Monday Night Football Game Thread
Photo by Otto Greule Jr of Getty Images
The Bears host the Seattle Seahawks tonight and, since I’m DBB’s resident Pacific Northwest dweller, who better to share some last minute pregame thoughts? So here it goes:
I’m still stinging from last week’s loss (and you probably are, too) but let’s hope the Bears have moved on…
There’s no way to get around it: Last week hurt. No team should blow a 20-point lead, even if they’re facing one of the greatest QBs of all time. It was a missed opportunity to start the season with a statement win, but in the end Green Bay just found a different way to break our collective hearts. That being said, Week One needs to be the last thing on the Bears’ mind when they run out onto Soldier Field tonight. I’ve mentioned my love of tennis and Roger Federer before, and one of the things that makes him great is his fantastic ability to erase painful losses from his memory. He learns, but he doesn’t dwell. Let’s hope the Bears take the same approach.
Ah, memories…
The last time the Bears played the Seahawks was 2015 in Seattle. It was the 3rd game of John Fox’s tenure, and Jimmy Clausen was starting in place of an injured Jay Cutler. The Bears lost 26-0. (I don’t care enough to check, but I’m pretty sure the Bears only managed one first down the entire game.) I watched with a handful of Seahawks fans, and honestly it was so pathetic they couldn’t even muster the energy to make fun of me. Regardless of how disappointing last week’s loss was, it doesn’t hurt to remember that things used to be much, much worse.
This game feels about as “must win” for the Bears as any Week 2 game could…
The Bears have the more talented roster going into tonight’s game, and that was true even before Bobby Wagner, Doug Baldwin, and KJ Wright were declared out, with several other key Seahawks players listed as doubtful. If the Bears can’t manage a win at home against a rebuilding and busted up Seattle team, then we might be in for a much rougher season than any of us were expecting.
The Bears don’t pick until the third round. So spending time on the top prospects in next year’s NFL draft is a useless endeavor. Instead, over the next three months of Saturdays, this space will focus on prospects further down the line.
at (15) TCU
8:00 PM ET, ABC
Video
Scout’s Take
From Kyle Crabbs at The Draft Network:
PROS: Kendall Sheffield’s short area quickness yields a lot of reps showing a sudden close and the ability to play tight on the body of the receiver at the catch point. Has the mobility to be a high-end corner in over top zone coverage or mirroring route stems in the secondary. Has good habits as a head up tackler in space, will effectively use wingspan to wrap and roll and bring down bigger opponents. Has made several heady plays in coverage and does well to find the football late and contest. Active free hand to play through the hands of receivers at the catch point and produced a ton of ball production in book-end games of season (2 PBU vs. Indiana and 4 PBU vs. Southern Cal).
CONS: Needs to build up functional strength in a big way, gets beat up when trying to land blows and redirect receivers at the line. Can also struggle to pull off a blocker in the open field, preventing consistency stepping up into the edge to help seal the corner against the run. Was listed last season at 185 lbs but looks very lean framed. Footwork when shaded over top of route releases too often offers a misstep, needs to stay parallel to the line of scrimmage and avoid hinging too early, which opens gate for receivers to get a clean break. Despite good stickiness at the catch point has gotten out-muscled for the football by receivers on numerous occasions.
Note
After watching Bears v. Packers Sunday night, my concentration has switched to corner. Many project Sheffield to fall into the second/third round. The Bears would need him to be there late Friday night to have any hope of bringing his speed and ball skills to town.
On this week’s season premiere:
The Bears are not in a must-win situation Monday night. But the entire locker room needs to approach the game like they are. They’ve said all the right things since Sunday’s debacle. Will they show up and play with urgency? We shall see.
I always like the Chicago Bears.
Yes, the Green Bay result was dreadful. But one has to remember it was merely Week One. The arrow is pointed decidedly up for this group and things are going to start moving in that direction quickly.
Lol everything look open on a screenshot, @haha_cd6 woulda been Lambeau leapin if he woulda threw this, facts 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/x1iwUQNHjm
— Kevin King (@King_kevvoo) September 11, 2018
A few thoughts on this:
The Bears had no business losing to the Packers Sunday night. The team knows it. Their fans know it. Hell, even the folks in Green Bay would admit it if you asked them. It required a perfect storm of fine play (Rodgers) and horrible mistakes (Bears). That storm came. And it bloweth the club from Chicago to an 0-1 record to start their 2018 campaign.
Now they must rebound. Mitch Trubisky must rebound from the shaky mess that was his late-game performance. Kyle Fuller must rebound from dropping an interception that would have (a) been the easiest of his career and (b) won the football game. Matt Nagy must rebound from some head-scratching decisions on the sideline. (Those decisions have led to the coach receiving his first dose of criticism in Chicago.)
Next up is a “rebuilding” Seattle at Soldier Field. Followed by a road trip to a bad Arizona team – where half the building will be Chicago transplants – and a home affair with Ryan Fitzmagic. If the Bears finish the first quarter of their season at 2-2 there will be little conversation about the opening night collapse at Lambeau. If they finish the first quarter 3-1, the opener will be little more than an aberration, an isolated storm cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky. For those of you thinking this is a “pie in the sky” approach, you should take note the Bears will likely be favored in all three of these games.
Adversity defines character. And while a team would prefer not facing much of it over the course of their season, it is inevitable. Injuries. Bad penalties. Missed chip shots. Blown leads. These things happen. The Bears blew a game against their oldest rival on the national stage of Sunday Night Football. It sucked. But it’s also presented them with an opportunity to prove their mettle. To show one of the most loyal fan bases in all of sports this is not “the same old Bears”.
That starts Monday night. Against Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. The Nagy Bears have an opportunity to change the conversation. But only one thing achieves that goal: winning.
On their way to revolutionizing the way football is played in Chicago and around the world, the Bears hit a speed bump when they actually had to play a game and it revealed that talk his cheap and this team certainly looks to be the same it has been for most of the last 25 years. The hype train spun out of control when the team added Khalil Mack — and he certainly showed why he was worth such hysteria — but lost in all the commotion was that the Bears actually had to put a product on the field and, when they did, it wasn’t good.
The expectation was that this was going to be a different Bears team. They had the talent and the coaching to beat the Packers. Add that Aaron Rodgers missed a chunk of the game as the Bears lead grew from 10 to 20 and it was surely a changing of the guard.
Except it wasn’t.
The loss couldn’t have been any more typical Bears. The offense scored on the first two possessions, then failed to make any adjustments. When is the last time the Bears had a coaching staff that was good at making adjustments? It appears that is a trend that will continue.
This was a devastating loss. Devastating. The Bears did what they always do. They lost to the Packers. And their defense let it happen. Since I’m traveling, there won’t be a full rapid fire today. Just sadness.
