The Chicago Bears will be in unfamiliar territory Sunday afternoon when they kick off against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field.

Sunday will mark the first time in five seasons that the Bears will enter Week 15 with legitimate playoff aspirations with a 9-4 record. They last made the playoffs in 2020 at 8-8, and their best record heading into Week 15 since then was in 2023 when the Bears were 5-8.

The Bears and head coach Ben Johnson have steered away from the playoff conversation over the past month despite their best start to a season since 2018. Each time it’s come up, the Bears have said they haven’t earned enough wins to qualify for the postseason yet.

Johnson and his players have kept up that mantra with four games left in the regular season.

“We have goals, and we know what’s out in front of us,” Johnson said Wednesday morning at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. “It’s just that awareness that every game matters. Every game matters.”

Chicago sits in a comfortable position in the NFC playoff race heading into Week 15.

The Bears are the No. 7 seed in the standings, just a game behind the No. 1 seed, 10-3 Los Angeles Rams. They’re also half a game behind the Green Bay Packers (9-3-1) in the NFC North race. Winning the division would guarantee a top-four seed for Chicago as well as a playoff game at Soldier Field.

But the Bears learned how quickly things can change in a tight NFC race. Chicago dropped to the No. 7 spot after Sunday’s loss to the Packers after entering last week as the No. 1 seed. Things can quickly change once again with some big matchups that can impact the race this weekend.

That’s why the Bears have held on to Johnson’s week-by-week mentality that he instilled during his first season this year. Johnson emphasized the importance of players and coaches maintaining their focus on the task each week, their opponent.

Players such as quarterback Caleb Williams reinforced that idea over the past few weeks. Williams said he learned how to keep the main things during seasons like his Heisman Trophy-winning year with USC in 2022. It’ll help him heading into this season’s critical stretch.

“Just understanding that each week is its own week, understanding that you go 1-0 in the week that you’re focused on, the team that you’re focused on,” Williams said. “It propels you in a very positive way to put you in position to be exactly where you want to be at the end of the year.”

While the Bears are using a week-by-week approach, they’re also realistic about their situation.

There are some seasons where 10 wins guarantee a team will enter the playoffs. But that’s not always the case. The Seattle Seahawks won 10 games last season and just missed the postseason because of a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker.

Chicago will likely need to get to 11 wins to feel comfortable, given the current state of the NFC standings. Six of the season teams holding playoff spots have at least nine wins, while the Detroit Lions are not far behind with eight wins.

“We’re focused on each week, but that’s just the reality of the situation,” Bears safety Kevin Byard said. “You need to go out there and continue to stack wins. Starting this week, I don’t necessarily want to call it a must-win, but we have to keep stacking wins. Like Coach [Johnson] said, getting to nine wins is cool, but it’s not going to get us in the playoffs, so we need at least two wins if we want to get in the playoffs, and I think three or four to win the division.”

In order to get to 11 wins, they’ll need to take care of business against the Browns on Sunday to get to 10. The Browns don’t look impressive with their 3-10 record on paper. But they’ve got one of the best defenses in the league and an offense that has some explosive players.

“We have goals and we know what’s out in front of us. It’s just that awareness that every game matters. Every game matters.”

That’s where the week-by-week approach comes in. Johnson and players have avoided letting Sunday become a “trap game” with the Packers coming up again in Week 16. They’ll maintain that focus as they navigate uncharted territory with a playoff push.

“Let’s focus on today, let’s get better today, let’s have our best day, I know Wednesday, we just have a walkthrough today, let’s have our best focus today,” Byard said. “I believe in just the momentum of the week carries on. I don’t really believe that momentum carrying from week to week, but I do believe from how you start your Monday, going to Saturday can determine how well you play on Sundays. So, just focus on today, having the best day we possibly can.”