Playoffs? Bears don't control own destiny anymore

With a 5-7 record, the playoffs are a far-fetched notion for the Bears.

And they know it -- even if they're not all ready to admit it.

"I don't like the guessing game, and the wishing game, and the hoping game," said defensive end Adewale Ogunleye. "Wishing and hoping is for the birds. I'd rather control our own destiny. I'm not for sitting around and wishing and hoping."

For the fourth straight week, Ogunleye forced a fumble, his team-best fifth of the season.

Ogunleye also recovered the fumble by Derrick Ward at the Giants' 24-yard line, setting up Robbie Gould's 41-yard field goal that gave the Bears a 16-7 lead with 10:52 left in the third quarter. But that was little consolation.

"I didn't do well enough to help us win," Ogunleye said. "To do all this work, starting with training camp and all the practices and all the meetings and then to not win, it (stinks)."

The Bears, whose 2-6 NFC record is the worst of the contenders, would need an incredible string of good fortune to reach the postseason -- even if they somehow manage to win their last four games.

Playoffs?

"Looks like we'll be home," said defensive end Alex Brown. "We'll play the last four games, though. Let's try to win and see what happens."

The Bears are in the cellar of the NFC North, trailing both the 6-6 Vikings and Lions. They also trail the 6-6 Cardinals. The Vikings, Lions and Cardinals are tied for the last wild-card playoff spot.

But the Redskins, Eagles, Panthers and Saints are 5-7 like the Bears, and all of them hold tiebreaker edges on the Bears.

"We're in the back door, trying to get in," said tight end Desmond Clark. "It's not a situation we want to be in, hoping that other teams lose.

"We figured if we won out, we'll fall in there somewhere. But that's not the case anymore, so now we've got to hope, wish and pray at this point. It's out of our hands."