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There’s been a lot of talk about how the Chicago Bears should approach their Week 17 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
If the Bears don’t try to win, they can rest some of their starters heading into the playoffs. That could help prevent further injury.
If the Bears do try to win, there’s a chance they can get the No. 2 seed. That scenario would also require the Rams losing to the 49ers in a game which Los Angeles is favored by 10 points. Crazier things have happened, but it’s certainly not a “likely” outcome.
Another potential positive (?) to the Bears beating the Vikings is Chicago potentially knocking a division rival out of the playoff picture. But maybe that’s not so good because the Eagles might be a better team than the Vikings right now?
For what it’s worth, Vegas disagrees with the assessment that Philadelphia is the more dangerous side.
Chicago would be a 3.5-point home favorite vs Minnesota in the playoffs and a 5.5-point favorite vs Philadelphia, per @SuperBookUSA. So, Vegas thinks the Bears would be better off playing to win Sunday and taking their chances with the Eagles next weekend.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2018
I’d like to imagine Jeffrey Lurie called up SuperBookUSA and pulled some strings to get them to post these lines because I don’t think they’re accurate. If I’m the Chicago Bears, I’d much rather play the Vikings in the first round than the Eagles.
Kirk Cousins is far from being known as a big game quarterback. Everybody knows his bad record against good teams.
Kirk Cousins: 32-36-1 as a starter, 4-23 against teams that finish the season with 9+ wins, and 8-26 against teams that finish the season with 8+ wins.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 11, 2018
Nick Foles, meanwhile, is the reigning Super Bowl MVP and the Eagles have just defeated the Rams (12-3) and Texans (10-5) in back-to-back weeks.
But if you’re a member of the Chicago Bears organization and you’re reading this article, please disregard what I just said and only read Adam Schefter’s tweet instead.
Let’s go Bears!!!