Last night I dove deep into the Bears’ tape from Monday’s big win over Detroit — throughout the stream I talked through:

• What are the Bears doing to create so much defensive chaos?
  • How much of their success is the players? How much is the coaching? Can it be both?
• How are the Bears’ attacking 3rd downs defensively? What has their shift in attitude done to their 3rd down production?
• Which young defenders have stepped up their game?
• Who (or what) fueled the good parts of the Bears’ Sunday offense?
• Where did Justin Fields win? Where did he struggle?
• Who stood out on the Bears’ offensive line? Who was left lacking?
• How much of what’s working for Chicago (both sides of the ball) is sustainable going forward?
• The usual rants & ravings about the future of the Bears
• And much, much more

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Your Turn: Have you jumped on the Bears’ playoff bandwagon?

Last night I dove deep into the Bears’ tape from Sunday’s abysmal loss in Detroit — throughout the stream I talked through:

• What fueled the good parts of the Bears’ Sunday offense?
• Who stood out on the Bears’ offensive line? Who was left lacking?
• What made Chicago’s late playcalling so conservative? How did that affect their scheme?
• Where are the Bears’ coaches making life harder on their players? How can they fix those issues?
• What did the Bears do so well early to create Jared Goff’s turnovers? How can they build on their successes?
• How did the Lions exploit the Bears late?
• Rants & ravings about the future of the Bears
• And much, much more

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Your Turn: What are your Thanksgiving plans?

That was one way to start the season, wasn’t it?

The Chicago Bears, after months of build-up and roster additions, came out flat from the first whistle against Green Bay and got blown out of their own building before the 3rd quarter had ended. It was a day that could’ve heralded a new chapter within the storybook Bears-Packers rivalry, but instead it was… well, I’ll let Jeff say it for me.

(S)HITS principle.

— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) September 10, 2023

After a game like that, I felt the need to sleep on my thoughts. I’ll have more posted later this afternoon, but I want to wait until I can watch the tape before really diving in on this game — I have a bad feeling that the tape may give us uncomfortable answers to questions we didn’t want to ask on both offense & defense.

It’s only Week 1, but that was as bad of a Week 1 game as I could’ve imagined. Chicago will need to turn things around in a hurry too — a loss to the Buccaneers (who just beat Minnesota on the road) will create legitimate stakes as the Bears take on the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium. Only six NFL teams since 1979 have ever started 0-3 and still made the playoffs.

The 2023 Bears don’t have outrageous expectations, but I’d think the organization had their sights set on a 7th seed playoff spot & major development from the roster’s young players. That may yet be achieved, but with tough matchups littered throughout the early weeks of Chicago’s schedule, the road to a playoff season got much harder last night.

Postgame Podcast:

Your Turn: Do you feel any better about yesterday’s game today?