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Once again, the Bears don't play on Sunday, so we're pushing things off a little to get to Monday night.
But it could be worse. I mean, playing the Dallas Cowboys on national television to keep playoff hopes alive for another week, at least that's something to look forward to. Oh, and they're retiring the number of some guy named Mike Ditka, I dunno, you might have heard of him.
Let's quickly hit the division matchups as well as the games of interest for the Bears' rapidly fading wild card hopes.
Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers
SUN - 1:00 PM ET
Oof. Atlanta's been a nightmare all year, and not in the way Jason Goff probably imagined covering when he headed to Atlanta sports radio from Chicago. But Green Bay's been a nightmare since Aaron Rodgers went down. Green Bay has less playoff hopes than even the Bears right now, and Atlanta's been out of the chase, but still, it's the principle that matters.
Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens
SUN - 1:00 PM ET
The Vikings just beat the Bears in overtime. The Bears beat the Ravens in overtime. The Ravens are 6-6. The Vikings are 3-8-1. I'm making myself ill.
Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles
SUN - 1:00 PM ET
Remember when we laughed at the NFC East and how bad it was? The Bears take on the division leader, and the Lions get the likewise 7-5 Eagles. Yes, two NFC East teams have seven wins. The North has one. Which is the bad division now?! Oh... wait, I guess that's not how taunts work. Either way. Go Eagles.
As far as the wild card hopes go today, you should want the Seahawks over the 49ers, the Rams over the Cardinals, and somebody to lose between the Panthers and Saints, because one of those teams has to win the division. And yes, that's an AND, because the 49ers and Panthers currently run the wild cards, and the Cardinals are right there should they win. Like I said, fading hopes.
Enjoy the football today, folks. Our time will come. ... Tomorrow night.
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And we're doing our pre-party stream once again! We kind of liked how the Packers (last MNF) week turned out stream-wise, so we're running today with a special hour show tomorrow. Today we'll be talking more big-picture things relating to the Bears, the playoffs, and the NFL, and tomorrow we'll hit the Bears/Cowboys game itself with the fire and passion of a thousand Ditkas.
Today it'll be myself and Sam until about 11 AM (and I may just carry half an hour myself, we'll see). We'll take your comments, questions, and insults below in the comments, over at my Twitch channel (http://twitch.tv/sjs_illini), or over on the Twitters - my handle is @SJS_illini, and Sam can be found at @SamHouseholder.