Barring a confluence of unexpected results playing out over the next three weeks, it seems almost certain the Seattle Seahawks won't be going to the playoffs for only the third time in Pete Carroll's tenure.

That stretch of what looks to be meaningless games for Seattle begins Sunday with hosting the Chicago Bears. It's the conclusion of a brutally short week for the Seahawks (5-9) following their rescheduled loss to the Los Angeles Rams last Tuesday night and limited recovery time before facing the Bears.

But it's also the week during which reality is likely setting in for the Seahawks. Seattle is not officially eliminated from the postseason, but could be by kickoff Sunday. The loss to the Rams ended a realistic path to the postseason for a franchise whose minimum expectation is reaching the playoffs.

Only once since the arrival of Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner in 2012 have the Seahawks played a meaningless regular season game where there wasn't some type of postseason implications involved.

The Bears (4-10) are in the same position of playing out the final few weeks with nothing at stake. Chicago being in this position was probably expected, unlike the fall of the Seahawks being among the more unexpected results league wide.

But while there is handwringing about Seattle's future, the final few weeks are an opportunity for Chicago to learn more about its rookie quarterback and how much growth Justin Fields can show over these final three games.

The past few weeks have seen flashes of what the Bears hope is the future with Fields, mixed with the mistakes that become amplified when a young quarterback is on a struggling team.

Fields suffered a sprained ankle in the loss to Minnesota and said he intends on playing against Seattle. If the ankle proves more bothersome than Fields expected, the Bears did get a boost with the return of Andy Dalton from the reserve/COVID-19 list this week.