NEWSLETTER
I wanted to watch Sweet Home Alabama for background noise during my morning working hours. But because no one is streaming it right now, I had to get up from my seat, go over to the cabinet, find the movie, load it into the DVD player, and press play. That’s a lot of work compared to the usual alternative. Today’s young whipper-snappers have it easy.
• Super Bowl LV features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who get to play in their home stadium after winning three consecutive road playoff games. Their opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs, who happen to be the defending Super Bowl champions. Both teams feature quarterbacks the Bears could’ve landed, but didn’t. And it got me thinking about this passage I wrote in December 2019:
At a higher level, Chicago’s front office needs to re-evaluate their entire quarterbacking process. All of it. Every crevice, nook, and cranny. It needs to be an all-encompassing deep dive into the position. From top to bottom. This needs to be a complete tear-down and rebuild of the position group. Everything from the players, coaches, scouts, evaluation techniques, processes, language … everything. Any part that led the Bears to where they are today with this quarterback situation needs to be under the microscope, put through the wringer, picked apart, analyzed, and evaluated.
• We saw the out-sized importance of getting it right at quarterback play out on Sunday. Not in just the winning quarterbacks, but also the ones who landed on the losing side of the ledger. Consistent quarterback play gets your team to the tournament year after year. Great quarterback play wins games in the tournament. Steady and consistent play at a high level gets your team to the Super Bowl. A good defense is a nice compliment. Having a running game that can ease the load and ice a game helps matters, too. But if your team isn’t building around a quarterback in this modern era of football, then they’re not doing it right. So with that being said, I hope the Bears re-evaluate everything they think about the quarterback position, scrap their previous system, move forward, and find their own leader.
• One of my favorite lessons I learned in journalism is that there’s always a local connection to a national story. And when it comes to Super Bowl LV, there are Bears connections aplenty. The Chiefs have Special Teams Coach Dave Toub (2004-12) and Offensive Line Coach Andy Heck 1994-98) on Andy Reid’s coaching staff. They also have offensive linemen Bryan Witzmann (2018) and Patrick Omameh (2015) are on the practice squad. Former Bears reserve lineman Ted Larsen (2019) is on the Bucs. As is former Bears Special Teams Coach Keith Armstrong (1997-2000). Remember, friends: There’s always a local angle
• Coaching matters. Yes, players win games. But when coaches don’t put their players in the best position to be successful, the results aren’t good. There were several examples of coaches settling for field goals in situations that begged for teams to go for touchdowns. It might not have mattered at the end of the day for Buffalo, as Kansas City is a juggernaut. But the Packers definitely should’ve gone for the touchdown late in the fourth instead of settling for a field goal. Nevertheless, enjoy your offseason, you stinkin’ Cheesedoodles.
• Coaching matters, pt. II: I love when Andy Reid gives players a second chance immediately after they goof up. Mecole Hardman’s muffed punt return would’ve landed him in the doghouse of most coaches. Instead, Reid was getting him back in the action immediately. A short pass here, a toss play there, and suddenly the second-year contributor has his head back in the game and is making plays. Good coaching is having faith in your players. Watching them reward your faith with excellence on the field is the cherry on top.
• I’d love to see Darnell Mooney get a chance to run this play:
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1353501266610065408
• The action, misdirection, and execution fo this play is *chef’s kiss* good:
Well, that’s one way to use a tight end
( 📹: @NFL ) pic.twitter.com/FYMjeNHLOx
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 24, 2021
• The George S. Halas trophy (1) used to look cooler and (2) always looks great when the Bears are hoisting it:
Yearly reminder that the George Halas trophy used to look WAY cooler pic.twitter.com/wnhiRVLDo3
— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) January 24, 2021
• An old friend is calling it a career:
— Greg Olsen (@gregolsen88) January 24, 2021
Greg Olsen was an underrated stud.
All-time TE ranks:
742 Receptions (5th)
8,683 Rec Yards (6th)
60 Rec TD (t-9th) pic.twitter.com/Sq0leP5CZy— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) January 24, 2021
• It’s almost as if there’s a reason Mike Martz is no longer coaching in the NFL.
• Eli has been absolutely killing it on Twitter lately:
Just two one-time NFC Champs pic.twitter.com/R6qrWSGq7I
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) January 24, 2021
• Give him a follow, then check out his Bulls coverage.
