The excitement continues to grow for the 5-1 Chicago Bears as they will play the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. The Bears, although being the second-best team in the NFC, are still not seen as a playoff threat. Chicago’s five wins have been by seven points or less, and their offense is ranks as one of the worst in the league. Despite their flaws, NFL history has shown that bad teams can still have winning records.
The first team in recent history that had a winning record, but wasn’t winning games dominantly, was the 2008 Tennessee Titans. The Titans won 13 games in 2008 and were the best team in the AFC that year. Although the Titans had the league’s second-best defense, their offense ranked 14th and had the 27th ranked passing offense with 36-year old Kerry Collins at quarterback. Rookie running back Chris Johnson was the team’s lone offensive threat as he rushed for 1,228 yards and nine touchdowns.
Texans/Titans:
Tennessee looking for only their 2nd 5-0 start in franchise history. Did it in 2008 ended up 13-3 and #1 seed in AFC
— trey wingo (@wingoz) October 18, 2020
Two years later, the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs would follow the same path as they won 10 games and won the AFC West Division. The Chiefs were led by quarterback Matt Cassel, who would pass for 27 touchdowns and be named to the Pro-Bowl. Running back Jamaal Charles would rush for 1,467 yards and be later named an All-Pro. Despite the success with Charles and Cassel, Kansas City’s offense still only ranked 11th in the league while their defense ranked 14th. Four of the Chiefs’ six losses in 2010 were by 20 points or more.
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In 2013, The Carolina Panthers were a 12 win team and won the NFC South Division despite having one of the worst offensives in football. Carolina’s offense finished 26th overall in 2013 while having the second-best defense in football. Quarterback Cam Newton was the Panther’s lone offensive threat being named to the Pro Bowl that season. Carolina did not have a single running back eclipse 900 rushing yards that season and the passing offense ranked 29th in yards.
It has been seen here in Chicago as one of the most memorable Bears team won 13 games in 2001 despite massive flaws. The 2001 Chicago Bears defense was the second-best in football and was so good that whenever the team scored at least 13 points, they would win. Despite the 13 wins, the 2001 Bears offense had a sub-par passing game as starters Jim Miller and Shane Matthews only had six games in which they had over 200 yards of passing. Chicago’s pass defense was 29th in the league while the team won eight of their 13 games by seven points or less.
There are similarities between all of these teams as, despite their winning record, they had certain flaws to their team. All four of these teams listed were one and done in the playoffs in their respective season, with none of them scoring more than one touchdown in those games. The following season those same four teams would not have a winning record despite the large amount of success experienced in the season before.
Back in 2001; Donovan McNabb led the #Eagles to victory in the Divisional Round, on the road, scoring 33 points against the #1 Scoring Defense, Chicago Bears. pic.twitter.com/GryMLQbEZY
— Darius Jackson (@DariusDaulton) May 18, 2020
The 2020 Chicago Bears are in a prime position to make the playoffs this season, but many are still unsure of how far they can go. Chicago’s offense is currently 27th, and the team as a whole has failed to win a game by more than seven points. Every few seasons, there is one team that compiles a terrific record despite not being that good of a team. The team’s flaws are exposed by the better opponent in the playoffs.
