Welcome to our first in-season Audibles of 2015!

ACHIEVEMENT OF OPENING DAY

From last week’s game preview:

The 2015 Chicago Bears have to earn back the excitement of people like me. They have to display on the field they are worthy of the passion many have displayed in good times and bad over their lifetimes. They can do that this week, against the Packers, at Soldier Field? How?

Be in the game. With five minutes left, be in it. That’s all I ask. If the Bears achieve that, a week from now I’m in.

They were spirited. They were professional. They were well-coached. Did they make mistakes? Of course. They don’t have a great roster. Were they outplayed? Of course. The Packers are a better team. But they showed signs they will be competitive each and every week, a massive departure from a year ago. Excitement returneth.

The Sun-Times Should Be Embarrassed

For those of you following DBB on Twitter, you would have noticed an attack launched at @suntimes_sports Monday. Why? Because they insist on serving fans, beside the wonderful work of people like Adam Jahns, crowd-sourced, social media horseshit like the “article” titled “Bears fans already want Jay Cutler benched after Packers loss.” It included these two gems:

@ChicagoBears @SoldierField bench jay cutler he throws too many interceptions

— Ryan (@SavnRyansPrvate) September 13, 2015

I don’t know why Soldier Field, which to the best of my knowledge is an inanimate structure on the lakefront, needs a Twitter feed or why this individual thought it necessary to share his thoughts with a building.

Romo…that was pretty clutch! If you lose interest in Dallas come to Chicago @tonyromo#BenchCutler

— Braden Fogal (@BradenFogal) September 14, 2015

“If you lose interest”? Who wrote this, a 5 year old? It’s one thing for the Sun-Times to post this idiocy but do they also have to be lazy about it? Couldn’t you find a fan or two with a coherent, adult thought?

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PHIL EMERY DID WHAT?

Bruce Arians is a cool guy, a terrific hat wearer and his personality would have been a perfect match for the city of Chicago. (Look at how “beer and a shot Maddon” was universally beloved by Chicago media Monday.) To assume, however, that his not being hired by Phil Emery was some kind of administrative debacle is second-guessing of the worst kind. Yes, Arians won Coach of the Year. But he won that award less because of his work and more because his head coach that season was sidelined due to intense cancer treatments and he was put in charge of Andrew Luck. You know who else is going to win a lot of games as a head coach of Andrew Luck? Every single head coach with the luxury of having Andrew Luck as his quarterback.

Bruce Arians would not be any guarantee to make Cutler and this offense better. And his defensive coordinator of choice, Todd Bowles, would be no more successful with this absence of defensive talent.

Less his final decision, Emery’s approach to hiring the head coach has come under scrutiny recently and seems to have been something of a masterclass in weirdness. Think that’s too harsh? Let’s look at the two major elements revealed in various reports:

• Arians was asked to do a mock press conference less than a month removed from doing multiple press conferences almost every single week of the 2012 season. I can understand a general manager wanting to evaluate the media savvy of a potential big market head coach but it wouldn’t take longer than nineteen seconds with Arians to understand he’d be just fine.
• Arians is quoted as stating it was “awkward” being told he’d need to keep certain assistant coaches (including Rod Marinelli, who didn’t stay) and said in no uncertain terms it was not going to happen. Why would Emery insist on a head coach keeping a defensive coordinator who had yet to commit to the organization for the following season? Maybe before telling Bruce that Rod would be his defensive coordinator he should have asked Rod? The whole thing is, just, weird.

Also, was Marc Trestman so desperate to be an NFL head coach he would have accepted any terms? Does a man so desperate for his shot have it in his system to take over the leadership of a locker room?

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Player Trades In-Season Are Rare But…

The Oakland Raiders are dreadful while Charles Woodson is playing every snap at an apparently high level. From an ESPN mailbag:

Woodson, who turns 38 next month, has been one of the Raiders’ best and most reliable defensive players. He has played every defensive snap. That is remarkable for a player of his age. When the Raiders brought him back in 2013, they were just hoping for some leadership and situational help on the field. But Woodson is giving him so much more. He is ending a Hall of Fame career on a high note. It’s really cool to witness.

Does he really want to wrap his career on a 2-14 Raiders team? If you’re Phil Emery, and you know what you’re fielding at safety, why not make an offer? Woodson would not only be the Bears best safety by a wide margin but also has a brilliant knowledge of the divisional opponents and leadership the secondary is now lacking with Peanut’s absence.

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Mannelly is a legendary Bear and “the namesake” of our Audibles from the Long Snapper column. Here he is explaining that decision.

Brad Biggs did an excellent job breaking the story on his Twitter feed. Here is a selection of Tweets from the Trib’s leading Bears writer:

Used to joke with Pat Mannelly the last 3 seasons or so on Fridays in the locker room, ask if he was looking forward to setting a record

He was the all-time leader in #Bears history for games played. He’d chuckle a little but he just wanted to do his job that Sunday.

K Robbie Gould: Pat Mannelly “is probably the greatest long snapper to ever play the game.”

I don’t know if Mannelly is the greatest long snapper to ever play. I don’t even know how to begin that analysis. But I know he has given sixteen years of his body to the Chicago Bears organization and that is worthy of celebration.

Thanks to Bears beat writer Adam Jahns our event received some promotion from Emily McFarlan Miller in the Sun-Times:

Did No Shave November work out really well for you?

Have you been looking for an opportunity to bust out your favorite sweater vest and stogie?

Then have we got an event for you: The Mike Ditka Look-a-like Competition at 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.

The event, presented by DaBearsBlog and Art of Men, will benefit the Otis Wilson Charitable Association. It also includes a Christmas toy drive and a performance by the Black Oil Brothers.

Anyone can enter the Mike Ditka Look-a-like Competition, and each entrant will get a moment to walk the stage for celebrity judges, including 1985 Super Bowl champion Otis Wilson and Bears legend James “Big Cat” Williams, according to the event page on Ticketfly. The winner will receive two tickets to the Chicago Bears v. Dallas Cowboys game on Monday, Dec. 9, where the Bears will retire Ditka’s No. 89 jersey at halftime, it said.

Anyone who brings a toy to donate to the Christmas toy drive at the event also will be eligible to win an signed Otis Wilson jersey, it said.

The Otis Wilson Charitable Association provides an all-inclusive health and fitness program for at-risk youth to educate and empower them to lead healthy lifestyles, according to its website.

DABEARSBLOG STILL HAS ROOM ON OUR COMPLIMENTARY RSVP LIST. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS EMAIL ME: JEFF@DABEARSBLOG.COM

After the jump you can once again experience the event’s amazing poster art…

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