We've hit the midpoint of the 2026 NFL season, and the Chicago Bears are finally getting a much-needed break. They're on their bye week following an ugly, undeserved Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, giving them a chance to rest, make a few tweaks to their game plans, and hopefully get a few injured players back.

Though the Bears won't be playing football on Sunday or Monday, there are still some games that Bears fans will want to pay close attention to. These games could have major implications on playoff seeding, which is now just eight weeks away. The Bears currently hold the top spot in the NFC North and are very much in the running for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

History may say that playoff positioning is just about set by this point in the season, but it'd be better for the Bears to punch their postseason ticket well in advance of Week 18. With that in mind, here are five games for Bears fans to keep tabs on this Sunday, and who they should be rooting for in each one.

New England Patriots at Detroit Lions

Sunday, 9:30am ET on FOX

The Lions may no longer be the NFC North juggernaut that they were in 2023 and 2024, but they're still a dangerous squad. The Bears still have to play them twice, which means they could leapfrog the Bears in a hurry when it comes to playoff seeding or the division title. The Bears need to handle their own business, and I'd be shocked if they could not get one win over Detroit this year, but it would sure help if the Patriots could give the Bears some breathing space by picking up a win in Germany.

Additionally, Bears fans should be rooting for the Patriots the rest of the season. The Bears vanquished New England in a sensational Week 7 primetime game, and a higher winning percentage for New England could potentially help Chicago in terms of determining tiebreakers.

San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, 4:25pm ET on FOX

At 7-1, the Niners currently hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but the Bears are hot on their heels. If the Bears want to take the top spot and earn the Wild Card bye in the playoffs, they're going to need the Niners to stumble a bit, and that starts with a trip to Dallas to take on the Cowboys.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the Niners improved their roster quite a bit recently. They made a deal for former Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner two weeks ago, then traded for Keenan Allen at the deadline. The NFL is an 'any given Sunday' league, but the Cowboys will be hard-pressed to beat a rejuvinated Niners squad, especially since they'll be fresh off their bye week.

Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams & Las Vegas Raiders at Seattle Seahawks

Sunday, 4:05pm ET on CBS (both)

I'm making this one a two-fer, and here's why. Both the Rams and Seahawks are a little behind where they probably expected to be at this point, but it's far too early to count them out. They could still get hot and string enough wins together to push the fourth- and third-place finishers of the NFC North out of the playoff picture, and that could very well include the Bears.

The best-case scenario for Chicago, and, truthfully, the entire NFC North, is for every NFC Wild Card spot to go to an NFC North team. This would shutout both the Seahawks and the Rams, teams who have proven to be dangerous in January. The Bears do hold one tiebreaker with their statement Week 8 victory over the Seahawks, but it'd be better if it doesn't come to that.

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers

Sunday, 1:00pm ET on FOX

I really struggled determining who Bears fans should root for in this one. On the one hand, the Vikings have lost only two games and their trade for Kirk Cousins completely changes their offense moving forward. Instead of a moribund offense being dragged along by an elite defense, this offense will now likely carry its own weight and even be able to pick up slack from the defense should they ever struggle.

On the other hand, the Packers have been playing lights-out football lately, and they're still awaiting the return of star pass rusher Micah Parsons. There are some major red flags to the way they're winning, chief among them being an unsustainable rate of takeaways, and it remains extremely unlikely that they'll be able to win in December and January with a historically bad run game, but it's worked for them thus far.

This one comes down to your personality as a Bears fan. If you're on the pessimistic side, you might think the Bears aren't likely to win the division, so it'd be better for the Vikings to win, reclaim the top spot in the NFC North, and push the Packers further behind the Bears in the race for a Wild Card spot. If you're optimistic, you'll have to hold your nose and root for Green Bay so that Chicago will be better positioned to seize their second-straight NFC North crown.