A marquee game against old nemesis Aaron Rodgers heading into Thanksgiving. And now a high-profile game against the rival Green Bay Packers getting re-scheduled into a more visible time slot in December.
The Chicago Bears are again relevant. Ben Johnson's magic is happening right before our eyes.
It sure didn't look special when the Bears started 0-2 and were blown embarrassingly blown out by the Detroit Lions in Week 2. But since then Chicago has won seven of eight games to vault to the top of the NFC North standings heading into Sunday's game against Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field. Heading into Week 12 they are in sole possession of first place in a division in which the pre-season prognosticators picked them to finish last.
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Given the Bears' surging success and its historic battles with the Packers, this year the regional rivalry is being upgraded to a national showcase.
The NFL has announced that the Week 14 Bears-Packers game on Dec. 7 at Lambeau Field is being moved from a Noon kickoff to the more visible 3:25 reserved for the day's most compelling matchups. America will now see more of Bears-Packers and less of Bills-Bengals, which is getting booted out of the afternoon window to Noon.
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The Bears have feasted on the league's have-nots all season. Of their seven victories, all but one has come against teams with a losing record. The exception: The Washington Commanders were 3-2 when the Bears beat them on a last-second field goal in Week 6.
In fact - counting the 0-0 Minnesota Vikings in the opener - the Bears have only played one team this season with a winning record at the time of the game. And that team - the Commanders - is now 3-8.
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The Bears' schedule, however, gets considerably tougher down the stretch starting Sunday. Of their final seven games, only one opponent (the Cleveland Browns, Week 15) currently has a losing record.
Of the NFC playoff contenders, the Bears have the toughest remaining schedule.
Chicago still has two crucial games remaining against the second-place Packers, including the one moved three weeks from now for the whole world to see.
Caleb Williams
Caleb Williams / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images