Most embarrassing situation the Chicago Bears must immediately rectify

They desperately need it because it is a divisional game. Divisional record is especially important in playoff tiebreakers.

"We're 0-2 in the division, they're 2-0 in the division right now," Johnson said. "We're going up to their place, which is a very hostile environment. It'll be loud and we’ve got to be able to handle those elements."

Certainly teams should play week to week as Johnson says. But winning in the division is extremely important. They desperately need this win because they need to stop being divisional doormats.

Perennial NFC North doormats

The Bears face within the division what is basically the same thing the Arizona Cardinals have faced for years. The other three teams improved and stayed better for a prolonged period. The worst thing to happen within their division for the Bears has been the rise of Detroit in 2022. Until then, the Bears could always count on the Lions to be worse and hide their own shortcomings when compared to the Vikings and Packers.

Within the NFC North, they HAVE LOST:

• Both Ben Johnson era games 

• Eight of their last nine games, the lone win being a game when Green Bay pulled QB Jordan Love and running back Josh Jacobs for fear of injury in a meaningless game before the playoffs.

• A total of 26 of 32 games played in the 2020s.

They didn't even win the majority of their divisional games in 2020, their last playoff season, as they were 2-4 then. Their last winning season in the division was 2019. They were 5-1 within the division the last time they took an NFC North title, in 2018.

Before that coach John Fox had an abysmal 3-15 record over three seasons, and they were only 3-9 under Marc Trestman in two years.

Poles’ famous quote about taking the North and not giving it back came after the firing of Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace. Yet, under Nagy, they had been 12-12 in divisional games and since then, with Poles as GM and Matt Eberflus/Ben Johnson as coaches, they have won three of their last 20 in the division.

Their last coach who got it

Lovie Smith was the last coach they had who showed an ability to control the division. He had only two losing divisional records in his nine seasons as coach, although he had winning division records only four times.

The best thing to say was Smith's teams were always competitive in their division. He always talked about the need to win those divisional games.

It's all a far cry from the Mike Ditka era, when they won five straight divisional titles and six in seven years. Ditka, like Smith, always stressed the importance of taking divisional games.

Another divisional loss Sunday and maybe it’s about time Johnson starts following that approach a little more seriously.

Bears coaches vs. the NFC North

2004 to present