One more win. That’s all that stands between the Chicago Bears and an NFC North title. And how fitting is it that it can be done in Week 15 against the team that’s haunted Chicago for years, the Green Bay Packers.

Bears fans wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s time to slay the dragon.

The 2018 season started in Green Bay. It was the first week of the Matt Nagy regime and little was known about this team or what it could become. There was optimism, of course. That’s always the case with a new coach, a young franchise quarterback entering his second season and the league’s best all-around defensive star.

But no one could’ve predicted the kind of year the Bears are having. Especially not after a gut-wrenching loss to Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field in Week 1.

Chicago jumped out to a massive lead on the night the Packers celebrated their 100th anniversary. After three quarters, the Bears led Green Bay 23-3. Rodgers’ knee was badly injured and it appeared like the unlikeliest of upsets was going to happen.

But the Bears weren’t ready. They couldn’t finish off the Packers and Rodgers, who in typical Hall-of-Famer fashion, led Green Bay on an improbable comeback to win the game, 24-23.

It was heartbreaking. It was another chapter in the intolerable recent Bears’ history of disappointment and failure. The stage appeared set for another season of ups and downs that would leave Chicago on the outside looking in.

Now, 12 games later, the Bears are 9-4 and in control of their own destiny to win the division. The Packers, on the other hand, have suffered one of their worst seasons with Rodgers under center; coach Mike McCarthy lost his job and Green Bay is on life support entering Week 15.

Sunday’s game, the 198th between the two teams, is about more than just the 2018 division championship. It’s an opportunity for the Bears to make a statement: The NFC North belongs to Chicago, not just in 2018, but for the foreseeable future.

And why shouldn’t it? Mitch Trubisky is the most promising young quarterback in the North and the Bears have, by far, the fiercest collection of defenders of the four teams in the division. The roster is young, is under contract for a while and has one of the NFL’s top coaching staffs.

So, yeah, it’s the Bears’ time.

But before Chicago can raise its flag atop the NFC North, they have to beat the Packers. Green Bay doesn’t need to be a Super Bowl contender or a playoff team for the game to matter; it’s the Packers. It’s Rodgers. It’s the monster hiding in every closet at Soldier Field.

Chicago must slay the beast in Week 15. The division is waiting for a new king, and it’s the Bears who are the rightful heir to the throne.

Unlike Week 1 — when Trubisky wasn’t ready, when Kyle Fuller wasn’t ready, when Matt Nagy wasn’t ready — the Bears will finish the job. They’ll do it at Soldier Field, and they’ll send the Packers back to Green Bay planning for 2019.