Dick Butkus Highlights Are Better Than Coffee and Other Bullets

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Dick Butkus Highlights Are Better Than Coffee and Other Bullets

Chicago Bears News

Nothing like the first day of spring to give hope for a better tomorrow.

  • Dick Butkus was a monster:

  • I’m not old enough to have seen Butkus bring the lumber, but I’m definitely at an age where I appreciate an era of football where hitting wasn’t just allowed — it was encouraged.
  • Think you have what it takes to guess the Bears’ 2019 schedule? Well, here’s your chance to turn your prognostication skills into something special:

  • The way-too-early power rankings have Chicago in a good place. Elliot Harrison’s first post-Super Bowl rankings at NFL.com have the Bears cemented as a top-10 team. In fact, the team has improved a spot since the end of the football year. The Bears are No. 8 in the power rankings, which puts them as the highest-ranked team in the NFC North and fourth-highest-ranked team in the NFC. Not a bad place to start, but it could be better. Then again, the Bears were looking up at long odds at this time last year, so I wouldn’t take this for granted.
  • Pete Prisco’s power rankings at CBS Sports also has the Bears in the top-10 … but barely. Prisco has dropped the Bears four spots from where they were last year, which puts them as the ninth-ranked team. They’re not even the best team in the division, according to Prisco. The Packers jump of 12 spots because of their offseason and has them sixth overall. Huh? I get Green Bay has improved key spots of weakness, but that is a lofty jump. Thankfully, there is a good chance the Bears and their oldest rival will settle this in Week 1, to start the season.
  • A key reserve is making his rounds:

  • Aaron Lynch’s season ended with an injury suffered against Green Bay, which was unfortunate. Lynch had put together a solid season with three sacks, 8 quarterback hits, and 4 tackles-for-loss. Production in limited playing time will have certain talent evaluators dreaming on Lynch doing more with a bigger snap-share. But Lynch hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2015 and his 13 games played in 2018 were his most since 2015. If you watched Lynch’s situational pass-rushing prowess, you can see where there is room for growth. Lynch just turned 26, so perhaps the best is yet to come as he enters what figures to be his physical prime. But if he doesn’t take that next step, at least there is a high floor to work with.
  • *Sets calendar reminder*

  • I’m not a runner, but this could interest those of you who are:

  • Meta: We had a caching problem at the site yesterday, so if the home page isn’t showing new posts, you may need to “refresh” once (and/or clear browser cache) for the fix to come through. Very sorry about that, but hopefully it’ll be fixed going forward.
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Luis Medina

Luis is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation Bears, and you can find him on Twitter at @lcm1986.