Musings, observations and the occasional insight from the Bears’ playoff-clinching drubbing of the Vikings in the frigid environs of Minnesota….
• Hail, hail the Chicago Bears. It’s time to give them their due. They’re the newly crowned NFC North champions, and you don’t win division titles in the NFL without earning it. But you also can’t deny it has been a fortuitous season in the Windy City, with Lovie Smith’s opportunistic club taking advantage of almost every break it has received in the first 15 weeks of the regular season.
The Bears did exactly what they had to do Monday night in Minnesota. They buried a bad Vikings team 40-14, scoring 40 of the game’s final 47 points and nudging Brett Favre and the rest of his teammates one step closer to being put out of their misery. Despite a hot start by Minnesota on a frosty night, the Bears iced the Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium, and ran their record in this surprising successful season to 10-4, tied for the second best in the NFC.
They’ve won six out of their past seven games, they’re 5-0 in the NFC North and they’re the first club this season to clinch a division title. Despite not being thought of as much in the preseason, the Bears are worthy champions with a quality defense and a quarterback in Jay Cutler who is having a solid bounce-back season.
Full story: Opportunistic Bears clinch NFC North, Brett Favre’s last stand and more Snap Judgments – Don Banks – SI.com