What happened?

December is supposed to be the time for our Bears to win, that’s why we call it “Bear Weather.” It’s when you win games by running the football and playing stout defense.

Those are two things our team is known for.

But, something has changed. The Bears have not been a team to be reckoned with in December in quite some time.

To put it bluntly: Our Bears have been dreadful in December.

Turning Point

Remember the 2010 season? I’m sure you do…

That December Chicago finished 3-1, which is the last time they finished December with a winning record.

After a strong December, the Bears fell to the Packers on Jan. 2, 2011 and eventually lost to them again in the NFC Championship game.

There’s no need to go into specifics…You all know the story.

Ever since those two losses to the Packers, the Bears have been unable to win in December. It’s as if Chicago was cursed by the football gods themselves.

The December Downfall

2011

Entering the final month of the season, the Bears were sitting at 7-4. Everything was pointing towards another playoff run; however, Lovie Smith’s team would drop each game in that final month (0-4) and ultimately would miss the playoffs.

2012

In Smith’s final season as the Bears’ coach, he coached the team to a strong 8-3 record. Yet again, the December curse hit and the Bears lost three straight before winning their final two. With a 2-3 record in December, the Bears narrowly missed out on the playoffs again, which cost Smith his job.

2013

Enter Marc Trestman.

With a new head coach, the Bears front office was hoping for more success in the later stages of the season.

How well did that play out?

When December rolled around Trestman’s Bears were 6-5. That team endured a similar fate as the 2012 Bears and went 2-3 down the stretch for the second straight year, including dropping the final two games.

2014

In Trestman’s second season, we should finally expect things to turn around, right?

Well… You all know how that played out.

The 2014 Bears were abysmal, and that was clearly evident as they could not win a single game in December (0-4). Like Smith, Trestman was shown the way out the doors of Halas Hall.

Grand Total

Since the 2010 season in which our Bears lost to the Packers, they have a December record of 4-14.

If that’s not a curse, I don’t know what is.

The Curse Has Been Lifted

What?!

How could I make such a claim?

Let me explain:

In 2010, we lost to the Packers at home in the NFC Championship as we played for the Halas Trophy.

Obviously losing that game is going to leave a lot of bad voodoo for our Bears. You all know Papa Bear was rolling in his grave after that loss.

However… We Finally Got Revenge!

On Thanksgiving, the Bears went on to beat the Packers at Lambeau. Something they haven’t been able to do since 2007.

But this was no ordinary game…

This was Brett Favre’s day…and we spoiled it.

This was a day that the Packers wanted to play against the Bears because they thought they would easily win.

This was the final game of November, and it has given this team a lot of confidence headed into the final month of the season.

John Fox is 14-4 in December in the same stretch that the Bears went 4-14.

Add in the fact that December schedule is chock-full of winnable games, and you can see why I am positive that the curse is lifted.

It all starts Sunday against the 49ers… It’ll be up to Fox’s Bears to prove me right. 🙂