Mister Eberflus,
chills out in his jacuzzi.
Glass of red, in-hand.
Rookie of the year.
People say it is Jayden’s.
Caleb says, “Hold up.”
Hope in Chicago.
An uncommon emotion.
It ain’t leaving town.
Tomorrow: Predictions for the weekend’s bye week action.
The Bears are good. But what else is happening around the NFL?
Before the season, I broke up the Bears schedule into three distinct segments:
Segment one was a success. Could the Bears have beaten both the Texans and the Colts? Absolutely. But they also could have lost to the Titans and Rams. 4-2 is a fair representation of the performance we’ve seen from this team over the first six weeks of the season, and 4-2 gives the Bears an opportunity to be playing knockout football in January.
The next evaluative moment in this season will come at the end of Sunday, November 10th. (For those of you not on Twitter, I’ll be presenting one of my favorite films, Sweet Smell of Success, at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY that morning.) After these next three games, the Bears will have played (essentially) half their schedule, nine games, and will be able to establish clear win/loss goals for the second and far more difficult half of their schedule.
So, how do these matchups look?
Sunday 10/27 – @ Washington Commanders
General feeling: Toss-up.
The Commanders have been one of the real surprises of the 2024 season, mostly due to their rookie quarterback’s inspiring play. (The Bears fans on Twitter that seem to resent the success of Jayden Daniels need to grow up.) But Washington still doesn’t play much defense and, with two weeks to prepare, the Bears should be expected to (at worst) make this a shootout.
[Side note: I will be in attendance for this game, which essentially guarantees something abnormal will take place.]
Sunday 11/3 (NYC Marathon Sunday!) – @ Arizona Cardinals
General feeling: Lean Bears.
Arizona is a feisty team, but they are awful defensively, and that building in the desert will be at least half transplants from Chicago.
The Bears are 4-2. And as they head into their bye week, one thing is certainly clear: a season, a real season, is possible.
Not that entering the bye week at .50o would have precluded the Bears from having a strong finish to this campaign and fighting for a postseason berth. It would not have, especially with the way their rookie quarterback is playing. But 4-2 puts the team on the front foot, places them squarely in the playoff conversation, and gives them a significant amount of momentum as they try and get their secondary healthy over this next fortnight.
What is important for the team right now?
The stage has been set. Now, the play’s the thing.
My brother once bought me a Rex Grossman Florida Gators jersey, and when Rex was the quarterback of the Chicago Bears, we would hang that jersey in the bar at Josie Woods. Whenever Rex would throw a touchdown pass, I would (drunkenly) shout “WHO WANTS TO GET REXED?!?!?” This was followed by my removing the dank garment from the wall and tossing it over the head of an unwitting bystander to the applause of the celebratory horde. There was an irony to that ritual. I knew Rex Grossman wasn’t a great quarterback and was fairly certain he would never be a great quarterback. But he was our quarterback in that moment and that was all that mattered. I would have done the same for any of ’em.
Miller and Matthews.
Kyle Orton.
Kordell Stewart.
Jay Cutler.
Glennon and Dalton.
Mitch Trubisky.
Justin Fields.
The parade of young men who have attempted to fill this team’s quarterbacking void is a murderer’s row of mediocrity (or worse). It seemed clear to me, as I live out my 43rd year on the planet earth and my 20th year writing about the Chicago Bears, that a franchise quarterback was not something I would ever experience. I had submitted my letter of resignation to my boss at Hope, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Belief Enterprises. The framed pictures of Sarah, Bear and Beatrix that had adorned my office desk were now neatly placed into a cardboard box, as I awaited security’s escort to the parking lot.
But then I woke up on Sunday morning, October 13th, 2024, and everything changed.
SONY DSC
These were pretty damn good a week ago. Let’s see if we can keep it going.
Chicago Bears 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 24
I.
Always.
Like.
THE.
Chicago.
Bears.
From commenter “Please bear in mine” and I’m not sure I totally understand it but rolling with it anyway.
Ah, competition.
Chasing luck, Winter dance comes,
Mornings, fleeting youth.
His name is Trevor.
Seems a very British name.
Well, ‘allo Trevor!
Along Edgware Road,
Montez mangias on shawarma.
Both white and red sauce.
(Note: Shawarma can be a three-syllable word, but I have never used more than two, so it’s writing in my colloquial.)
A bear in London,
is no werewolf of London.
Still, be wary, Jim.
Through five games, Caleb Williams:
So here is my poll question for the comments section below: what are fair seasonal expectations for Caleb Williams? Give me your answers in HAIKU FORM. Best response gets into this week’s game preview.
