Week 17 Preview - Destiny Math and the Night Game that Tests the Universe

Opening Invocation. After the Fish Was Caught

I return to the Des Plaines River a changed bear. The water looks the same. The trees stand as they always have. But something ancient has shifted. The Parable of the Fish That Thought It Could Not Be Caught was not metaphor. It was prophecy.

Last Saturday at Soldier Field, the illusion ended. Sixteen unanswered points. Overtime. Pandemonium. The Packers did not lose a game. They lost an identity. The Bears did not steal a win. They reclaimed history in what was quite possibly the greatest Bears victory of the modern era. A comeback so violent it bent time. A win that will be spoken of in hushed tones while standing in line at Gene and Jude’s.

The fish was caught. The river remembers.

House Money, But Make It Dangerous

Let us pause and acknowledge reality. The Bears have clinched a playoff spot. Say it slowly. Let it land. Sit with it. Everything from here forward is house money. And yet the house is now the largest structure in the NFC. Look no further than the collapse of the Detroit Lions without Ben Johnson as their OC. Stare deeply into the broken spirit of the Packers, into the eyes of head coach Matt LeFleur and their players. The Packers are broken, both spiritually and mentally, which a loss so devastating it will carry double-doink PTSD into next season and beyond. Just ask Matt Nagy.

This Chicago team is not playing with fear. They are playing with curiosity. What happens if we keep going? What happens if we do not stop? This team is a full year ahead of schedule.

Top seed in the NFC and home field advantage throughout is now on the table. A path that did not exist a year ago now glows faintly in front of us. There is no ceiling.

Team of Destiny. The Numbers Agree.

This is no longer narrative. This is data. Six wins after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter this season. The most by any team since the 1970 merger. Read that again. Clutch drives. Late game composure. Defensive takeaways that arrive exactly when required. This team does not panic. It pauses, remains centered, and strikes.

When the game tilts toward chaos, the Bears lean in. They have found something rare. The ability to locate calm inside madness. This is what destiny looks like when it puts on shoulder pads.

Sunday Night. Enter the 49ers.

Now comes San Francisco. Kyle Shanahan. Ben Johnson. Two offensive systems circling each other like master chess players who also happen to enjoy seeing an oblong pigskin ball hurled across a field with precision.

The 49ers have not punted since November. Counter-point: The Bears defense doesn’t need punts to stop an offense anyway. It feeds on the unrelenting ability to force turnovers and red zone stops at an unsustainable rate. Again, fatal problems for teams on non-destiny.

This game threatens to become an offensive shootout. Schemes on schemes. Motion everywhere. Defenses guessing. Touchdowns arriving in waves. Good. Let it be loud. Let it be fast. Let it test everything. Ben Johnson has waited for this moment. A stage this big. An opponent this sharp. A chance to prove the Bears are not a feel good story but a structural problem for the league.

A Word on Momentum and Myth

Some will say the Packers game took everything out of the Bears. Those people do not understand momentum. Or bears. That game did not drain this team. It charged them.

Confidence is a renewable resource when it is earned honestly. This group believes they will find a way because they keep doing it. That belief is contagious. It spreads from sideline to stands to city to forest. I feel it in my paws.

Final Zen Manifestation

Close your eyes. Picture the fourth quarter. Picture calm faces. Picture another moment when the outcome feels inevitable.

The Bears are not done. Bears win. Late. Loud. Unapologetic.

Bears 34. 49ers 31.

The team of destiny does not blink on Sunday night. Bear Down.