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- The perks of your favorite team winning a Thursday Night Football game: You get to celebrate with a Victory Friday, then circle back and do it again and call it a Victory Monday. How can you not love it?
- Is it time to call off the tank? An odd and unexpected set of circumstances has the Chicago Bears feeling like they’re on the periphery of a playoff spot. The combo platter of a Thursday Night Football win against the Commanders, a Packers loss to the Raiders on Monday Night Football, and news of Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson going on IR with a hamstring injury might change some perspectives among Bears fans. At a minimum, it should have us thinking differently about the next few weeks.
- After having a few days to think about it after Thursday’s win, here’s where I land: If the Bears win because Justin Fields is great, then I can vibe with it. Fields needs to be great in order to drag a bottom-10 defense to a victory — even against sub-par teams. The best-case scenario for the Bears (that doesn’t involve taking USC QB Caleb Williams first overall) is Fields balling out and proving he deserves an extended look. And if some wins come along the way as a result, then so be it.
- Meanwhile, the NFC North Tank Watch is on. The Bears (5.5% — which is up from 1.3% last week), Vikings (20.3%), and Packers (24.3%) all rank in the bottom half of NFL teams when it comes to ESPN’s FPI playoff odds projections. All three of those teams are in that hodgepodge of teams who are in the range of landing a top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But that could change if the Vikings decide to trade quarterback Kirk Cousins (and that’s if he decides to waive his no-trade clause). And the Packers could continue bottoming out if QB Jordan Love continues his fade. In short, these next four weeks are crucial and will go a long way toward shaping the future of this division.
- Jordan Love’s first two games: 29/52 (55.8%), 396 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT, 118.7 passer rating. Since then: 61/110 (55.5%), 687 yards, 2 TD, 6 INT, 57.7 rating. That Week 1 showing sure looks like an anomaly — and it has me mad all over again about the Bears laying an egg after coming out wholly unprepared in the season-opener … at home … against your biggest rival … in a potential statement game. It infuriates me to think about how the Bears coughed up 31 offensive points to that unit.
- Maybe re-watching this will make me feel better:
- It doesn’t. Because the reality is the Bears defense, as constructed, ain’t it. But at least I tried. Although, I’ll say this: I find it enjoyable thinking about Packers fans getting a taste of what it has felt like to be a fan of every other team in the division that hasn’t been blessed with decades of HOF-caliber QB play. Now who’s laughing!? This is how the other side lives!
- And let me be clear: I don’t want the Packers or Vikings to bottom out and end up with Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. That is a worst-case scenario to me. For me, the best-case scenario as a Bears fan is that Green Bay and Minnesota win enough games to be in the middle of the pack — which would put them far enough away from a spot to land a premier QB prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.
- This made me chuckle:
- I’m really glad Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus is looking into employing a senior defensive assistant. After watching the Raiders stifle the Packers’ offense, Coach Flus needs to be seeking answers to questions regarding how his defense made Jordan Love look like a future star. At a minimum, a new voice could offer some helpful solutions. The last thing this defense needs is a “yes man” on staff. So I’m hoping Eberflus doesn’t bring one in who parrots ideas and concepts that haven’t been working for this unit.
- For as bad as Eberflus’ defenses have been, at least they haven’t been “cover a top-5 wide receiver with an edge rusher” bad:
- If it feels like I’m picking on the Bears defense, it’s because I am. Let’s keep it real. When your general manager invests five Day 2 picks in two NFL Drafts, $60 million worth of new linebackers, and $20 million in new defensive ends over two offseasons, your defense needs to be better. Full stop. With that being said, Mark Potash (Sun-Times) underscores that Chicago’s offense still has much to prove.
- Kevin Fishbain (The Athletic) explores how Bears optimism could be on the rise if the likes of Justin Fields, D.J. Moore, and that much-maligned defense can find ways to build off a TNF win on the road against the Commanders.
- Happy Connor Bedard Day to all my friends who are celebrating such an occasion. Check out our pals at BN Blackhawks (here, on Twitter, and on Facebook) for more coverage of Chicago’s ice hockey savior.
- NBA rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama was dropping jaws in his first preseason game. Part of me is sharing this because I’m so interested in seeing his game develop. But there is also a part of me that wants to get the muscle memory down to type Wembanyama without having to think about it. Like Kwiatkoski … or Samardzija … or Iyiegbuniwe. Anyway, more on Webmanyama via our friends at BN Bulls.
- That Braves-Phillies finish was so wild that “WHAT AN ENDING” was trending on Twitter. More from MLB’s postseason from our friends at the OG BN site: