Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is all smiles after throwing 4 TDs & clinching the NFCs #1 seed in today’s 35-16 smackdown of the Bears. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The Chicago Bears should really get the Los Angeles Rams a belated Christmas gift. Thanks to the Rams 18-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Chicago Bears clinched the 7th & final playoff spot despite getting their backs blown out by Green Bay 35-16.

Needing to win to secure a playoff spot the Bears once struggled to slow down the league’s likely MVP Aaron Rodgers. Mr. Discount Double Check medically dissected the Bears when it counted for 240 yards & 4 TDs. He routinely took advantage of mismatches and made the big throws when it mattered. His counterpart Mitchell Trubisky settled for short passes and couldn’t match Rodgers with big throws.

This game boiled down to the Bears not being able to finish drives for touchdowns and key mistakes – mistakes an average to below average team like the Bears can’t make. Offensively they didn’t test the Packers with deep throws. WR Allen Robinson only having 5 targets in a game is inexcusable. The Bears were tested physically as well and they weren’t up to the task for much of the 1st half. Defensively you cannot allow a QB like Aaron Rodgers to sit back & read the field. Rodgers took advantage of the Bears leaving their LBs matched up against TEs and WRs. It seemed whenever Rodgers needed a crucial play he was able to find DeVante Adams time & time again. The play calling at crucial times was head scratching at best.

In a must win game the Bears looked inept for much of it. Their reward – a trip to the playoffs next week in New Orleans. The Bears & their brass will spin this loss and focus on the fact they’re in the postseason. Those who were looking for change in the Bears front office won’t see it now. The Bears will claim they’ve made the playoffs in 2 of the last 3 seasons and are still moving in the right direction.

Here’s ESPN 1000’s Jonathan Hood’s assessment of today’s game:

You know who the Bears look like now? The GarPax Bulls… and we all know how long that train wreck went on.

Oh well… it’s on to the playoffs. Yay???

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