Curse of Super Bowl Loser Returns
The curse of the Super Bowl loser has returned after a one-year hiatus.
The Chicago Bears, the defending NFC champion coming off a Super Bowl loss to the Indianapolis Colts, were all but eliminated from playoff contention with Thursday night's 24-16 defeat to the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field.
If the Bears indeed miss the playoffs, it will be the sixth time in seven years that the Super Bowl loser failed to make the playoffs the following season. The Seattle Seahawks last season broke a string of five straight Super Bowl losers following up with losing seasons and missing the playoffs.
The Bears' record dropped to 5-8. Coach Lovie Smith said he'd thought going into the Redskins game that the winner had a decent chance of making the playoffs. He and some of his players talked about playing with pride and trying to win the remainder of their games, but Smith and others in the locker room acknowledged that the outlook for reaching the postseason is bleak.
"It's over," defensive end Alex Brown said. "It's pretty much over."
By Mark Maske |
December 7, 2007; 10:03 AM ET
| Category:
Bears
Previous: Week 14 Picks |
Next: Kerry Urges NFL, Cable Companies to Settle Differences Before Patriots-Giants Game
Posted by: lrmc623 | December 7, 2007 1:07 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Strength of schedule - 6 games in your Division, 4 against a designated Division, and 6 against the teams that finished at the same place your team did in their Divisions.