The Bears clinched their first winning season in six years with the victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
That says a lot about the state of the franchise in recent seasons, but the weekend as a whole signaled a shift in power in the division.
With the Minnesota Vikings loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, the Bears are now one win away from clinching the NFC North title for the first time since 2010.
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Chicago’s win over the Rams also officially eliminated the Green Bay Packers from the NFC North title race.
The Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy last week, so clearly they didn’t think they would still win the division, but the Bears’ victory in Week 14 confirmed it.
Even a Packers win over the Atlanta Falcons wasn’t enough to stay alive in the race, but technically they aren’t eliminated from the playoffs yet under interim coach Joe Philbin.
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The Detroit Lions technically aren’t mathematically eliminated at 5-8, keeping some iota of hope alive with a win over the Arizona Cardinals.
It’s clear after 14 weeks that the NFC North is the Bears’ division once again. They’ll be motivated to make that official in a rematch with Aaron Rodgers on Sunday.