LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears jumped two spots in the NFC hierarchy in a matter of two days.
Chicago swapped positions with the Philadelphia Eagles after a convincing 24-15 win on Black Friday, moving from No. 3 to No. 2 in the NFC standings. After the Los Angeles Rams lost to the Carolina Panthers 31-28, the Bears became the NFC's No. 1 seed on Sunday afternoon.
If the playoffs started today, the Bears would have a bye week to get healthy and begin postseason play in the divisional round with a home game. According to ESPN Research, this is the latest in a season that Chicago has held at least a share of the best record in the NFC since the end of the 2006 season.
That year, the Bears had the best record in the NFC (13-3) and lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI.
One season removed from a 5-12 finish, the Bears are atop their division and conference at 9-3. That's significant for a team that has had two winning seasons since its last playoff victory in 2010, but it's not being viewed internally as any sort of achievement.
"Doesn't mean anything," coach Ben Johnson said. 'There's five games left. We've got a long ways to go. We have not been guaranteed a spot in the tournament yet. We have to earn that right. And the only way you can earn that right is by finding a way to win the next game. That's where our sole focus is."
The Bears are riding a five-game win streak into their first of two division matchups with the Green Bay Packers (8-3-1) on Sunday with first place in the NFC North on the line. All five wins during this stretch have come by fewer than 10 points. The last time the Bears won five games in a row in close fashion occurred during the early 1930s.
The Packers are 6.5-point favorites at home, according to DraftKings.
Last season, the NFC North had three teams represented in the playoffs, headlined by the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions, who finished 15-2. The Vikings (14-2) and Packers (11-6) earned their spots in the postseason via double-digit wins, which Johnson believes will be the baseline requirement for anyone in the seven-team field.
"The job is not done," Johnson said. "We haven't accomplished anything yet. We're nine wins. I think this year, you're probably gonna have to get to 11 to make it in the tournament. That's what we need to do. We've got to get there first. We've got to find a way to get there, and the only way to do that is to find a way to be 1-0 this week."
Chicago enters Week 14 with a half-game lead on the Packers in the NFC North, with Green Bay sitting as the No. 6 seed in the conference. The San Francisco 49ers, who host the Bears on Sunday Night Football in Week 17, are the 7-seed with a 9-4 record.
With all the jockeying for position that could happen over the final five weeks of the regular season, remaining the No. 1 seed at the end of the first week of January is the ultimate goal.
"The significance of it at the moment isn't much," tight end Cole Kmet said. "I know how this all is. We're on the so-called mountaintop right now, but those things change quickly week to week. We felt that after the Baltimore week and you could feel that after the first two weeks of the season. Things change really quickly. It's on us to stick to our process on stuff. But to see where we've gone as a team on my end specifically offensively from Weeks 1 and 2 to now, it's really cool to see and see our identity take shape, especially in the run game.
"This looks like it will be another cold game coming up in Green Bay. That's just how we like it. I think our playing style kind of matches that, and it will be good for us as we travel here throughout the rest of the season."
A big reason why the Bears occupy first place in the NFC has been their run game. D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai are the catalysts behind the NFL's No. 2 rushing offense (158.3 yards per game) and logged 125 and 130 yards, respectively, on the ground in Philadelphia. That marked the first time a pair of Bears running backs rushed for over 100 yards in a game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey on Nov. 10, 1985.
Against Philadelphia, 183 of the Bears' 281 rushing yards came before contact, the second time this season that the Bears reached 180. The rest of the NFL has one such game combined.
The Bears' passing game struggled in Philadelphia for a variety of reasons. Johnson said the wind created one of the more "challenging" games for the Bears. That contributed to some of the issues quarterback Caleb Williams had in connecting with his receivers. Williams finished with a 47% completion percentage (17-of-36), which was the second lowest of his career, along with being off-target on 27% of his passes.
Johnson, however, walked away more encouraged by what he saw from Williams throughout the game, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kmet in the fourth quarter. If Chicago can fix its inconsistencies in the passing game, remaining as the top seed in the NFC over the next five weeks could be attainable.
"I think what you don't see is how smooth that operation was on Friday," Johnson said. "Maybe you do. I certainly noticed it. I felt that was one of the better jobs he's had in terms of getting the playcall, calling in the huddle, getting the motions, the shifts.
"We had a lot of moving parts there in that game to create some eye candy for those defensive players. I thought he executed it really well for the most part. I screwed up a playcall, and he made it right for me. That was good to see. He's getting better each and every week in that regard, of playing the quarterback position. Like I said, it's all hands on deck for us to clean up this passing game to make it more of a weapon."