The Grand Finale, Playoff Path, Jags Plan, Ted Phillips’ Time is Ending, and Other Bears Bullets

Jan 08, 2023

We’ve finally hit Week 18. And because my brain is in a musical place today, I’ve been thinking of great songs that wrap up albums. “Last Call” (from Kanye West’s College Dropout album) and “Grand Finale” (via Lil’ Jon’s Crunk Juice classic) come to mind for me. Brand New’s “Play Crack the Sky” is a song I’m sure my girlfriend would’ve brought up for the discussion because I know how much she loved that band (and it’s a song that came up on a list of greatest album-closing songs list). I’ll browse through the rest of the list and deal with my emotions later. We’ve got football to discuss.

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened is a thing I’ve been trying to tell myself a lot over the last few days. Not necessarily because the Bears’ 2022 season is coming to a close. But also … it’s a quote fitting for that situation, too. Now, I don’t think folks were weeping over this Bears team. However, the pain of going through another 10+ loss season hits differently for fans. It’ll be over soon. And we’ll be better for having gone through this rough ride together. Thanks for being here for me, friends.

This is a morning look at what’s at stake in Week 18 in terms of the playoff picture:

There is one Wild Card up for grabs in each conference and 3 teams in play for it:

NFC:

Packers: Win

Lions: Win + Seahawks loss

Seahawks: Win + Packers loss

AFC:

Patriots: Win OR Dolphins + Steelers loss

Dolphins: Win + Patriots loss

Steelers: Win + Patriots/Dolphins loss— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 8, 2023

Here’s hoping the Bears are in this conversation next year.

How about a source of optimism for next year?

Congrats to @Jaguars, from last place to AFC South champs! At least one @NFL team has won division the season after finishing last or tied for last in an incredible 18 of the past 20 seasons— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) January 8, 2023

Think about where the Jaguars were at this time last year. This was a 3-14 team that had instability in the front office, a messy ending to their head coach’s run, and a quarterback in Trevor Lawrence who didn’t play like someone who was worthy of being the first overall pick. What a difference a year makes. Hiring the right coach (Doug Pederson), deploying their oodles of cap space to fill needs throughout the roster, and using draft capital to supplement the squad made a world of difference for the Jags. And look at them now! Playoff bound as division champs. There is your inspiration, Bears fans.

And to think, they didn’t even have to learn how to win last year!

TL;DR — Bears got next, baby!

It’s wild to think about how the Jags really mucked up the receiver market this past offseason with their overpays. And yet, those moves paid off. Christian Kirk put up his best single-season stats in receiving yards (1,108), catches (84), and touchdowns (8). Zay Jones had a glow-up year with career highs in receptions (82), yards (823), and touchdowns (5). Evan Engram hauled in 73 passes for 766 yards and four scores looking like the tight end the Giants were wanting him to be all those years. Who’s to say the Bears can’t do the same this offseason? The blueprint is there for GM Ryan Poles. I hope he uses it.

In hindsight, it blows my mind to think about how the Jaguars spent $59 million on Kirk, Jones, and Engram only to have PFF rank Jacksonville’s group of receivers on the same tier as the Bears. When we were discussing it at the time, my big takeaway was that the Jags spending money like mad to end up thrown in with Bears was a reminder that activity doesn’t equal progress. Well, after the chips fell the Jaguars’ activity turned into progress. I was wrong. But learning from this process can be valuable for all of us. So perhaps we should keep in mind that perception isn’t always reality — especially when games haven’t even been played. This will be a good perspective to have if (when?) the Bears go hog wild in free agency and pundits aren’t fond of what they do.

As for the game the Bears are playing today, I doubt they’ll have rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon when they take the field. The team added “illness” to Gordon’s injury designation (which also includes a groin issue) and remains questionable. With that being said, I found it notable when the team announced defensive backs Adrian Colbert and Greg Stroman Jr. were flexed onto the active roster from the practice squad. I’m taking it as a sign that Gordon is sitting out today. And if that is the case, then I am 100 percent cool with that decision. Groin issues are nothing to play with and risking further injury to that region in Week 18 would be foolish.

I can see this interaction so clearly that I might as well have been there in the first place:

I had a work function tonight and talked with someone who's a Bears fan that had no idea Ted Phillips was retiring after going on a tirade about him.

This was essentially the interaction we had. Thought of this clip immediately and had to make it a meme. pic.twitter.com/OaSLWT6sey— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) January 8, 2023

ICMYI: Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren is reportedly a “strong candidate” to succeed Ted Phillips as the Chicago Bears’ president. This is something I imagine we’ll be discussing with more frequency once we flip the calendar to Monday.

Some folks aren’t going to like reading this, but that outlandish play in the Chiefs-Raiders game had Matt Nagy’s fingerprints all over it:

So this just happened? 😂

📺: #KCvsLV on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/nMh7vXuCB4 pic.twitter.com/rbasxmK9yJ
— NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2023

Coming out of a spinning huddle, the Chiefs aligned in a wildcat formation, setting up a screen pass to Kadarius Toney with a blocking advantage.

Toney found the end zone on the play, however, the TD was called back due to a holding call.#KCvsLV | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/YmfAndpPZ6— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 7, 2023

Oh, sure. Andy Reid is going to get all the credit. But come on! You’re going to tell me the guy who had plays called Freezer Left and Oompa Loompa, was cooking up something called A**-Kickin’ Chicken to honor his alma mater, and unleashed Santa’s Sleigh during Christmas time wasn’t behind this:

Andy Reid said they ran this play with “Reindeer personnel.” https://t.co/fCoE3X9WQE
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) January 8, 2023

Did you see Damar Hamlin share his first social media posts since his collapse on MNF last week? Pro Football Talk shared the NFL’s plans for all 32 teams to honor Hamlin in Week 18. That there is light at the end of this dark tunnel of a story warms my heart. Not everyone gets that opportunity. I’m glad that Hamlin, his friends, family, teammates, fans, and well-wishers will get it.

This is the right thing to do:

Damar Hamlin was set to earn $825K in 2022. His split rate if he's on Injured Reserve is $455K. Placed on IR this week, that's a difference of $20,555.56. Buffalo worked it out so he'll receive the whole thing, even though he's not on the active roster. https://t.co/W1F2ZiLdCd— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 8, 2023

But also: The NFL should do this for all of its players. This is a nice public relations win for the NFL. But a real win would be to do right by all of the injured players.

This is a nice look, guys:

The @Pitt_FB alumni showing #LoveForDamar pic.twitter.com/AAsmGnwE0A
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 8, 2023

Are the Bulls back? Another win last night (this time against Lauri Markkanen’s Jazz) has me thinking this thing is moving in the right direction:

Zach LaVine: 36pts (12-21 FG, 6-12 3PT)

DeMar DeRozan: 35pts (13-22 FG, 9-10 FT)

Reminder: One of the best scoring duos in the NBA … pic.twitter.com/gcgJ53Capw— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) January 8, 2023

It’s the little things!

Thanks to Matt Duffy and Tommy La Stella, Ian Happ saw a vision specialist (4-5 times) in Cali before the 2022 season.

Then he started vision training before and during every game this season.

Then this happened:

Pre-2022: 30.8 K%
2022: 23.2 K%https://t.co/j8PT8NoJOk pic.twitter.com/GXvCh4rL1z— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) January 7, 2023

Maybe NFL refs can visit the same vision specialist Ian Happ was seeing.

written by

Luis C. Medina

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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