Happy 1989 (TV) eve to all who celebrate.
In 1989, Chicago Bears running back Neal Anderson set career bests in rushing yards (1,275) and attempts (274) while adding 11 rushing scores (and 4 more as a pass-catcher for good measure). Anderson is best known as The Guy who followed The G.O.A.T. (Walter Payton), but was more than just that. A four-time Pro Bowl rusher had three seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 10+ touchdowns. He was underrated as heck.
Losing the home opener against Oklahoma City wasn’t enough for the Bulls. They also had to throw down with a players-only meeting after just one game. It’s giving Bears-Packers Week 1 postgame vibes:
I’ll say this for Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus: The Bears haven’t completely fallen off a cliff. This hasn’t turned into the Marc Trestmam era free-for-all that happened in 2014. It isn’t much, but it counts as an achievement of sorts in my book. After seeing how easily that thing fell apart, I know better than to take it for granted when a coach can hold it together during tough times. To that end, Adam Jahns (The Athletic) has a piece on how Eberflus has guided the team through early-season adversity that I think is worth your time.
Winning two of three games will help cool the talk of being the first-ever in-season firing of a Bears head coach. But if all else fails, I think Coach Eberflus could parlay his time in Chicago into a defensive coordinator gig down the line:
So … what’s behind the defensive changes? Safety Jaquan Brisker explains (via 670 The Score):
“Trusting each other, playing with each other even more, with guys coming back from injury or whatever. So, keep building that chemistry. Great play calls, balanced play calls, whether we’re being aggressive, whether we’re staying in zone. We’re playing more man also. Just flying around.
“Coach Flus has done a great job with the play calls and putting us in a lot of great positions, so got to give credit to him. Which is very huge for us. Guys are getting turnovers and flying around.”
There is no denying that Chicago’s defense has been undergoing a transformation since Eberflus took over the play-calling. So give him credit for that. I shudder to think about how things would look without the changes Eberflus made after he took over for Alan Williams after the defensive coordinator’s surprise resignation. Sure, things were off to a slow start against the Bucs. And facing the Chiefs was already going to be like running into a buzzsaw (even before they played inspired ball in what turned out to be the Taylor Swift Game). However, the arrow is pointing up for the Bears defense right now. Impressive considering that the late-game collapse against the Broncos is baked into this discussion.
For the record: I still don’t like building a defense from back-to-front. But I like the young pieces the Bears have put around veterans Eddie Jackson and Jaylon Johnson. Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Jaquan Brisker, and Terell Smith really round out the secondary. However, in order to build a fully armed and operational defense, Chicago needs to get (at least) one butt-kicking pass-rusher. I don’t care if it is a guy on the interior or off the edge. Go get ’em.
You’d think this type of performance would get you NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors…
… but it didn’t. Shows what I know.
Let’s add Jason Lieser (Sun-Times) to the list of folks who take the sensible stance that extending cornerback Jaylon Johnson would be a good idea.
Among the many tidbits in Dan Widener’s latest at the Trib is a factoid that took me by surprise. I didn’t realize that JJ’s pick-six was the Bears’ first defensive touchdown since Week 9 of the 2021 season. That score was a DeAndre Houston-Carson fumble return touchdown against the Steelers on Monday Night Football. In fairness, it was easy to lose that one in the weeds when the Cassius Marsh stuff and what looked to be Justin Fields’ coming-out party were top of mind.
Some love for the big uglies up front on the defensive side of things: They’re far better against the run this year than they were last year. That front seven with all those fresh faces deserves a fist bump:
The Bears are donating items to the Greater Chicago Food Depository for every sack the defense collects. So far, the Bears have 10 sacks, which brings the donation total to 10,000 items. I’ve never wanted the Bears to run up the sack total more than I do now. Get more sacks, please! It’s for the good of the community!
The good news is that lefty Yuki Matsui is leaving Japan to explore MLB free agency. And the Cubs reportedly have interest in the southpaw. But the bad news from Brett at BN is that the St. Louis Cardinals might be the Cubs’ biggest competition. After finishing dead last in the NL Central last year, the Cards need all the help they can get. But my preference is for them to not get said help this year. Let them keep losing. After all, some of those fans need the humbling experience and character-building that losing brings.
Tab writes about the changes that are on the brink of coming to the NHL Draft:
NEWSLETTER
