Happy Howard, Parkey Support Group, Missing Jackson, and Other Bullets

I used Monday as a palate cleanser and stayed away from the ol’ sports-a-roo. So Tuesday was my big return to the sports world. Unfortunately, my alma mater’s basketball team didn’t return the love. Southern Illinois basketball lost by 12 in a game where they were down by as many as 20 in the first half. So much for sports being nice to me after Sunday’s soul-crushing loss. Sigh. Let’s move on.

  • In a sense, the season ended the way it began, wondering whether or not Jordan Howard should have received more carries (let alone Tarik Cohen). Ten rushes for 35 yards is hardly what you would expect out of a back who is built for grind-it-out games in cold weather, but that’s how it goes some times. At least Howard had fun along the way:
  • https://twitter.com/JHowardx24/status/1082728097869451264

  • Few Bears players publicly celebrated the arrival of Head Coach Matt Nagy like Howard. The Nagy hire helped inspire Howard to predict an NFC North championship and dream about the big numbers he could post on the season ahead. And while Howard’s NFC North prognostication came true, he fell short of the statistical expectations set before him. We’ll dive deeper into the numbers and Howard’s future later, but his tweet expressing the fun he had this year shouldn’t be lost on us. Because while his stats took a hit, he was part of a winning culture for the first time in his pro career and that seems to have left a mark on him.
  • I would enjoy this graphic more if Mitch Trubisky was preparing to face the Los Angeles Rams this week:
  • Two of the three leading passers this weekend were on losing teams. Both were selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. You’re up, Patrick Mahomes.
  • Khalil Mack had six tackles, two quarterback hits, and a tackle for loss against the Eagles, but didn’t pick up any sacks. He did provide this highlight for us:
  • One way to keep Mack off the stat sheet is by sending three blockers his way:
  • Yep, the Bears missed Eddie Jackson:
  • This one stings:
  • https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1082849697977561088

  • Maybe it’s because the Bears have run this play well rolling right and sprinting left. Or perhaps it’s because it’s the play that ended Chicago’s magical run in 2018. In the end, re-watching this still hurts:
  • The Bears could have used someone like Cre’von LeBlanc holding down the slot corner position in the wake of Bryce Callahan’s season ending injury. Eagles DC Jim Schwartz has got to love his former NFC North rival:
  • Who would have thought Marcus Cooper Sr. beating out Cre’von LeBlanc in August would have impacted the Bears in January. Football, man. You just can’t predict it.
  • This is kinda deep. Maybe too deep for a football thought:
  • The support for Parkey has been surprisingly strong and it’s no surprise it’s coming from team leaders:
  • And while surely some of it could be guys simply saying the right thing, I would argue this is part of the culture Nagy and the Bears built this year. You can’t claim to be “family” only when things are going well. And you definitely can’t be there for someone only when they’re acing everything. What kind of culture would that be? What type of message would that send? Sometimes, “the family” (or members of the family) disappoint you. That’s when they need your support the most.
  • Some views from That Team in Wisconsin. The Athletic’s Josh Tolentino takes a deeper look at new Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleuer, while long-time scribe-turned-independent-website-operator Bob McGinn turned his eyes to the coaches Green Bay didn’t interview.
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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