NFC North remains unpredictable

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

PHILADELPHIA - A wild turn of events provided the Chicago Bears with two chances to win the NFC North, and they’re going to need that do-over.

If they play like they did in Sunday night’s embarrassing 54-11 loss to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, it won’t matter if the Green Bay Packers start Aaron Rodgers or Matt Flynn.

The chance to clinch arose when the Lions and Packers lost late-afternoon games in dramatic fashion, with Detroit collapsing in overtime against the down-and-out New York Giants and Green Bay failing at the goal line against the Pittsburgh Steelers as time expired.

Everything that needed to go right for the Bears did - up until their game kicked off. They didn’t offer a fight as the Eagles rolled up 514 total yards, including 289 rushing.

Coach Marc Trestman pulled quarterback Jay Cutler with eight minutes to play after Brandon Boykin returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown, but that told only a small part of the story.

As up-and-down as the NFCNorth has been - the Minnesota Vikings, minus Adrian Peterson, throttled this Eagles team the week before with 48 points - it’s impossible to predict. The most dramatic turn in the division came in Week 9, when Rodgers stepped up in the pocket to his right and didn’t feel the Bears’ Shea McClellin bearing down on him from behind.

The broken collarbone Rodgers suffered on the sack shifted the course of the division, and now all eyes will be on Green Bay this week with one burning question: Will the former MVP return to start Sunday at Soldier Field after missing the last seven games?

Rodgers has been practicing but has yet to be medically cleared to play, with Coach Mike McCarthy repeatedly calling it an “organizational” decision. There would have been no need to worry about Rodgers and the Packers if the Bears hadtaken care of business.

A victory over the Eagles would have made the Bears division champions for the first time since 2010, when they failed to beat the Packers in Week 17 and knock them out of the postseason. The Packers went on to win the Super Bowl, defeating the Bears in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field.

The Eagles didn’t have nearly as much at stake. When the Cowboys upended the Washington Redskins with a touchdown on fourth-andgoal from the 10-yard line with 1:08 remaining, it meant next week’s game between Philadelphia and Dallas will determine the NFC East champion.

But the Eagles pummeled the Bears anyway, pouncing on them early and never letting up. Chip Kelly’s high-tempo offense made the Bears defense look slower than usual, and the 3-4 defense created major pass protection issues that hadn’t been present for weeks. Cutler was sacked five times, with Trent Cole getting three.

The return of weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs, after he missed the previous seven games with a broken bone in his left shoulder, made no difference. LeSean McCoy and Bryce Brown had huge running lanes as both went over 100 yards, and quarterback Nick Foles routinely found receivers wide open as the Eagles dashed to a 24-0 lead, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter.

It was the second-most points the Bears have allowed in team history, topped only by the 55 the Lions scored on Thanksgiving 1997. The Bears have allowed 40 points four times in 15 games this season after doing so four times in nine seasons under Lovie Smith.

The Bears have to hope it was a bad matchup against a hot offense more than an uninspired performance, one that was worse than the feeble effort the Lions put forth. There was hollering in the Bears locker room before the game when the Lions lost, but that turned out to be the only noise the team made.

“We had a chance to win everything tonight and we got our butts kicked,” defensive end Corey Wootton said. “It’s embarrassing. Everything comes down to this last game.It’s live or die next week.”

Trestman has been able to keep the locker room on an even keel throughout the season, and now he has his biggest challenge in preparing the Bears for an NFC North title game. Win, and ugly losses in the second half of the season in Minneapolis, St. Louis and Philadelphia are forgotten.

Lose, and the Bears wind up a .500 team with a talented offense and a defense full of questions heading into the offseason.

Sports, Pages 18 on 12/24/2013