Bears keep rolling into NFC playoff picture, but bigger challenges remain

With their latest come-from-behind win on Sunday, rallying to beat the New York Giants, 24-20, the Chicago Bears are one of the hottest teams in the NFL with wins in six of their past seven games. That stretch has put them right back into the thick of the NFC playoff race. 

Second-year quarterback Caleb Williams has made clutch plays in big moments, the playmakers around him on offense are making an impact and head coach Ben Johnson's offense seems to be starting to click. 

That has to be exciting for the Bears and their fans. The question will be whether or not they can continue to sustain that and build on it in the second half of the season when the schedule is about to get significantly tougher.

Bears have done what they needed to do: beat the bad teams in front of them

You can only play the teams that line up in front of you, and winning in the NFL is hard enough that teams are not going to apologize for beating bad teams. But the seven teams the Bears have played over the past seven games entered play on Sunday with a combined record of 14-38-1, a combined winning percentage of only .264, while several of those teams are among the league's bottom-feeders.

The Bears also have not really dominated many of those teams, beating the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders by only one point each, and needing late scores to barely edge out the Cincinnati Bengals and the Giants. 

Credit for doing what they need to do and feasting on that portion of the schedule. Those wins count and help create a little bit of a cushion for the second half. But the real tests for the Bears are going to come over the next eight games.

That remaining schedule includes road games at the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers, as well as home games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Packers and Detroit Lions.

Combined winning percentage of those eight teams entering play on Sunday: .593. The Bears are probably going to need to win at least four of those games to have a realistic chance at the playoffs. Overall, the Bears have played just one team with a winning record this season, losing by 31 points to the Lions in their Week 2 game in Detroit. 

Beating the bad teams is still big progress for the Bears and has put them into a good position. Now, they have to take the next step and prove they can beat the good teams. They are all looming in the second half of the season.