INDIANAPOLIS • For the 1-3 Chicago Bears and the 1-3 Indianapolis Colts, Sunday’s get-together at Lucas Oil Stadium was about as desperate as it gets for early October in the NFL.
History says so. Only seven teams that started 1-4 have made it to the playoffs — out of 312 postseason qualifiers — since the NFL went to the 12-team playoff format in 1990.
It is coach John Fox’s Bears who are battling those long odds after losing 29-23 to the Colts.
They lost despite putting 522 yards of offense on Indy. Quarterback Brian Hoyer threw for 397 yards and a pair of touchdowns, marking his third consecutive 300-yard start since Jay Cutler’s thumb injury.