Watching “Oompa Loompa” from Different Angles Is Pretty Awesome and Other Bullets

Waking up to seeing that my team was bumped into the Consolation Bracket of my Friends & Family fantasy football league wasn’t exactly how I wanted to start my day. But between some personnel changes on the field and perhaps a shakeup in management, the squad will be back and better next year.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt went unclaimed on waivers and is a free agent. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport tweets several teams considered putting a claim on Hunt, but ultimately decided not to bite. As we touched in Bullets on Saturday, Hunt was released Friday and placed on the Commissioner Exempt list after TMZ obtained and published a video showing him shoving and kicking a woman in an incident that occurred in February. Hunt led the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie, but has a long way to go to improve as a person.

Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy was asked if the team would put a claim in on Hunt, whom he’d coached as the Chiefs OC last year, but responded vaguel. Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times shared Nagy’s answer: “I’m not going to get into that. I think, No. 1, me personally, just the entire situation is unfortunate for everybody involved. And so that’s now where we’re at. We’re focusing on today and who this team is.”

It’s difficult to imagine the Bears bringing Hunt into the picture, as the Bears have stayed away from signing players with off-the-field issues since they took a flier on Ray McDonald, whom they released shortly thereafter when a second domestic violence issue popped up. So even though Nagy has a relationship with Hunt going back to their time in Kansas City and Mitch Trubisky has a connection to Hunt that dates back to their time playing high school football in Ohio, you can see why it would be difficult to sign off on this.

As for players currently on the Bears, Allen Robinson continues to be awesome in ways we didn’t know one could be:

After Allen Robinson drew 2 pass interference penalties yesterday. The Bears are now tied with the Ravens for being the beneficiary of the most DPI calls this season (10).

In the entire 2017 season, the Bears drew 3 defensive pass interference penalties.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) December 3, 2018

I have long been a proponent of adding more of a vertical passing game because I viewed it as a potential for free yardage. There is a decent percentage of deep ball throws that turn into first downs and chunk plays because of handsy defensive backs that get called for pass interference, defensive holding, and other penalties. The game is tailored for offenses to move down the field, so it’s nice that the Bears finally brought in a player who could force the action downfield.

Also, how was this not pass interference:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq5Zb4InlkB/

Had the Bears not lost that game, we’d be talking about this more:

All I want for Christmas is more onside kicks pic.twitter.com/5pqL8eAMb7

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 2, 2018

Prior to Sunday’s game, just 3 of 38 onside kicks had been recovered by the kicking team. Back-of-the-envelope math shows that 92.1 percent of onside kicks are not recovered by the team that needs the ball back. Had I not had a good night of sleep, I’d be more peeved about wasting a golden opportunity.

I can’t get enough of this:

@GBraggsJr pic.twitter.com/97bX5BrK0o

— brandonb (@bbajema2000) December 2, 2018

my view of the #Bears game-tying TD to head into OT yesterday

editor’s note: my voice was half gone and I went crazy, naturally. pic.twitter.com/SRvdVK72v7

— Chris Dougherty (@bearsindex) December 3, 2018

Spider Man pointing at Spider Man dot gif:

Akiem Hicks (332 pounds) is the first @ChicagoBears defender to score a rushing TD since…

William "The Refrigerator" Perry (335 pounds) in Super Bowl XX. @The_Dream99 pic.twitter.com/xF4V81A1hR

— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) December 2, 2018

We should also be talking more about this:

Kyle Fuller with his SIXTH interception of the season!#ProBowlVote this man with an RT!#CHIvsNYG | #DaBears pic.twitter.com/WZ347ogowZ

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 2, 2018

A brief look at Kyle Fuller’s career arc: First-round pick –> sophomore slump –> out for the year with an injury that wasn’t expected to knock him out of action that long –> on the cusp of not making the roster entering training camp –> playing his way into a roster spot and into a starting role –> playing well enough to keep the starting role once Prince Amukamara returned to health –> breakout year –> big-money contract –> another breakout. That’s one heck of a journey!

That’s nice:

#Bears game night at Chase Daniel’s house looks like a blast. Team bonding and boosting that morale.

— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) December 4, 2018

Almost makes me want to host game night with my Bears fan friends who struggled through Sunday’s game.

In case you missed it, Mark Sanchez (a.k.a. the 2017 version of the Trubisky Whisperer) played meaningful snaps in a football. Sanchez completed 13 of 21 passes for 100 yards, 0 TD, and 1 INT for Washington against Philadelphia on Monday Night Football. I’ll save you the time and let you know that comes out to a 53.7 passer rating and 13.3 QBR. To be sure, there isn’t a metric that would have made Sanchez look good last night.

As for next week’s Bears opponent:

“If we win baby, we put on a hat and a t-shirt today!” #LARams pic.twitter.com/8tUtHTTcs1

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 4, 2018

When a team clinches a division in baseball, there’s a ton of wagering value in picking the team they play next because of the celebration/hangover effect. That’s not really a thing in the NFL, but I wish it was.

Aaron Donald is a monster:

Aaron Donald has 6+ pressures in 7 straight games. If he is able to do that again Sunday night against the Bears, it will tie the longest streak of 6+ pressure games in the last 13 years. The person he would tie? Current Bear Khalil Mack from the 2016 season.

— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) December 3, 2018

Don’t expect to see this guy on the injury report:

Sean McVay cancelled a news conference because of illness, but said he would be ready for Bears game Sunday night.

— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) December 4, 2018

This makes me feel better about Sunday:

Bears coming off a loss and hosting the Rams on Sunday night, to which Bears head coach Matt Nagy says, "I have zero concern over how this team will react."

— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) December 3, 2018

Save for losses against the Dolphins and Giants, the Bears have really taken advantage of a sub-par schedule of opponents:

Teams that have faced the easiest schedules so far:

1. Bears- 0.424
2. Dolphins- 0.436
3. Colts- 0.438
4. 49ers- 0.447
5. Jets- 0.462
6. Panthers- 0.465
7. Eagles- 0.467
8. Bucs- 0.469
9. Chargers- 0.470
10. Ravens- 0.473

— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) December 3, 2018

I see teams in the hunt for a playoff spot such as the Dolphins, Colts, Panthers, Eagles, Chargers, and Ravens on this top-10 and I’m not sure I’ve heard much about their success being tied into an easy schedule. What’s up with that?

The Packers should have their pick of the litter when it comes to coaching candidates to replace Mike McCarthy. Here’s hoping they make the wrong choice:

Odds to be the next Head Coach of the Packers (Bovada)

J. McDaniels +170
L. Riley +275
J. DeFilippo +275
E. Bieniemy +1000
P. Carmichael +1500
M. LeFleur +1500
Z. Taylor +1500
John Harbaugh +2000
F. Kitchens +2500
K. Richard +2500
R. Rivera +2500
J. Tedford +2500
G. Kubiak +5000

— OddsShark (@OddsShark) December 3, 2018

Josh McDaniels and John DeFilippo interviewed with Bears last year. Matt LaFleur was Jared Goff’s OC last year. Pete Carmichael has been a long-time OC/QB coach in New Orleans. John Harbaugh and Ron Rivera are long shots with NFL jobs who could be on the outs with their current team. Jeff Tedford makes a ton of sense because he was Aaron Rodgers’ college coach.

This is undeniably awesome:

#Bears rookie Roquan Smith helped hand out new winter coats to St. Malachy students. The jackets were provided by his Dreambuilders program, which received an $11,000 grant from UnitedHealthcare. https://t.co/BmOcQffT3w pic.twitter.com/wN8TfdCZFg

— Sun-Times Sports (@suntimes_sports) December 3, 2018