After an 0-3 start to the season, the road to the playoffs race has become almost impossibly long for the Chicago Bears. And given the way they've been losing, it would be fair to declare their season is over.
However, the Bears have a rare opportunity this week to change the overall impression of the team and gain some badly needed momentum.
The Bears will play two football games within five days, and both games are against bad teams. Granted, the Bears are a bad team, too. No one is denying that. But the Denver Broncos gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins in Week 3, and their Week 5 opponent, the Washington Commanders, made the Buffalo Bills' defense look like the 1985 Bears.
Those are very winnable games for Chicago. Denver's defense is an excellent opportunity for a "get right" game for Justin Fields and Luke Getsy, and Washington's offense has struggled this season (except for when they played the Broncos).
The Bears can take advantage of both of these teams' weaknesses. Against Denver, Chicago has the skill players to win a shootout. And the Commanders, Matt Eberflus' defense will finally have a chance to show off his H.I.T.S. principle.
Let's say the Bears win both games. It's a long shot, but very doable against two bad teams. Suddenly, a 0-3 team with absolutely no energy is relevant again at 2-3 with its first win streak since Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2021 season.
At 2-3, and as badly as the season has gone so far, the Bears would be just one game behind where I had them in my preseason predictions. Sure, people will affix an asterisk next to both those games. The Bears won't get credit for beating teams that, by Week 6, may be viewed as worse than they are right now.
A bad team beating other bad teams doesn't make them playoff contenders.
What it does do, however, is gas up the players, and that's far more important to the franchise than the opinions of so-called football experts on social media. The Bears need a win in the absolute worst way. They need a reason to feel excited in the locker room.
The Chicago Bears can go from 0-3 to 2-3 in just five days. Justin Fields can go from a quarterback who needs to be replaced to the face of the franchise (again) in that span of time. Matt Eberflus can go from being on the hot seat to the right guy for the job.
It all starts with a must-in in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos.
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