-field advantage in at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, but they continue to have a realistic shot (22%) of claiming the No. 1 seed.
To claim the top seed and the first-round bye, the Bears would need to win out and also get a little help from the Seattle Seahawks, who must lose at least one of their final two games — against the Carolina Panthers and 49ers — to fall out of the No. 1 spot.
While nothing can knock the Bears out of the playoffs now, though, they could fall all the way to the bottom seed in the conference if they are not careful. The Packers could still reclaim the division from the Bears if they win out and Chicago loses out, a result that would also bump the Bears down to the No. 7 seed to start the playoffs at No. 2.
Fortunately for the Bears, though, it is still entirely possible that they clinch the NFC North crown for the first time since 2018 before even playing their next game.
Bears Can Clinch NFC North Before Playing Next Game
The Bears are now in the driver’s seat of the NFC North and can win the division for the first time since 2018 if they win out their remaining games against the 49ers and Lions.
Interestingly, though, they could also clinch the division before playing another game if the Packers continue their two-game stumble in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Bears will clinch the NFC North crown before Week 17’s game against the 49ers if the Packers lose to the Ravens on Saturday Night Football. While a divisional clincher is unlikely to influence many of their personnel divisions down the stretch — as the No. 1 seed could remain on the line until the end — it would give the Bears more security.
Good thing Bears fans will always take an extra reason to root against the Packers.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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