Well, after a week of overhearing the insufferable enthusiasm and confidence of Bears’ fans on Chicago sports talk radio, the late afternoon game on Sunday was a genuine pleasure to watch. And, after the painful early game in Detroit, it was particularly therapeutic for me to see the Bears lose. After all, the Packers just loss their game. The Bears were humiliated.
Unfortunately, the Bears’ debacle has been somewhat mollified for them by the Packers’ misfortune. I hear their fans saying that the loss to New England is no big deal since: (a) it was an AFC opponent, and so it doesn’t factor into tie-breakers; and (b) the Packers lost, and so the Bears maintain their lead and have an added edge in the tie-breakers because of a better record in the Division.
Alas! We did indeed lose a very important game on Sunday. And what with the Buccaneers, Eagles, Saints, and Giants all winning this weekend, we are in a very difficult position. At a minimum, we need to win our three remaining games, which is a tall order by itself. And yet, even if we win all three and end at 11-5, we still might miss the playoffs unless we get help from the Bears and others.
I said last week that, in spite of their lead over the Packers, I would rather be a Green Bay fan than a Chicago fan. Now the lay of the land has changed. As I look at the current standings and the weeks to come, I have to admit that the Bears are in a more favorable position. (And that’s without even mentioning the uncertainty of Aaron Rodgers’ status!)
| Week | Packers (8-5) | Bears (9-4) |
| 15 | at Patriots (11-2) | at Vikings (5-8) |
| 16 | Giants (9-4) | Jets (9-4) |
| 17 | Bears (9-4) | at Packers (8-5) |
| Records | (29-10) | (22-17) |
In Apollo 13,there’s that somber moment when the crew members have received certain instructions from Mission Control, and Capt. Jim Lovell realizes what has happened. He grimly says to his partners, “We just lost the moon.”
Perhaps, as the Packers walked off the field late Sunday afternoon, they realized what had just happened, and said to one another, “We just lost the season.”
We shall see.
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