Lou Malnati’s, Phoenix
Cardinals at Bears Open Thread
Lou Malnati’s, Phoenix
I always like the Chicago Bears.
And 2021 is almost at its conclusion. Why harbor negative feelings?
This is the part of the game preview where I try to find an overarching theme for the contest. But Sunday is one tough tamale.
The Bears are too banged up on defense to find relevance there. (What even is this defense without Mack, Roquan and Hicks?)
Without Justin Fields playing – and he shouldn’t play until he’s 100% healthy – there’s little relevant happening on the offensive side of the ball. You want to get excited about Larry Borom and Darnell Mooney? That’s fine. But those two guys are going to be part of the program next season. Their next “important” game is in September.
So, what is worth watching? The score. The Bears have to keep this game close and competitive because if they don’t Soldier Field is going to a nightmare. The fans have had enough of the coach and they want blood. If the score gets out of hand in the second half, the only audible things on the telecast are going to be “Fire Nagy” chants. And those chants will be leading everyone’s game stories.
The Bears need to stay in this game and have a plausible chance to win in the fourth quarter. Will they?
There will be plenty of time for me to write thoroughly about what Stephen Sondheim’s life and career means to me. But the world is currently flooded with those types of remembrances. As time moves along, and there’s distance from his passing, I will spend some more time with this difficult topic. For now, I’m sharing ten songs that display his genius in this form I love – musical theatre. They are ranked because I like ranking things. But the rankings are meaningless.
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(10) Someone in a Tree, Pacific Overtures
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(09) Comedy Tonight, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
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(08) Losing My Mind, Follies
The jury is out on Justin Fields, and will remain out for the next season or so. But the Bears, and more specifically the folks who own the Bears, have been wildly impressed with the young signal caller – on and off the field – and believe the organization may have finally solved it’s most definitive, idiosyncratic dilemma. Said an individual close to ownership, “They know the situation is not ideal but he’s handling it with class.”
The debate currently raging (possibly too strong a word, but emotions are high) through the Halls of Halas is whether the acquisition of said signal caller is enough to warrant keeping the personnel man responsible for that acquisition in his job. As Ryan Pace prepares to make his case to the McCaskey family, a key piece of the argument currently resides on IR: Teven Jenkins.
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The Bears have until next Monday to decide whether to activate rookie offensive tackle Teven Jenkins from IR. He has continued to participate in practice as part of his 21-day window, which has included some contact. Overall, things have been positive.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) November 29, 2021
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After Sunday, the Bears have five games remaining. If Jenkins can get back on the field in 2021, even for the final 2-3 games, and show glimpses of premier left tackle play, Pace can argue his 2021 draft as potentially organization defining. (Few teams come out of a single draft with franchise players at both quarterback and left tackle.) Pace has made plenty of mistakes – Mitch and Matt predominantly – but the Bears believe in his leadership and also believe he’s improving in the job. Jenkins performing at a high level might give ownership that confidence that he’s capable of the next major task: building around Justin Fields.
The merits of that confidence would be, let’s just say, debatable. But as the head coach’s fate has become clear in recent weeks, the focus of ownership has shifted almost entirely to evaluating their GM. Jenkins playing, and playing well, could alter that evaluation.
The Vikings paid 84 million guaranteed dollars to get Kirk Cousins to try to take a snap from his RG #MINvsSF pic.twitter.com/zZ2B4Ldl4S
— Someone’s An Idiot (@SomeonesAnIdiot) November 29, 2021
Feels like the big-ticket Bears items have been thoroughly discussed. So today, DBB takes a look around the NFL. (I’ll be writing more about my idol, the legendary Stephen Sondheim, in this week’s game preview.)
[Note: This thread was written prior to Harbaugh and Michigan’s victory over Ohio State.]
The Bears have done things one way for a long time, allowing their GM to be the head of football operations.
But maybe it’s time to change that thinking.
Maybe it’s time to make the head coach the alpha at Halas Hall.
This is happening across the league. Belichick, of course, but also Sean Payton, Kyle Shanahan, Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, etc. Some of the more successful organizations are no longer led by a personnel man, but by a football coach.
My guy is Jim Harbaugh.
• 44-19-1 as an NFL HC.
• History of hiring great staffs (Roman, Fangio, etc.)
• Coached vs Fields, would understand his game.
• Will embrace power run game as base of offense.
• Thrived with Kaepernick; will utilize Fields’ legs effectively.
I don’t care about Harbaugh’s college career. College is about recruiting and every time I watch Michigan play they’ve got some awful thing at QB.
Did he win a title at Michigan? No. Did he once again win WAY more than he loses? Of course. He’s a great football coach.
And Harbaugh, while very Parcellsian in his ability to ruffle feathers & wear out his welcome, has a million friends in the NFL. Pairing him with great evaluator – Jeff Ireland, perhaps – would be easy.
Both Harbaugh & Ireland have told friends Chicago is their dream job.
Harbaugh would give the Bears a football face. He’d be the front man for the program. The buck would stop with him.
And the Bears would win.
BTW, Robert Quinn has 11 sacks this season! Theres still 6 games to go. What a turnaround year. #Bears
— Tony Daly (@Tony_Daly) November 26, 2021
There are only two possible outcomes for this game.
Outcome #1. The Bears win and nobody cares. (Maybe some young players flash and that will be exciting, but honestly, who cares?)
Outcome #2. The Bears lose and it becomes impossible for Matt Nagy to coach the team for the remainder of 2021. (Honestly, I’m not sure Nagy or Pace will still be employed Friday if this is the result Thursday. When I floated the scenario to someone in the building they responded with the simple, “Buckle up.”)
Three predictions:
Chicago Bears 20, Detroit Lions 16
Ingredients
