Rozner: Bears show no mercy for hapless Vikes and that's the way it should be

Talk about your no-win situations.

There was little Matt Nagy could do to satisfy the masses Sunday, those divided into play-em or sit-em camps.

But this was no fantasy call. This was about a game that might have mattered, but probably wouldn't, with the health of their starters also on the line against a Vikings team trying to reach the postseason.

Problem is, the NFL has never been worse, teams separated by a single player on each side of the ball, the supposed "good teams" only marginally better than the supposed "bad teams."

So what guarantee was there that the Rams would defeat the Niners? The Bears have seen them both and knew anything was possible.

There is plenty of support for both cases. An injury to Khalil Mack would have ended the Bears' Super Bowl hopes as he is unquestionably the reason they are where they are.

But there are teams who cash it in for the final game, rest all their best players and never regain their mojo.

The Cowboys and Patriots played their best players all the way to the end Sunday, a frightening proposition for their fans, especially the Cowboys who had no reason to try to beat the Giants.

And Bears management worries more about public perception than any team in town. They are eternally focused on keeping the fans in line after so many half-empty stadiums the last few years, so they're always taking the temperature of the pens and pompoms.

There was the suggestion last week that the Bears shouldn't make the mistake of 2010, when they allowed the Packers to beat them in the final game of the season, sneak into the playoffs and eventually take them down in the NFC title game at Soldier Field.

The only problem with that is it isn't true.

Lovie Smith played his starters all the way to end of a 10-3 loss, Jay Cutler taking another ferocious beating in that game, hit 11 times but somehow walking off the field no worse for wear.

They tried, they lost and the Packers went the distance, with help from a Cutler MCL injury in the conference championship.

But the Bears didn't hand Green Bay anything in that last game and even if the Bears had allowed the Vikings to get in Sunday, it would not have mattered next week.

Those determinations are pure hindsight. It's a fallacy and Nagy's best bet was to do whatever he thought right to have his team ready for next week.

With Rams up huge at the half and the Bears protecting a 13-3 lead, it had to be a tough call for the head coach, who is trying to get his quarterback playoff ready and thinking ball security for the postseason.

But what might have actually been the best scenario for the Bears was to get the horrific Kirk Cousins in Chicago for another game.

Cousins is simply awful and he's got no chance against a Bears defense playing for something, especially if Nagy continues to run the football, something he did on the first drive of the game Sunday, and at times throughout the win over the Vikings.

Was it wise to play Mitch Trubisky in the second half? Smart to let him drop back so much and scramble for yards? Was it worth the risk?

Nagy told Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews at halftime that he didn't know the Rams score and wasn't sure what to do, a rather shocking admission that Nagy and GM Ryan Pace hadn't processed all the possible scenarios going into the Sunday's game.

Obviously, Nagy decided to play it straight to the finish.

Knowing how bad Cousins is, most Bears fans were probably hoping to get the Vikings again next week, but as it stands they'll get the defending champs, the Eagles, with quarterback Nick Foles getting knocked out of another game Sunday (ribs), already arriving in Week 17 with a bruised sternum.

That's an incredibly painful injury that takes months to heal and affects every breath you take, so the Bears will be feeling pretty good about their chances.

The Minnesota game was irrelevant with the Rams winning big, but what does matter is Allen Robinson sat Sunday (ribs), and the Bears lost Taylor Gabriel (ribs) and Anthony Miller, who appeared to dislocate his shoulder for the second time this year.

It's possible all could play next week when the games begin to really matter.

In the meantime, with a postseason game on the horizon, Nagy won't have to spend much time answering for why he made personnel decisions the way he did Sunday.

It's probably best that way.