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+--- Thread: Congrats to bears... (/showthread.php?tid=22348)
RE: Congrats to bears... - Chuckf - 12-23-2025
(12-22-2025, 05:27 PM)DeepFreeze05 Wrote: They've had a heck of a year so far.
And THIS is the difference between being 7-9 and 13-4 in the NFL. I remember in 1977 opening day hosting Dallas, a team EVERYONE made the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl (and they did in convincing fashion beating up Craig Morton and the Denver Broncos. This was the year Tarkenton broke his leg. The Vikings lost to Dallas 16-10 in OT, the Bears 10-7. Both games lost in the final minutes. Had that team won those games and seriously could have, they finish 11-3. The Vikings are the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs. THAT is how close the league REALLY is. Teams like the '84 Niners, '85 Bears, '98 Vikings, '99 Rams don't come by very often. I think I could find agreement with most here the Vikings sitting at 7-8 right now GAVE away the Steeler game, the Eagles game, the Ravens game, AND the Bears game. That is 4 games. Had they flipped them the Vikings are now 11-4. Vikings win just half of them they are 9-6 and fighting for a playoff spot.
If they finish 9-8 just think of what could have been. Just a bad year like 1972, 1989, 2010, 2013, 2024. Bad luck, key injuries and losing games in weirdest and most heart breaking fashion. Ugh. 2013 especially, coming off a 10-6 playoff season, the Vikings go 5-10-1. If my memory serves correctly the Vikings lost to the Bears in Chicago 30-31 on a TD pass with :10 on the clock, lost to Cleveland on a TD pass with :51 seconds on the clock, lost to Dallas on a TD pass with :35 seconds on the clock, lost to the Ravens on a TD pass with :04 on the clock, gave up a tie to Green Bay with :46 left on the clock. The 2013 Vikings should have been could have EASILY been 11-5. Crazy how razor thin the margin in the NFL is between victory and defeat, playoffs and going home. Even in the Vikings 4 Super Bowl defeats, of which I watched the latter 3 live and watched SB IV on youtube, the Vikings losses in all four hinged on 4 maybe 5 plays in each game.