Chicago Bears Vs Philadelphia Eagles: NFL Week 16 Pre-Party Open Thread

NBC elected to flex today's Bears/Eagles game into Sunday Night Football because this game could hold severe playoff implications for both teams, including the possibility of either team having the chance to clinch their respective division. Those same divisions and opponents can also make today's game completely moot, in a completely unexpected development.

If the Lions lose and the Packers win, Week 17 against the Packers decides the division no matter what happens on Sunday Night Football. Same thing happens for the Eagles if the Cowboys win today. Aren't playoff scenarios interesting?

Of course, if the Cowboys lose, the Eagles can clinch with a win; the same for the Bears if both the Lions and Packers lose.

So let's sum this up really quick:

Lions: Clinch NFC North in Week 17 if WIN Week 16 and 17 AND Bears and Packers LOSE Week 16 (one of CHI and GB have to lose Week 17, unless one of those magical mystical tie things happen).

Bears: Clinch NFC North in Week 16 if WIN Week 16 AND Lions and Packers LOSE Week 16.

Packers: Clinch NFC North in Week 17 if WIN Week 17 vs CHI AND Bears and Lions LOSE Week 16.

It's a weird situation, but either the Bears or the Packers winning this week eliminates the Lions.

For more on the game itself today...

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Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation (SBN's Eagles blog) answered some Eagles-related questions about the Eagles for us. He caught us when we tried to ask him about Boston College.

Here are my six keys for the game tonight as well as my PTMY of the Eagles.

Lester's Injury Report is right here for ya. Lance Briggs is cleared. How will he play is the better question.

Kev's got your TV info for you.

Sam thinks this will be an offensive showdown. I'm not inclined to disagree.

Ronkowski broke down Zack Bowman's game against the Browns and showed why the much-maligned defensive back has some value.

And if you're curious, here are our picks for the week.

For your non-WCG Bears coverage (Why would you need any?), I'll simply refer you to the greatest repository of Bears' linkage on the entire interwebs, something your grandkids' grandkids will be talking about for generations - the Bears' Den.

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And the pre-stream will make a semi-triumphant return today! We'll talk Bears/Eagles, the playoff picture, you guys get to fill me in on a game I didn't get to watch, and whatever else chooses to happen while we're live. And by "We" I mean you the people and myself - I'm flying solo today.

Stream will start later today, about 10 AM or so, but when it's live, this window below will light up with sound and video and all that fun stuff. Questions and comments can be directed to the comments here at WCG, to my Twitch channel at twitch.tv/sjs_illini; or to my Twitter at @SJS_illini.

Watch live video from SJS_illini on www.twitch.tv