5 NFL teams that must win in Week 9

1. Chicago Bears

For the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears find themselves atop the list of squads that most need a victory. The Bears nearly had one last Sunday against the struggling Los Angeles Chargers, but the way they gave the game away was mind boggling.

Matt Nagy’s team built a 16-7 lead over the Chargers midway through the third quarter, but Los Angeles rallied for ten unanswered to grab a one point lead. The Bears went down on their final drive and got the ball to the Chargers’ 21 with 43 seconds to go, but instead of trying to get closer to the end zone Nagy called for a knee to set up Eddy Pineiro for a game winning 41 yard field goal.

Pineiro ended up missing the kick, leading to a load of second guessing in Chicago and a new wave of panic in the Windy City. Nagy defiantly told the media he kneel the ball again the next thousand times, which is not a good look considering the Bears’ recent history of kicking problems.

The Bears have now fallen behind both the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North, and their four losses are starting to add up in a brutally competitive NFC. That makes this Sunday’s trip to Philadelphia, where they will take on a talented but very inconsistent Eagles’ team, a true must-win.

This is also a grudge match from the Cody Parkey double-doink playoff game, where the Eagles broke the Bears’ hearts after Parkey’s potential winning kick was partially blocked and deflected off of both uprights. If the Bears find a way to blow this one and drop to 3-5, their year might be over before we hit Thanksgiving.