If the Bears beat the Packers on Saturday, they won’t know their opponent for the divisional round until Sunday night after the 49ers and Eagles play.
The top-seeded Seahawks have a first-round bye and will host a divisional round game, and as the No. 2 seed, the Bears also would host if they advance. As the No. 1 seed, the Seahawks would draw the lowest-seeded team remaining, while the Bears would play the other advancing team.
Here are the NFC games:
No. 2 Bears vs. No. 7 Packers
No. 3 Eagles vs. No. 6 49ers
No. 4 Panthers vs. No. 5 Rams
For second-round matchups, everything hinges on the Eagles-49ers game. If the Eagles win, they automatically face the Bears. If the 49ers win, they automatically face the Seahawks.
So if the Bears advance, that’s the game that determines who they play next, and if the 49ers win to move on to the Seahawks, the Bears would face the winner of the Panthers-Rams game.
That means the Eagles, Panthers and Rams are the only teams the Bears could play in the divisional round. They beat the Eagles this season, but didn’t play the other two.
The Bears have so much going for them these days, it’s nearly impossible not to get swept up in the notion that an era of payback is in order. What could go wrong?
Odunze missed the final five games of the regular season with a stress fracture in his foot, but got the green light for the wild-card game Saturday.