Bears’ playoff hopes fading after loss to Broncos

Wonder if Kyle Long is sticking with his playoff narrative for the Bears?

The stats gurus at fivethirtyeight.com aren’t.

After the 17-15 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, the Bears are clinging to a fading eight-percent chance of making the playoffs, down from 14 percent a week ago, according to fivethirtyeight.com. The data site uses 20,000 simulations to determine its probabilities.

With six games remaining, the Bears (4-6) would likely have to win out or, at worst, go 5-1 to have any shot at postseason play in the NFC.

As it stands now, the Packers (7-3) would win the NFC North and the Vikings (7-3) would be a wild-card team along with the Falcons (6-4). The Packers and Vikings are the only winning teams left on the Bears’ schedule.

Other teams vying for the wild-card berth: Bucs (19% chance at playoffs) and Seahawks (45%) at 5-5; Eagles (20%), Redskins (17%), Saints (6%) and Rams (3%) all at 4-6.