Look what some of you have done.
I’m usually the guy pushing panic buttons and overreacting to news and assuming it’s going to go the worst possible way for the Chicago Bears.
But some of you have gotten so damn negative after this loss to the Lions, I’m telling you all, just like Michael Jordan would, “Stop it. Get some help.”
Yes, the Bears finished the regular season with a bit of a thud against the Detroit Lions. It’s a game Ben Johnson wanted to win. It’s a game they tried to win. They failed.
From some of the comments I’m seeing across social media platforms, you would have thought the Bears went 3-14 and were invited to participate in the postseason thanks to winning some charity auction.
The Chicago Bears not only made the playoffs, but they earned the two-seed in the playoffs. How good are the Bears? They are good enough to have a winning record (3-2) against playoff teams. They’ve proven for the last six weeks that they can play any playoff team down to the wire. They keep proving again and again that this team can contend.
Are they good enough to do it every week for 18 weeks? No.
Is it time to focus on the negatives as the team enters the playoffs?
Hell no.
If you are one of these fans I see who are sitting around moping, thinking the Bears stink, thinking why do they have to play the Packers, because they’ll just lose again, if you are bringing all this negativity into the universe right now, I would like you to get your heads out of your collective asses or shut the hell up.
People love to say, let people fan how they want to fan, and never tell people how to fan.
I’m telling you how to fan. Don’t fan this way.
And if you want to focus on the Bears’ defense giving up too many yards, the inconsistencies in the passing game, and any other negative aspect of the team you can come up with, the rest of us fans don’t need to see you polluting our timelines.
I feel like Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers. “You shoot me down with your negativity. Your G-D negativity. I don’t need it. I’m an idea man. I thrive on enthusiasm. Don’t take the wind out of my sails.”
You say the Chicago Bears give up too many yards on defense. I’ll counter that with their red zone defense is 2nd in the league when they’re in Chicago, where they will be for at least two games.
You say the Chicago Bears can’t get a pass rush. I say the Chicago Bears are one of the best teams in the league at creating turnovers.
You say the passing game looks disjointed, I say their offense creates explosive plays at an incredible rate.
You say the Bears drop too many passes, I say Caleb Williams has thrown for more yards in a season than any QB in Bears’ history.
The Bears are a flawed team, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad team.
You know who else is flawed? The other 13 teams in the NFL playoffs.
If there was ever a year for a team without a proven track record to win the Super Bowl, this is the year. Three of the top four QBs in the NFL are sitting at home for the playoffs, and the fourth one (Josh Allen) won’t see a home game this year.
The L.A. Rams are arguably the best team in the NFC. They probably won’t see a home game either. If they do cross the Bears’ path, that game will be at Soldier Field.
The Seahawks have the one seed, but nobody wants to trust Sam Darnold. The Packers lost Micah Parsons. The Carolina Panthers are, well, the Carolina Panthers. The 49ers have no defense. The Eagles’ offense is broken.
The Chicago Bears can absolutely lose to any of these teams. But you know what? They have shown they can absolutely beat any of these teams, too.
We’ve said all season, enjoy the ride. Have fun. This was a great regular season by the Bears, even if it started with two losses and ended with two losses. How will the Bears do this postseason? Who knows. Will they win the Super Bowl? Probably not, they have just a 1 in 14 chance to do that. But those are better odds than the 0% that the other 18 teams in the league currently have.
The Bears enter the playoffs and have to face the Green Bay Packers. I get it. You’re worried the Bears could lose to Green Bay yet again, and Packers fans will torture you on social media all offseason. But instead, how about heading into the game with that mindset, how about that the Bears could win that game, and you could torture Packers fans all offseason?
Be excited. Not only are the Bears back in the playoffs, but they are building something for the future. Sure, a lot of us thought that in 2018, but that was on the hope that Mitch Trubisky would become the guy. He didn’t. The Bears already know they have the guy at QB. They have the guy at head coach. If you have those two puzzle pieces, you have 75% of the puzzle figured out already.
Ben Johnson is the Bears’ head coach. Caleb Williams is the Bears quarterback. The Chicago Bears are back in the playoffs. Enjoy the ride.
