You really feel the comforts of home when you return after a trip that ended with a red-eye flight in a middle seat.

• Happy Birthday, Danny Trevathan!

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

• Trevathan was one of the more un-heralded members of a great Bears defense, even though he was something of a secret star. He played in all 16 games for the first time since 2013 and did a bit of everything this unit needed. Trevathan collected 102 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, 8 tackles-for-loss, 4 quarterback hits, a forced fumble (plus one recovery). The numbers in the tackle, TFL, and interception columns were the best Trevathan has put up since arriving in Chicago as he put up his best season since he spent the first four years of his career in Denver. It was the kind of season GM Ryan Pace probably envisioned when he signed Trevathan as a free agent in 2016 to solidify the middle of the Bears’ defense. Trevathan turns 29 today and in the last year of a four-year contract, but looks like he still has prime years to contribute.
• According to Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value metric (which attempts to put a single number to each player’s season), Trevathan’s 2018 season was a career-best. Trevathan picked up a 10 in the AV column, which put him just outside the top-10 among off-the-ball linebackers. I wish PFR’s sorting system for AV was cleaner to explain, but between the eye test and traditional statistics, it doesn’t take much to explain how well Trevathan played last season.
• Remember when Trevathan won the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week award in Week 2? That was fun. That game gave the Bears and their fans a sneak peak of how special that defense could be. Because on any given day, any of those players could have put a Player of the Week type of game. Losing Bryce Callahan and Adrian Amos will sting to an extent, but the Bears are still bringing back 9 of 11 starters and it’s not like they’re replacing two starters with inexperienced players. Maybe Ha Ha Clinton-Dix or Buster Skrine will benefit from playing along side an elite squad of defenders and make their own run at some hardware.
• Clinton-Dix’s deal ranks among the best that have been handed out in free agency to this point, writes Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. The timing wasn’t great for Clinton-Dix to hit free agency and land a long-term, big-money deal, but that won’t be the case if he can play to his potential and feed off his teammates on a star-studded defense.
• You can see why Justin Houston would have been a nice addition to Chicago’s collection of pass-rushers:

.@Colts @Chiefs @JHouston50 can ruin your play with his power. This ability to collapse the pocket of the edge is his specialty. It doesn’t always lead to sacks but every QB can feel his presence. The #Colts got better last week. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/LNIYezKsWx

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) March 24, 2019

• Houston would have really made the Bears defense a force, but with Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd already in tow, Chicago couldn’t match the playing time or salary Indianapolis could.
• Hang a star on the play made by ex-Bears cornerback De’Vaunte Bausby, who put this game on ice for The AAF’s San Antonio squad with a HUGE interception on a two-point attempt late in the fourth quarter:

💨💨💨@_BigBaus #TakeCommand⚔️ pic.twitter.com/fyMuFrRfJe

— San Antonio Commanders (@aafcommanders) March 24, 2019

• Speaking of The Alliance, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune travels to Memphis to catch up with Mike Singletary as he tries his hand as a head coach again for the up-start football league’s Memphis team:

I went to Memphis this week to talk with Mike Singletary about coaching in ⁦@TheAAF⁩.

Here’s the #Bears Hall of Famer on his quest to become a better coach, learning from failures and how he’ll work with Johnny Manziel. https://t.co/wSn3uGndbd

— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane) March 24, 2019

• It’s a heck of an opportunity for Singletary, whose NFL head-coaching career didn’t go as well as it could have. Sometimes coaches learn from their early-career mistakes and short-comings, so I hope Singletary – much like the players he coaches – can use this as a spring-board for bigger and better things down the line.
• Among the players Singletary will get his hands on is Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, whose football career has spiraled from the get-go. I’ve lost count of how many second chances this is for Manziel, but The Alliance is giving a former college standout a new lease on a football life:

This week, Memphis Express QB @JManziel2 opened up about his journey to The Alliance. pic.twitter.com/GyFiv2wNYs

— The Alliance (@TheAAF) March 23, 2019

• If you can’t get enough of bracket madness or Chicago football, the internet has you covered:

Things are already heating up between @LanceBriggs & @RobbieGould09 in the 2006 #ChiFootballMadness Region 👀

Vote for your favorites here: https://t.co/fGYtZIBtxb pic.twitter.com/HcyVHAmSpJ

— Bears Talk (@NBCSBears) March 21, 2019

Time for #GMFBPlayOffMadness! Vote below for your favorite 2018 play from the NFC North!

— GMFB (@gmfb) March 22, 2019

• Talk about oversight: Mitch Trubisky’s touchdown run against the Patriots was snubbed by the Good Morning Football committee. Maybe that run wins the NIT of this “Playoff Madness” but the longest 8-yard TD run should’ve been given an opportunity to play with the big boys. At minimum, it’s a missed opportunity by the committee.
• If Saturdays are a good day to catch up on podcasts, then Sundays where your schedule is pretty clear should be good, too. So with that in mind, I’ll probably check in on Laurence Holmes’ interview with Tom Thayer:

Saturdays are a good day to catch up on House of L. This week, Tom Thayer was was my guest on the podcast and it was pretty excellent. You should check it out: https://t.co/JQrFWrjJzp

— Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes) March 23, 2019