The Chicago Bears had one of their more satisfying wins of 2019 in their 24-20 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. It's not because the Lions were a challenging opponent; instead, it's because quarterback Mitch Trubisky finally looked like a franchise quarterback.
Trubisky's game-winning 90-yard drive in the fourth quarter was the kind of ice-in-the-veins quarterbacking Chicago's been craving since before Jay Cutler arrived in 2009, and it was the kind of play that can catapult the Bears into legitimate contender status if it happens on a consistent basis.
Unfortunately, Trubisky's been anything but consistent in 2019 and the Bears are 6-6 as a result. This season's shortcomings aren't entirely Trubisky's fault, but he owns a large chunk of the blame.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Still, the Bears have won three of their last four games and are finally beginning to look like a team that's confident in itself.
In the minds of Bears fans, it may be too little too late.
I ran a poll asking Bears fans on Twitter how they felt about Chicago's chances to keep the hot streak going and pull off a miraculous playoff berth. The results weren't very optimistic, to say the least.
Forty-nine percent of fans think it's a longshot, while 38% are already looking ahead to 2020. Only 2% are confident the Bears will actually pull it off.
It's hard to argue with the results. Let's face it: those three wins came against the Lions and Giants, two of the worst teams in the NFL. The only loss in the last four weeks came against the Rams, who at 6-5 have a 1.5-game lead over the Bears for the right to just be on-deck; the Vikings (8-3) have a stranglehold on the sixth and final NFC playoff seed.
NFL
The good news is the Bears still have meaningful football left to play in 2019. The bad news is that it can disappear in an instant with another loss.
And when you factor Chicago's remaining schedule (Cowboys, Packers, Chiefs and Vikings), the road to the post-season seems like a near-impossible task.