Don’t Let Luck’s Retirement Distract You From the Bears’ Awesome Defensive Showing and Other Bullets

The most important fantasy football draft of the year starts at high noon and I haven’t done any research. Please send help.

Brett did a good tweet:

Dearest mother —
We have seen the Bears and I have learned that fear has a taste. The men look to me for inspiration, but in a world suffused with these Monsters, I cannot go on. I must retire to my quarters, perhaps for good.
— Andrew pic.twitter.com/V367AYr1Xq

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) August 25, 2019

Eddy Piñeiro drilled a HUGE 58-yard field goal, the Bears defense scored a pair of touchdowns (because of course), and for the first time this preseason, Chicago football has a win to talk about. And yet, the big story from Saturday’s preseason exhibition against the Colts is Andrew Luck’s retirement — and with good reason.

Luck was a top-10 quarterback at the peak of his powers and in the prime of his career. He was a four-time Pro Bowler who had four years with 4,000+ passing yards, three seasons with 30+ passing touchdowns, and when healthy, good enough to lead the Colts to four campaigns with at last 10 wins (each of which ended with a playoff run). Luck wasn’t just good, he was damn good.

Let’s not allow this surprise retirement to warp what we think of Luck’s career. As far as I’m concerned, Luck’s lasting legacy with me will be him piecing together the second-greatest comeback in NFL postseason history and having his career cut short due to injuries he couldn’t come back from.

Seriously, just reading this would make me want to retire:

Physical toll on Andrew Luck through 6 NFL seasons:
» Torn cartilage in 2 ribs
» partially torn abdomen
» a lacerated kidney that left him peeing blood
» at least 1 concussion
» a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder
» and this mysterious calf/ankle issue that led to this

— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) August 25, 2019

Seeing this on the other sideline would make me call it quits, too:

Mack guns pic.twitter.com/xYjrVOoZfb

— Ⓜ️arcusD ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) August 24, 2019

Getting a grasp for the moment could not have been easy for anyone at Lucas Oil Stadium, but there are some unique perspectives to be read:

Here’s @danwiederer on the collective struggle inside Lucas Oil Stadium last night to process Colts QB Andrew Luck’s retirement: https://t.co/LMxcA1ewJB

— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) August 25, 2019

I regret not being in the colts tunnel when he walked off.. But I honestly didn't even know he was there until after the clock turned to zero and everyone started booing.

Missed the boat on that one.

— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr) August 25, 2019

I was one of the first people in our section to find out the news. I stood up and turned around and could see no one knew what I knew.. I told a few fans behind me.. "I don't even want to tell you what I'm reading." When I read schefters tweet they were in utter disbelief.

— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr) August 25, 2019

Increasingly the NFL has been compelled to seek out players who don’t understand the physical toll of a career in the league or just don’t care about it. That pool of players is getting smaller. https://t.co/ooDtkuRWVh

— Drew Magary (@drewmagary) August 25, 2019

Football takes a lot out of people. Frankly, I’m surprised more players don’t walk away from the game in this manner.

There were some really odd takes after Luck announced his retirement, but this one takes the cake:

Oh, huh … same guy? pic.twitter.com/X9kbtHZTts

— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) August 25, 2019

Colts owner Jim Irsay is a weird dude:

#Colts owner Jim Irsay on what Andrew Luck is walking away from: ‘Half a billion dollars!’ Then talks about a ‘worm becoming a butterfly.’ And says he won’t rule out Luck coming back to football.
So there’s that.

— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) August 25, 2019

But in a move that is pure class, the Colts and Luck have reportedly reached a financial settlement in which the franchise will not recoup any money they are owed from the quarterback’s retirement. Good move.

The timing of the retirement wasn’t great for O.J. Simpson either:

Andrew Luck you couldn’t have shared that news before I drafted you an hour ago? #andrewluck @Colts pic.twitter.com/szGO2Dik2i

— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) August 25, 2019

Booing Luck was unnecessary and uncalled for:

#Colts QB Andrew Luck is booed as he leaves the field. pic.twitter.com/5Wr38cM7Js

— Rich Nye (@RichNye13) August 25, 2019

Colts Fans booing Andrew Luck pic.twitter.com/u4TPRcEozv

— Gustavo Vega (@iamvega1982) August 25, 2019

Luck on the booing as he walked off the field: "I'd be lying if I said I didn't hear the reaction. It hurt."

— Nat Newell (@NatJNewell) August 25, 2019

My friend Steve was an ace photographer during his college years when we crossed paths, so I really like and appreciate his perspective on this image, which is worth a thousand words and myriad different feelings:

Photos from a podium are challenging, this explains a lot and is a great photo. Best to luck. https://t.co/3XeMFzfS2m

— Steve Berczynski (@berczynski) August 25, 2019

Maybe the Colts will be fine after all:

The #Colts new starting QB pic.twitter.com/EjSmJxbml6

— Joe Marino (@TheJoeMarino) August 25, 2019

Now that Luck is out of the league …

So … did Mitch just move up a spot on all those rankings, or …

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) August 25, 2019

Oh, yeah. The Bears and Colts played a preseason game.

The Bears offense was out-gained by nearly 100 yards, ran ran 21 fewer plays, and possessed the ball for 11 fewer minutes. And yet, won an exhibition football game. You can’t predict football, baby!

You’re probably wondering how the Bears won a game in this manner? Well, their defense forced three turnovers, scored two touchdowns, came up with six sacks, 10 quarterback hits, and 10 tackles-for-loss. So even in a game where the backups are carrying a bulk of the workload, it’s the Bears defense that shines. Go figure.

Some highlights:

✌️ defensive score of the night!@javaughters & @ig_nacious_ give us the lead. #CHIvsIND pic.twitter.com/RtSjHg86NE

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 25, 2019

https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1165439685314744321

https://twitter.com/BN_Bears/status/1165413214873706497

I still can’t believe this image came during a Bears touchdown:

What if I told you the end result of this play was a Bears touchdown? pic.twitter.com/Vj0DzAYXwu

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) August 25, 2019

Tyler Bray (11-for-16, 136 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 89.6 passer rating) was OK.

This touchdown pass to Princeton product Jesper Horstead was neat:

Nice toss, @tbrayvol8!@JHorsted hauls it in and puts us up two scores. #CHIvsIND pic.twitter.com/NI9YWGV4Kf

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 25, 2019

Elsewhere on the offensive side of the ball, Ryan Nall’s nice run should put him in position to snag one of the last spots on the 53-man roster:

RYAN NALL WITH A HUGE 69 YARD RUN!!#BearDown | @Ryannall34 pic.twitter.com/bRqfEDjjTL

— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr) August 25, 2019

When the kicking job is all but yours:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kWdPjlBoi/

This was a good look by the folks in Indianapolis:

Really nice touch from the @Colts

A tribute video to Chuck Pagano! pic.twitter.com/XBT7e8qtJ4

— Chi Fans In The Stands (@ChiFansInStands) August 24, 2019

Grills, toys, books and more are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon today.

If you can’t get enough preseason football, NBC will use Skycam as its primary camera during its broadcast of Sunday’s Steelers-Titans preseason battle. Because preseason seems like a decent time to be experimental, I’m cool with this roll of the dice from a television perspective. At minimum, I’m willing to give it a shot (for a quarter … maybe).