This disastrous Bears season is almost at its end. A trip to Green Bay for a Sunday clash with the Packers is all that’s left, and the Bears appropriately enter as double-digit underdogs.

It has gotten that bad for the Bears, who have lost 10 straight after a 4-2 start. The Packers are hoping for the No. 6 seed but are more likely the No. 7, but this rivalry game takes on a life of its own in a way rarely seen in the modern NFL.

RELATED CONTENT:

• What a deep statistical dive says about Montez Sweat’s season
• Why Caleb Williams thinks Kliff Kingsbury could be a good head coach
• Thomas Brown on interim head coach experience, what comes next
• How Jaylon Johnson made his second straight Pro Bowl without many splash pla

Rivalry games normally mean way more to the fans, but the players on both sides of this one genuinely seem to care about beating the other.

That’s especially true for the Bears, most of whom have taken it on the chin from Green Bay their entire time in Chicago.

Even with that fact, we can’t possibly break down an essentially meaningless game over five full topics, so we’ll extend the reach of our Burning Questions series to issues the Bears must answer over the next week.

Let’s get to it, starting with Sunday’s game and then branching out from there:

Can Chicago (finally) snap the streak?

The Bears haven’t beaten the Packers is so, so long. They’ve lost 11 straight, 16 of the last 17 and, if we really want to go far back, 26 of their last 29 to Green Bay. That seems almost unfathomable, but it’s true.

There’s no one on the active roster who has beaten the Packers, and that serves as some small motivation for players on hand.

Star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, always good for a quote, expressed that there’s no love between the two sides, who play but a few hours apart and have clashed for more than a century.

“F— ‘em. That’s how I’m feeling,” Johnson said. “I’m going to try to go out with a bang. It’s the last opponent on the schedule, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The Bears nearly beat Green Bay earlier this season, but a blocked field goal late squandered that opportunity. Again, unfathomable.

The Packers will be playing their regulars in this one and want to win for the possibly of improved seeding, so it won’t be a gimme. It’ll be impossible unless the Bears offense improves its standard of play, which has been terrible over the past four games.

Will Caleb Williams go out on a high note?

The Bears rookie quarterback played one of his worst games this season in Week 17, taking tons of sacks while the Bears mustered just three points in four quarters.

Interim head coach Thomas Brown made it clear Williams (and all healthy players) will be available versus Green Bay, citing the value of experience as a reason to do so. That makes logical sense and, while it won’t change the review of Williams’ overall season much, it would be a bit of a confidence boost for the young quarterback to end on a high note. Another slog would be rough, even though Williams seems committed to learning from all experiences. He has taken a ton from a rookie season that hasn’t gone according to plan. There have been flashes of brilliance, but fewer truly dominant showings during this losing streak. Finishing well would start the offseason with a better outlook toward the improvement that comes next.

Are the Bears going to stick with GM Ryan Poles?

All signs point to yes. I believe they’ll let their beleaguered general manager lead the coaching search and draft and use copious amounts of salary-cap space to help improve the team. While he has taken significant heat after letting Matt Eberflus go – there was no one else to blame or fire once that happened – president Kevin Warren said Poles would be the GM moving forward.

While things have gotten worse since Eberflus left, it still seems hard to imagine the Bears moving on from Poles. He sorta, but also sorta didn’t hire Eberflus. He made the blockbuster Bryce Young trade that brought Caleb Williams, DJ Moore and lots, well, more to Chicago.

All that said, Poles getting canned at this point would be a surprise but not an absolute shock. It’s within the realm of possibility and a faceplant in Green Bay wouldn’t help his cause.

Will the Bears go big on a head coach?

There will be plenty of big names available in this head-coaching cycle. There will be guys with track records of success – Pete Carroll, Mike Vrabel come to mind – and up-and-coming coordinators – Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn and Joe Brady are in that class – some of the top names will cost a ton.

Will the Bears put in interview requests for the top names? And, will they be willing to pay for the top candidates available on the open market?

There will be clues as to the level of coach the Bears are looking for with the interview requests they make, especially the second interviews they take. Reports say Johnson won’t interview just to interview, so his response to an inevitable request will send a clear sign to whether the Bears gig is as attractive as they say it is.

They have a recent track record of hiring coordinators that haven’t worked out. The last time we heard from Poles and president Kevin Warren, they said a leader of men was coveted. That suggests a track record as a head coach will matter. Actions always speak louder, so seeing the coaches they interview a first and second time will give us an indicator of the type of coach they’re angling for.

How will the Bears handle Thomas Brown?

Interim head coach Thomas Brown hasn’t produced the results he surely wanted to deliver. The Bears have lost each time since he got promoted to his current title, though someone who was offensive passing game coordinator through Week 10. Then he became an offensive play caller with no extra prep time and was promoted to interim head coach roughly three weeks later.

He has handled all that with grace, even though you can tell the results are eating at him. He still deserves to be considered for the full-time gig, though it seems highly unlikely that he’ll get it. The Bears should treat him with great respect, interview him multiple times and sing his praises to other teams looking for offensive coordinators. He’s a true leader and a bright football mind who deserves the chance to advance, over time, in his coaching career. The Bears should help him do that.