New 7th seed helps Bears 8 years too late for Lovie Smith

While Matt Nagy gets to coach Chicago in the playoffs despite a middling 8-8 record that could help save his job, former Bears coach Lovie Smith can only wonder if the extra team in the postseason could have helped him eight years ago. The addition of a seventh playoff team in each conference this season helped make sure Indianapolis wouldn’t become the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to miss the postseason despite winning 11 games, and let the Bears sneak in as the eighth 8-8 team ever to earn a wild-card spot. Smith’s Bears teams from the beginning of last decade are near the top of that list.