I will not do a rapid fire this week because it’s 5:39 AM in Paris as I post this. But I will have a game preview (with notes on this game) for Wednesday and Andrew will be live soon enough. The Bears are good. Be excited.

Maybe my favorite live Chicago Bears experience.

Game Prediction

• Both teams abandon their run games early. These are two of the three best run defenses in the game and neither team has been successful running it themselves. (Chicago’s stats are skewed by Trubisky’s gaudy numbers on the ground, mostly accumulated on broken down plays.) This is a game that will be won through the air and these two passing attacks are pretty evenly matched.
• Minnesota will do everything possible to keep Kirk Cousins clean and that means the quick passing game. Tackling will be the key for the Bears secondary because if they tackle well it’ll force the Vikings to execute long drives to score points. The longer the drive, the greater turnover potential. And this defense is turning folks over like its the mid-aughts.
• This game feels like a close one. And close ones often come down to special teams. Right now there’s no way Matt Nagy can send Cody Parkey onto the field and expect a positive result. Will that alter how he calls the game? Doubtful. But it should. The Bears may need to be over-aggressive at big moments to protect their awful kicker.
• One of these quarterbacks is going to throw a game-deciding interception. And I think it’s going to be Cousins.

Chicago Bears 26

Minnesota Vikings 23

The Game Haiku

The lights, they shine bright

On Mitch. On Matt. On these Bears.

In the light is truth.

Tomorrow, the game prediction!

I’m traveling on the continent this week so my content will be abbreviated. 

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears this Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears…

…and I better like them because the game won’t kick-off in Paris until 2:30 AM. And I will be watching.

Why The Bears Will Win

• The Bears are averaging 34.33 points over their last six games. Now, put your phone down or step away from the computer for a second. Take a breath. And read that sentence again. Yep, the Chicago f’n Bears are a point-scoring juggernaut since Week 4. Hard to imagine this group not scoring a bunch of points, no matter the opponent.
• Bullies at Home. Bears have played five times at Soldier Field and only lost to Tom Brady’s Patriots. (And even with a one-legged Khalil Mack and two special teams scores, the Bears found themselves a yard from overtime.) Their average margin of victory at home has been 17.75 points, with only the Seahawks finishing within one score after a garbage time touchdown. These are dominant home statistics. And great teams dominate at home.
• Khalil Mack. When a team gives up two first-round selections for a player, as the Bears did for Mack, expectations rise in the big moments. And nothing the star pass rusher has done this season has curbed those expectations. Minnesota is a team that fumbles the football (8 on the season) and Mack’s ability to get the football on the ground is rare. The only player of Mack’s pedigree the Vikings have faced is Aaron Donald – and they had no answers for Donald. Will they have answers for Mack? Are there any answers for Mack?

Why They Won’t

• This is the biggest game Mitch Trubisky has ever played. This is the biggest game Matt Nagy has ever coached. And just about the entirety of the other sideline is seasoned. Chicago’s coach and quarterback may respond brilliantly to the intensity and pressure of the moment but that is a complete uncertainty at this point. The moment won’t get to Mike Zimmer’s Vikings. They’ve played far bigger games.

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Facing a third-and-four, the Bears young quarterback had nowhere to go.

Consecutive touchdown drives and a day full of special teams mistakes put the Bears in a curious position with just about six minutes to go.

If they don’t get the first down, the Lions get the ball back with about five minutes left in the game – plenty of time for Matthew Stafford to orchestrate two touchdown drives.

Detroit rushed four and had former first round pick Jarrad Davis spying Money Mitch. He didn’t have anywhere to go.

Then he made something happen.

Trubisky tucked the ball and moved slightly to his left, just enough to make Davis move. Once Davis reacted, Trubisky jetted off to his right into a open space. He picked up the first down then slid for a gain of eight.

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AP Photo (Edited) / Nam Y. Huh

It felt way closer than it ever was, this Bears v. Lions game. And there was one reason for that. Rapid fire is coming!

• Cody Parkey doinking four kicks – two field goals and two extra points – was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in football. And while it is somewhat funny in a game the Bears dominated, the team must know there is ZERO chance Parkey can make a big kick in a big spot down the stretch. Didn’t cost them Sunday. It will cost them down the road.

Matt Nagy on if the #Bears will look at other kickers this week: “Oh no. There’s zero chance of that.”

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) November 11, 2018

• Tweet above should be alarming to fans. The Bears should have kickers in this week. Nagy doesn’t do anybody on this roster any favors with blind loyalty. Parkey has been terrible. Why would you not look to improve the position?
• Mitch Trubisky spent the week hearing he wasn’t the answer at quarterback. Then he delivered a masterpiece. What’s the criticism going to be now? It’s only the Lions? The same Lions that held Tom Brady to 133 yards? Trubisky’s numbers don’t lie. He’s going to be a top quarterback.
• Anthony Miller has to know you can’t swat the football out of bounds. Oh, and he’s gonna be really good.

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On this episode of DaBearsPod:

• (0:17) Jeff encourages Bears fans to “wake the fuck up” and realize how a Mike Lombardi operates. Also, you know, enjoy all this!!
• (5:35) Dave Burkett of the Detroit Free Press on his posture requirements from Matt Patricia, where Lions currently stand in their “rebuild” process & much more.
• (19:04) Reverend Dave on dodging bricks in Serbia.

Detroit has for years been a difficult team to root against. They’ve sort of been lovable losers. But then…they hired…this prick.

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears…

…and it’s time for this team to play like they are top of the NFC North table. That means burying the Lions at home. Thanksgiving, in their building, is always a difficult game. This is at Soldier Field, with Detroit coming off two miserable performances. Good teams don’t lose this game. Hell, mediocre teams don’t lose this game either.

The Game Sonnet

In football exists a team called ‘da Bears

Who play beside the greatest of great lakes

Those who do not love them are hapless squares

Mindless joy killers in sea of flakes

Their quarterback is a vigorous stag

Born in an Ohio town called Mentor

He’s more than half human and no part nag

But he plays with the zeal of a centaur

Cometh the Lions to challenge these Bears

Their ill-bearded, unkempt leader in tow

Sweet, sweet victory will never be theirs

One must wonder how it is they don’t know

Oh! To be a fan of the pride and joy

Serving with grace the folk of Illinois

Why the Bears Will Win…

• When Dave Birkett of the Free-Press can write a paragraph like this, you know things are not going well: “Of the Vikings’ 10 sacks Sunday, I’d attribute five of them to poor play on the offensive line. Two of the remaining five sacks were coverage sacks, an eighth was due to a mix-up by a Lions wide receiver, the ninth came on a cornerback blitz when Matthew Stafford or someone on the offensive line didn’t set the protection right, and the last sack was a result of Stafford simply not pulling the trigger when he had someone who appeared to be open downfield.” (Read the whole piece, breaking down each sack, by CLICKING HERE.) Needless to say, if there was a game ripe for Khalil Mack’s return, this is it. And Mack…is back.

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