The Chicago Bears' Remaining 2007 Schedule: Analyzing Team's Chances

The Chicago Bears 3-4 start to the 2007 National Football League schedule has put them in quite a hole as far as their playoff chances are concerned, but there is no reason for them to panic. They somewhat control their own destiny in many ways, despite their offensive problems to begin this campaign. Their remaining schedule has them doing battle with their divisional foes, plus they will be playing many of the NFC squads that are currently ahead of them in the Wild Card standings. Rather than look back at what went wrong, coach Lovie Smith is savvy enough to have the Bears looking ahead at their remaining schedule, knowing that by season's end they could still very well emerge from their not-so-imposing conference and land a berth in the Super Bowl.

It is hard to imagine a quarterback so inept as to make Brian Griese a desired commodity, but Rex Grossman was and is just that. Griese has looked more than capable since replacing Rex, who just seemed happy that his passes were caught, regardless of what uniform the catcher was attired in. Griese's last-minute heroics against the Eagles in a 19-16 win on October 21st could prove invaluable down the road, as the Bears jockey for position with the rest of the NFC wild card contenders and pretenders. Plus, the division title is in no way, shape, or form out of Chicago's reach at this point. An October 28th date with the Lions at home though is an absolute must-win situation for the Bears, and they need to treat it as such since Detroit has defeated them once already and is a game and a half in front of Chicago at 4-2. A loss here would make things all but next to impossible for Chicago, and with a bye week coming up after the game, they have to pull out all the stops to procure a home triumph against the much improved Lions.

After their bye week of November 4th, Chicago should be more than comfortable with Griese at the helm. The Bears then start the second half of their remaining schedule at the Raiders on November 11th, playing a club that has limited offensive prowess and going nowhere fast. This affair is the first of two consecutive road adventures for the "Monsters of the Midway", who then will travel up the West Coast to play the Seahawks, another up and down team that is in the playoff hunt only because they reside in a division with a pair of teams that have yet to score a total of 80 points and the Arizona Cardinals, whose history speaks for itself. Chicago would be well-advised to beat the Seahawks, as it can only strengthen their position later on.

The Bears return to the Windy City on November 25th to finally complete their odyssey through the AFC West when they host the Broncos in a noontime start the Sunday after Thanksgiving. They will indeed have plenty to be thankful for if they have managed to win three in a row to put them at 6-3, even though 5-4 wouldn't be a total disaster as long as they have handled the Lions. The Broncos have been Jekyll and Hyde-like so far in 2007, but by this Week Twelve contest quarterback Jay Cutler should be feeling a whole lot more comfortable about running his offense. December begins with a huge game versus the Giants, at Chicago. New York has gone 5-0 since getting hammered in their first two games, and they have put themselves right back into the playoff mix as a divisional and wild card threat, so this will be as big a game as the Bears have played all year.

The crucial last quarter of the season commences with a December 6th Thursday evening game against the Redskin in the nation's capital, just four days after the big Giants' meeting. The game will be televised only on the NFL network, so Bear rooters need to be warned if they want to watch this key match-up. Washington could also be vying for the same wild card spot that the Bears might need, so obviously this is an important one. The Bears play their final road game of 2007 at the Minnesota Vikings, in Chicago's lone Monday Night Football appearance. Minnesota has a stout defense, but if their quarterback situation isn't resolved by then, Chicago should avenge a 34-31 shocking setback from Week Six.

The final two scheduled games for the Bears, if they have gotten themselves into the mix for the playoffs, will ultimately determine their fates, and both are at home where the elements of Chicago's unpredictable winter weather could come into play. The Packers, who have lost just once, to the Bears, head to Chicago on December 23rd and the Saints come marching in a day before New Year's Eve. The Packers are almost sure to come back to earth, so this could be for the division, while the Saints, who are starting to exhibit signs of life themselves, will be attempting to avenge their NFC Championship game loss last January to the Bears. If Chicago is able to come back and make the playoff tournament, then they will be as dangerous as anyone else is in the conference, and Lovie Smith will have enhanced his reputation as one of the better coaches in the NFL.