The Bears have four games remaining starting tomorrow with the Jaguars. With all this hoopla surrounding who is going to play in what bowl game, I decided to look at the NFC North playoff picture and determine if the Bears have a shot at winning the division and clinching a playoff berth.
Minnesota Vikings (7-5)
Analysis: If the Vikings have both Pat and Kevin Williams for the remainder of the season they will win their first division title since 2000. If not, the Bears might overtake the Vikings but I doubt it with the way the Bears have played the last four weeks (1-3). Plus, the Vikings have a pretty nice schedule the last four games (at Detroit, at Arizona, vs. Atlanta, vs. NY Giants). If the Vikings can win two more games to finish 9-7 they should win the division.
Key player to watch: Obviously everyone is going to say Adrian Peterson, but I bet that defensive coordinators are going to game plan to stop him. The key player to watch is wide receiver Bernard Berrian. Every game this season where he’s had over 100-yards receiving the Vikings have won. If he can have a couple more big games it will greatly enhance the Vikings chances of winning the division.
Chances of winning the division: 80%
Chicago Bears (6-6)
Analysis: The Bears have lost three of their last four games with the only win coming against the lowly Rams. To make matters worse, the passing game has regressed since Kyle Orton sprained his ankle Nov. 2 against the Lions. If the passing game can’t get back on track starting tomorrow, the Bears will be sitting at home during the postseason. I want to say the Bears have a huge advantage with their schedule, with three games in a row at Soldier Field and a road game at Houston. But with the way the passing game has struggled and the defenses inability to stop anyone I predict the Bears finishing 8-8.
Key player to watch: Devin Hester. Since he isn’t producing any big plays on special teams anymore, he really needs to step up at receiver and turn more seven-yard slant routes into 65-yard touchdowns as he did against the Vikings last week. The passing game needs Hester’s big play ability to stretch the field in order to open up more holes for Matt Forte.
Chances of winning the division: 15%
Green Bay Packers (5-7)
Analysis: The Packers are all but eliminated unless they win their remaining games, which is doable (vs. Houston and Detroit, at Chicago, at Jacksonville). However, I don’t see the Packers jumping the Vikings.
Chances of winning the division: 5%
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Predicting the NFC North Champ
Posted by UISJMC Chiakulas at 3:00 PM
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2 comments:
This is prolly pretty accurate but if Det can actually hang on and win which I'm sure they won't that can't exactly help Min's chances. I think Atl will be tough but it helps they're at home. If Williams and Williams end up getting suspended, they won't be able to stop Turner. Tough call on their gm @ Az. And against NYG, they'll prolly be playing against mostly second string. We'll see but the key for the Bears is the next 2 wks. Saints and Packers are tough but they have to take adv of playin them at home.
Minnesota hung on today, but it's still gonna be interesting to see if the Williams' Brothers are still going to be suspended or not. That will really have an affect on the outcome of the race IMO and is probably the bigger key to watch for Minnesota. Minnesota's defense is all about suffing the run and they can't afford injuries right now.
Jarod Allen has been playing his best football thus far, but he's playing hurt too.
Chicago can't afford to slip up either, but Minnesota still has a tough road ahead with Arizona, Atlanta and NYG. Ariona is winnable because the Cardinals are kind of self-destructing down the stretch.
Atlanta can be beat as evident today with their game against the Saints, but Minnesota has got to be able to slow down Matt Ryan and be able to put points of their own on the board.
I'm not worried about Michael Turner as long as Minnesota's run D stays intact.
And then of course it could be the game of the week between the Giants and Vikings.
A little rematch of last years thrashing the Vikings dished out to the Giants at the Meadowlands. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) it's at Minnesota....I say unfortunate because both teams play each other better on the road actually.
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