All wasn’t lost after Sunday’s loss to the Patriots. Sure, the Bears were booted from first place all the way to the basement of the NFC North, but the chili that I teased in the Bullets the other day turned out to be REALLY good. And that matters when soaking in a tough loss.
My good friend Jim shared the recipe with me, so now I’m going to share it with you. You can check out the short rib chili recipe here, follow on Twitter, and check out the visual deliciousness via Instagram, Happy eating!
Mitch Trubisky turned it over twice in a 7-point loss to the Patriots, and the reaction from some corners of the world are reminiscent of the Jay Cutler days in which every incomplete pass or interception is an indictment on the player and his future. It’s a bit annoying and you’ll find that blocking out the noise can be useful. Of course, finding a happy medium is always key.
Some would say that the only opinions that matter are the ones coming from the locker room. If we were to take that at face value, then I would venture to say things are going well for the Bears’ quarterback. Head Coach Matt Nagy doubled down on his assessment that Trubisky played a good game, writes Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. After letting the loss sink in and watching the film, Nagy still feels more good vibes than bad when it comes to Trubisky’s game. For now, I’m standing my ground in believing Trubisky wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t good enough to win that game, and needs to be better for Bears to play winning football in their remaining 10 games.
To be fair to Nagy and his assessment of things, coaches are going to see things they like that we don’t see. They know pre-snap calls, where routes are supposed to go, and how things are should look. So to that end, none of us should be surprised when Nagy’s appraisal of the situation is rosier than our own. Here’s hoping Trubisky continues to show that progress as this season progresses.
Taylor Gabriel is really growing on me:
https://twitter.com/TGdadon1/status/1054433469676376064
A small quote like this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you’ve lived through the Grossman vs. Orton and Cutler vs. McCown days of Bears football when sides were picked and positions were firm, then you probably have a better appreciation for Gabriel’s post compared to others.
That Gabriel’s vote of confidence came after a game in which he was a non-factor in the offense is the cherry on top. It’s easy to say you ride with a quarterback when you’re racking up 100-yard receiving games. Not so much when you’re limited because you’re being shadowed with double coverage.
Reminder: not everyone is going to feel this way about Trubisky in that locker room. Again, that’s why it’s valuable to have at least some public support from teammates. Not everyone is going to be patient with the young quarterback:
A more modern example comes from Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic, who reports that Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has a “fractured relationship” with his teammates after the team’s recent loss to the Seahawks. We’re looking at a potential loss of confidence in a quarterback who had a short-lived run as the NFL’s highest-paid player, which probably isn’t great considering Carr is now the on-field face of the franchise after the team traded Amari Coooper (more on that in a minute). The Raiders’ overall situation is weird … and totally worthy of being a Vegas sideshow.
While we have Oakland/Las Vegas on our mind, the team now has five first-round picks over the next two years after dealing Amari Cooper to the Cowboys. And while stashing high-round picks is a bold strategy with odds in the Raiders’ favor, there are no guarantees here:
A Bears fan’s pessimism when it comes to quarterback development becomes more clear with each tweet that references signal caller’s of the franchise’s past:
This is the third straight week in which I’ve left Trubisky on the bench in my ESPN fantasy football league. Frankly, I deserve to be put in a dunk tank and shamed for not starting him as long as this hot streak continues:
NEWSLETTER
