Justin Fields Dad will forever be a GOAT for this. pic.twitter.com/WJtqKAzuna

— Gifted (@G0dGiven_) November 21, 2022

Until we find out just who is playing this week, it is impossible to write a coherent game preview. So, there will be something up on the site tomorrow pending further information.

My good friend Steph Tracy has a cookie company. The cookies are remarkable. They are not only perfect gifts for the holiday season, but they are also the perfect holiday party bring. Let your clown friends bring cheap wine. You bring killer cookies.

Below are the two variety packs she does this time of year. But you don’t have to stick to what she lays out. She’ll mix and match as you see fit. My recommendations are the coquito, the chocolate gingerbread and the chocolate chunk with toffee. I’ll be sending that combination to several people this month.

If you would like to purchase these cookies, please send an email to cookierevolution@gmail.com by Monday, December 12th, and include any special shipping instructions and deadlines. She’ll even include a personalized note if you want.

Holiday Flavor Sampler 2022

Chocolate Gingerbread

A chewy gingerbread cookie made with molasses, cocoa, freshly grated ginger, spices and semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

Cranberry Streusel

The tartness of fresh cranberries balanced by the brown sugar sweetness of a streusel topping.

“Best of the Year” 2022 Gift Collection

$35 plus shipping

Two pounds (25 cookies) of the most popular Cookie Revolution recipes of the past year.  This collection includes five cookies of each variety:

Chocolate Chunk with Toffee

An addictive and crispy cookie packed with chocolate chunks and homemade toffee pieces.

Salt ‘n’ Pepper Peanut Butter

Spicy peanut butter cookie topped with sea salt.  Please specify if you would like mild or hot. Also available gluten free.

Coconut Pineapple

Rich homemade coconut crunch meets tangy pineapple and tamarind for a unique tropical treat.

Chocolate Gingerbread with Chocolate Chunks

A chewy and spicy gingerbread cookie made with molasses, cocoa, freshly grated ginger, spices and semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

The Bar Snack

Peanuts. Pretzels. Potato chips. M&Ms. It’s everything you ever wanted to eat with a beer, stuffed into a cookie.

To see photos of the cookies and read more, you can visit her site here.

Quarter One

• Defense looked noncompetitive on the opening drive. Wide open Jets all over the field.
• Offense moved it well in response, with Trevor Siemian’s accuracy issues the only thing keeping them out of the endzone. When you have Chase Claypool’s size advantage in the end zone, the ball must be elevated. (Siemian also missed throw to Kmet earlier on the drive.)
• Claypool’s integration into the offense is happening slowly, but this quarter showed the advantages of having a receiving threat that can separate from defenders and win 50/50 balls.
• If Velus Jones is only going to run jet sweeps, don’t be surprised when defenses key on it. The Jets knew what play was coming as soon as Jones walked onto the field.
• Very solid quarter for Siemian overall, however. You want your backup quarterback to be a stabilizing force. He’s unlikely to win games but you don’t want him to lose them. Siemian looked the part in the first quarterback.

Quarter Two

• What a catch by Byron Pringle for the touchdown. Blanketed in coverage. Poor throw. But Pringle went and got the football.
• Bears simply can’t get off the field on third downs and the reason is their total lack of pass rush. With the Bears likely to find themselves in the top five or six picks in the draft, it won’t be a reach to seem them look at the edge over wide receiver.
• Jets fumble the field goal attempt, and it leads to a lengthy Benny Hill sketch. The rain is going to be a factor the remainder of the afternoon as a storm is approaching the NYC area. (I know because I just had to turn the lights on in my living room. That’s how dark it’s gotten outside.)
• Siemian trying to sneak the ball off tackle is one of the silliest things you’ll see in an NFL game. After watching Justin Fields over the last month, Siemian looks like he’s operating in slow motion at times.
• Bears let an interception go through their hands and lose Eddie Jackson to a non-contact injury on the same play. Brutal moment. Bears will now play the rest of this game with backups at all over their secondary.
• Joe Davis: “This is a big drive for the Bears.” Is it? Not a single moment of this game feels “big” for the Bears.

Bears down 17-10 at the half. And the difference on offense has been the lack of explosive possibilities. Fields presents a nightmare for opposing for defenses to defend. With Siemian, the game is right in front of them. That’s why the Bears only have 10 points.

Read More …

Return to the swamp,

these New Jersey Meadowlands.

Don’t eat the plankton!

Justin Fields isn’t playing, and the defense has a bit of Mel Tucker in it these days. So…

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears this Week?

I.

Always.

Like.

THE.

Chicago.

Bears.

A Text with Two Jets Fans

Game Prediction

• Mike White is playing for the Jets. I have no idea if Justin Fields is playing for the Bears. How is a prediction even possible?

New York Jets 20, Chicago Bears 10

With today being a massive travel day, DBB will take a brief two-day movie sabbatical and return Friday with the game preview and prediction for Bears at Jets. (There’s no preview to write before we have an injury status update.)

I don’t think what follows required much of a preamble. If you like Christmas movies, here is a guide to watching one every single day until Christmas, with a few Thanksgiving affairs to kickstart the series.  A few notes:

• I do not like “The Grinch” story in almost any of its forms.
• I tried to make the list a nice mix of modern and classic, but that meant cutting a film like Christmas in Connecticut (Peter Godfrey, 1945) in favor of some of the younger options.
• I find Charlie Brown, generally, to be a sourpuss bore.
• I wanted to include Best Little Whorehouse in Texas because it includes my favorite Christmas song, “Hard Candy Christmas.” But the movie is terrible and has nothing to do with Christmas. So just go listen to that song.

November 23rd: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (John Hughes, 1987)

November 24th (Thanksgiving): Mouse on the Mayflower (Rankin & Bass, 1968)

• A holiday tradition established by Reverend Dave and me over the past several years. Sure, it’s about a mouse taking the Mayflower to the new world. But it’s also so much worse than that.

November 25th: Home for the Holidays (Jodie Foster, 1995)

November 26th: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Jeremiah Chechik, 1989)

• The perfect transitional film between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

November 27th: The Muppet Christmas Carol (Brian Henson, 1992)

• Try to find the original version, including the song When Love is Gone.

November 28th: Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 1990)

November 29th: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Chris Columbus, 1992)

• Not only an insane Christmas movie; one of the most insane movies ever made.

November 30th: White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954), Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)

• This is a double feature of what I call “Christmas-adjacent films.” They are both put over the top by their music. (If you don’t understand what I mean by that, pay close attention to the Die Hard score next time you watch the film.)

November 31st: It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)

• It is a lesser Christmas movie and a lesser Capra offering, but it has achieved untouchable status with a certain generation, so it is the only film I begrudgingly included on this list.

December 1st: A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2011)

Read More …

Again, there just isn’t much to cover right now when it comes to the Chicago Bears. So, let’s take a look around the league and see what’s cooking elsewhere.

• The Jets are committing a cardinal sin in the NFL. This is a wide-open league, and they might have the best defense going. They also have talent at the skill positions. But they are throwing 2022 away by starting Zach Wilson, a player who simply isn’t up to the ability level of his teammates. This divide boiled over in their locker room Sunday. It will continue.
• There was so much talk about the Minnesota victory over Buffalo, but it was one of the most ridiculous, fluky wins you’ll ever see. It required an all-time circus catch on fourth-and-forever and the opposing quarterback to fumble a snap while trying to ice the clock. But winning changes the narrative and the narrative became “Vikings are contenders.” After the Cowboys embarrassed them in Minneapolis, one assumes that narrative will change. (And as Cousin Sal pointed out on the Bill Simmons pod, the Vikings are 8-2 with a NEGATIVE point differential. Not good.)
• I give Brian Daboll a ton of credit for getting the Giants to 7-3. But they’re going to be 7-4 after Thursday, with a difficult stretch of games ahead to finish the season. The playoffs are by no means a certainty. With teams now selling out to stop Saquon Barkley, these final six regular season games are effectively an audition for Daniel Jones. If he’s going to be a starting QB in the league next year, he’s going to need to earn that in the coming weeks.
• Why is anyone surprise by the decline of the Los Angeles Rams? Their organizational model is completely unsustainable. Is it possible to give up all your draft picks and over-max your cap to win a singular title? Yes. They proved that. But without a young, star QB there is no way that model keeps you in contention over a multi-year period. The question facing the Rams now is how long will it take for them to get back above water?
• What a terrific slate of Thanksgiving games for once! So much drama!
  • Bills at Lions could be a shootout, with the Lions a win away from making a contention argument and the Bills a loss away from a playoff run entirely on the road.
  • There are not many regular season performances that have me saying, “That looks like a championship team.” But Dallas did that Sunday. The Cowboys of recent vintage would stumble with the Giants on Thanksgiving and spoil the credit they’ve accrued. I don’t think this team will.
  • Who are the Patriots? Who are the Vikings? I couldn’t answer either question, but I think this game Thursday night should move us closer to answers. If the Pats win, they’re going to be in a playoff race for the remainder of the season. If the Vikings win, the NFC North is done and dusted, and it’ll be about seeding for them moving forward.

It is a fascinating season. And the Bears will face contenders just about every week the rest of the way.

The Bears are at a very interesting point in their organizational development. The wins and losses simply don’t matter. And the quarterback has displayed he’s capable of being one of the most dynamic, exciting players in the sport. So, where exactly are we supposed to focus our attention? Here are a few thoughts.

• Justin Fields is banged up and the Bears should consider putting him on ice next week. The game doesn’t matter for the Bears. Get Fields in the best shape possible for the final stretch of the year. If that means missing a few weeks, so be it.
• Jack Sanborn is the answer for the Bears at inside linebacker. Take the Roquan Smith savings and build up these lines this spring.
• Luke Getsy has been calling the offense that best suits the personnel, specifically the offensive line. But the team can’t go the rest of the season slow-playing Chase Claypool into the offense or ignoring what Velus Jones can potentially provide. This coaching staff has to maximize the developmental potential of these coming games and get these guys involved.
• Seems that Cairo Santos has a pretty definitive range as a kicker. He maxes out at 55 yards. Not an inch more.
• It is an understandable storyline, but I don’t make much of the Bears not winning these games late. The Bears can’t line up and throw the ball when the opposition know they have to. They don’t pass block well and their receivers don’t separate. Most of the explosive plays this offense produces are a direct result of the athleticism of the quarterback. And that is difficult to utilize with a minute left on the clock.
• The Bears had several major breakdowns on the offensive line in this game. Not plays where guys were beaten but plays where guards didn’t even attempt to block the pass rusher in front of them. Is this a system thing? If so, it might be time to dramatically simplify things upfront.

I never direct the comments section, but I do have a request. Below, I want you to comment on how you think we should approach these games for the remainder of the season. Start each with APPROACH so I can easily locate the on-message comments.