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I’ve often told my bosses that the best way to increase our YouTube subscriber count is by giving CHGO’s secret weapon more face time.
CHGO’s secret weapon?
Me, of course.
Well, we’re putting that to the test today at 11 a.m. on our quest for 100,000 subs. We’re less than 700 away!
Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics
Everything would’ve been fine had the Rams taken care of business against the Falcons. Instead, we need to reset the outlook on possible playoff opponents for the Bears.
We’re going to take a look at what could happen in Week 18, what makes this so incredibly confusing and what Ben Johnson had to say about things on Monday.
The Scenarios: After Monday night’s game, the Bears will either host the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers on wild card weekend. They will not play the Seattle Seahawks in the first round.
No. 7 Packers at No. 2 Bears: IF Bears def. Lions OR Commanders def. Eagles
No. 6 Rams at No. 3 Bears: IF Lions def. Bears AND Eagles def. Commanders AND (49ers def. Seahawks OR Cardinals def. Rams)
No. 6 49ers at No. 3 Bears: IF Lions def. Bears AND Eagles def. Commanders AND Seahawks def. 49ers AND Rams def. Cardinals
The Confusion: In yesterday’s newsletter, I implied that any Rams loss would lock them into the No. 6 seed. Wrong. I regret the error.
How did I get this wrong? Great question. Because the rules are kind of ridiculous.
The Rams can still get the No. 5 seed with a win over the Cardinals and a Seahawks win over the 49ers.
The reason is that even when determining wild-card tiebreakers, if the tied teams are in the same division, it defaults to divisional tiebreakers instead. That means we’re not looking at conference record after head-to-head like we would for two teams in different divisions.
IF the Rams win and the 49ers lose on Sunday, here’s how those tiebreakers would shake out:
Head-to-head: split, 1-1.
Divisional record: tied, 4-2.
Record vs. common opponents: Rams 9-3, 49ers 8-4
Hallelujah, holy s**t. Where’s the Tylenol?
Rest vs. Rust: What all of this means is that while the Packers are locked into the No. 7 seed and can rest their starters against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the Bears still have something to play for in Week 18.
Winning on Sunday wouldn’t just guarantee a date with destiny against the Packers the following weekend; it would also put the Bears in line to host their divisional round opponent should they make it beyond the wild card.
Bears coach Ben Johnson understands the stakes heading into the final week of the regular season. Despite the plethora of injuries and the flu bug making its way through Halas Hall, it’s full steam ahead with the Detroit Lions coming to town.
Johnson said Monday: “We’re playing to win this week.”
Loud and clear.
Tom Petty once said that the waiting is the hardest part. Clearly, Tom Petty never tried to decipher NFL playoff tiebreakers.
I felt like a Scooby-Doo villain watching the end of last night’s game. I would’ve gotten away with not having to go over this again if it weren’t for those meddling Falcons.
Timberwolves 136, Bulls 101: Simply put, that couldn’t have gone much worse for the Bulls.
Coby White exited the game in the first quarter with a right calf strain and did not return. It’s the same leg and calf that forced White to miss the first 11 games of the regular season. To make matters even worse, Josh Giddey exited 30 seconds into the second half with a hamstring injury and was quickly ruled out.
Zach Collins did not play due to a sprained toe. There is no timetable for his return.
After the dust settled, Nikola Vucevic unsurprisingly led the Bulls with 23 points. Nobody on the Bulls finished with more than six rebounds or seven assists.
Just an all-around butt-whoopin’.
Injury Updates: Connor Bedard did get some work in on the ice before the Blackhawks’ morning skate on Monday. Jeff Blashill said Bedard’s timeline remains unchanged. Blashill mentioned that Frank Nazar is eating solid foods again more than a week after taking a puck to his jaw.
The Blackhawks also assigned forward Dominic Toninato to the Rockford IceHogs.
Tough Blow: While Ben Johnson did not provide any official updates on Monday, linebacker Noah Sewell is believed to have torn his Achilles tendon in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers. Sewell played 13 snaps as the Bears’ strong-side linebacker on Sunday night.
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– P.N.
