Week 14: Bears at Bengals Game Thread
On this abbreviated DaBearsPod, Jeff hoarsely weighs in on why there’s a benefit to firing the coach mid-season & why the Bears are missing a big PR opportunity. Oh, and Reverend Dave discusses his uncle eating baby mice or something and it’s disgusting.
We have received hundreds of dollars in donations for the holiday drive above. Hopefully that will continue. $2 buys a composition book and with AREENA matching, it actually buys two. You can donate HERE.
I always like the Chicago Bears. And with the USMNT out of the World Cup, I don’t have another team to root for. But hey, Tiger Woods may be back.
i hear the fox whisper, whisper to me
i hear the fox whisper, behind the oak tree
come help me he says, with anxious dismay
i’ve lost, oh i’ve lost, oh i’ve lost my damn way
—–
once i could run
now i can not
once i defended
myself from this lot
once all my plans and ideas seemed to work
now here i stand, an omnivorous jerk
—–
his whispers receded, he wandered away
where he was headed, no one could say
i’ll always remember, this time with the fox
but now there may be less than eight in the box
Trust is going to be the most important factor in where the Bears go from here.
Ryan Pace is in his third year as GM for a franchise that has won 12 games since he took over. That’s 11 fewer than the guy he replaced and he only got three years to do the job. George McCaskey may still have faith in Pace but he’s admittedly not a patient person. Whoever the next coach of the Bears is, they must trust that Pace picked the right quarterback and knows how to build the rest of the roster.
On Pace’s part, he has to trust the person he hires to create a successful environment around the franchise quarterback, while not losing sight of what else is going on around him. For those reasons, I believe the next coach of the Bears is likely going to be somebody Pace knows and already trusts. We’ve seen these kinds of relationships come together recently in Jacksonville, Buffalo, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Pace not only needs somebody he trusts, he needs a quick turnaround and three of the four aforementioned teams are enjoying the most success they’ve had in a number of years.
Here is my guess on which current pro coaches have the best odds of being the Bears coach next season:
Everyone wants an offensive guy, I get it. But Allen has connections to John DeFilippo, Mike McCoy, Al Saunders and Bill Lazor. It’s also possible he can lure another veteran coordinator — Norv Turner, Gary Kubiak or Dirk Koetter — to run his offense with a young stud quarterback. This goes back to the trust factor because Pace worked with Allen for five years in New Orleans. Allen is said to be uniquely organized and detailed — the opposite of the Bears current coach. He failed in Oakland but he had just one year as a coordinator at that point and didn’t have any talent. Since he took over for Rob Ryan late in the 2015 season, the Saints have had a drastic improvement defensively.
In last week’s game preview I gave some space to the charitable efforts of Cook County Commissioner – and friend of DBB -Bridget Gainer. The image is above.
Since this is a blog, and since writing is a central component, I’ve decided to focus our attention on the composition notebooks. Incarceration ain’t easy. And while providing shampoo and conditioner would be nice, providing these women with an outlet to express themselves would be far more impacting.
And our sponsor, AREENA, has decided to match the total donations of our readers. We’ll then take the money and get hundreds of composition notebooks to Gainer’s people the week of December 18th.
So donate! $2 buys a notebook. $5 buys three notebooks. Give what you can. The Bears stink. So let’s try and make a difference. The button to donate is directly below.
The Bears led for almost the entire game, but pretty much everybody watching the game knew what was coming when San Francisco got the ball back down 14-12 with just over 4 minutes to go. The 49ers methodically marched down the field and longtime Chicago kicker Robbie Gould drilled his 5th field goal of the day to send Chicago to their 5th straight loss.
Player: T.J. Edwards, ILB, Wisconsin
Game: Big Ten Championship Game vs. Ohio State (#8), 7 PM CT
Here is a breakdown of Edwards’ Butkus Award-worthy season from the official site of Badgers football:
Wisconsin’s first Butkus Award finalist, Edwards has been a constant for the Badgers’ outstanding defense once again this season. The Lake Villa, Illinois, native ranks second on the team with 60 total tackles and has recorded 8.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.
Edwards’ four interceptions – including one returned 54 yards for a touchdown – are the most by a linebacker in the FBS this season.
His efforts have been key to a unit that ranks No. 2 nationally in scoring defense (13.1 points per game), total defense (246.4 yards per game) and pass efficiency defense (94.8) and stands No. 1 in rushing defense (79.4 ypg).
From Chris Trapasso at CBS, projecting Edwards to the Seahawks with the 20th pick:
Bobby Wagner has challenged Luke Kuechly as the game’s best off-ball linebacker, and he has made a compelling case to earn that title this season. To give him a young running mate, the Seahawks select Edwards, a smart, polished inside linebacker who, like Wagner, has no problem sinking into coverage to make plays.
On this week’s episode:
I always like the Chicago Bears. And my effort will remain consistent when it comes to these game previews even if the players don’t match that on the field.
these doth be the fox’s final prances
on the lakefront’s tortured green field
the music has stopped, and so the dances
as a fate seems cer’tainly sealed
you shall be remembered fair fox, fair fox
for simply, sly smirks and feeble’ish frowns
but always remember, fair fox, fair fox
one’s allowed to go’eth on occasional fourth downs
