Four Things I Think Will Happen.

• The Bears have been building to this game. Their offense is improving weekly. Their quarterback is taking the leap before our very eyes. And Chase Claypool will have a full week of practice and certainly see an increase from his 26 snaps against the Dolphins. This is the week where the Bears offense, at home, simply isn’t beatable.
• Jared Goff will throw two interceptions, both in the middle of the field, and one each to Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker.
• Bears stat line for the game: 31 carries between the two backs and QB, 224 yards, 3 touchdowns. (Quite possible Velus Jones adds to these numbers as well.)
• Bears learned in the fourth quarter of the Miami game that they must blitz to generate pressure. They’ll sack Goff three times, with none of those sacks coming from a defensive lineman.

Chicago Bears 34, Lions 20

Does the question even need to be asked?

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears this Week?

I.

Always.

Like.

THE.

Chicago.

Bears.

Here’s the Game.

• The Bears allow 147.2 yards per game on the ground. Only two teams are worse in that category, including the Lions, allowing 148.8. That’s a push.
• The Bears have the league’s top ranked rushing attack, anchored by their quarterback’s ability to gain huge chunks of yardage. But the Lions are ranked ninth in that category. Might not be a push, but pretty close.
• The Bears have only 13 sacks on the season. Only three teams are worse in that category, including the Lions, with 12. That’s a push.
• Jared Goff’s last four QB ratings: 62.7 (Patriots), 71.2 (Cowboys), 108.1 (Dolphins), 78.5 (Packers).
  • When one watches Goff tape, two things stand out. First, he throws 3-5 balls a game that should be intercepted. Second, Amon-Ra St. Brown is now his only reliable weapon, with T.J. Hockenson shipped off the Minnesota. He’ll look to force him the ball on most third downs.
• Justin Fields’ last four QB ratings: 71.5 (Commanders), 85.2 (Patriots), 120 (Cowboys), 106.7 (Dolphins).

With both of these teams being able to run it, neither being able to stop the run, and neither being able to generate pressure, this game will come down to quarterback play. And right now, that is a mismatch that favors the Chicago Bears.

Tweet of the Week, Lions Edition

pic.twitter.com/AXxozCgFtD

— Bodega Cats (@Bodegacats_) November 8, 2022

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This has been a fun series of posts so they will continue. Again, the series will not include any games from good seasons. These are are classic games from otherwise forgettable campaigns. Watch the below highlights and marvel.

• How good NFL Primetime was on ESPN with Berman and TJ? For an out of state Bears fan, this was the most important TV program of my youth, with the possible exception of ALF.
• R.W. McQuarters made a lot of plays as a Bear. He’s becoming a running theme in these videos.
• Stoney Case?
• Baby Brian Urlacher?
• I had completely forgotten that Marlon Barnes existed. And all I thought watching him run was, “Man, the NFL has gotten a lot faster.”
• The Detroit News published a a terrific piece in 2019 titled, Paul Edinger’s Christmas Eve 2000 kick helped change course of Lions history. In it’s early paragraphs: “…it’s undeniable that Paul Edinger’s 54-yard boot to end the Detroit Lions season sent the franchise into a tailspin like no one could have imagined.”

Bears blow a game they had no business blowing.

The season is over.

Now what?

[Note: The thoughts below were written in REAL TIME. So as things change, thoughts change. That’s life.]

Quarter One

• Cordarrelle Patterson’s opening kickoff return told me something: the Lions have not realized that kicking to Patterson is a terrible idea with this offense.
• Television perfectly frames the sport of football. Why on earth would Fox move the camera off the line of scrimmage?
• On the second first down of the opening drive, Mitch could have run for 20 yards. But instead throw a ball into Cole Kmet’s crotch. Can we officially stop calling Trubisky a running threat?
• Would I have gone for it on that first fourth down? Yes. But Matt Nagy is coaching with a different mindset than I would be. Nagy is coaching to make the playoffs this year and field goal is the clear percentage play.
• The thing I miss most about watching the Bears in a bar is not listening to broadcasters. Did Spielman just refer to Roquan Smith as RAEKWON Smith? Like the rapper?
• The back-to-back tackles from DHC and Buster Skrine on third and fourth down were exactly the kinds of plays Nagy was looking to see from his defense after Sunday night’s debacle.
• Bears first TD drive: no third downs faced, ran it down their throats, brilliant David Montgomery drive to finish. Can the Bears play the Lions every week?
• The pass rush is officially non-existent. Mack is invisible. Quinn continues to be invisible. No lead is safe if you’re completely unable to pressure the quarterback. Stafford did not have to complete a difficult pass on the quarter-closing touchdown drive.
• A blocked and doinked extra point in one quarter. It’s not surprising that neither of these teams have winning records.
• Trubisky actually throws the football away on first down, instead of taking a ten-yard sack. But why is he so opposed to getting a few yards with his legs? At this point it is malpractice for him not to use what is his most unique asset.

Bears 9, Lions 6

Quarter Two

• There is nobody in this Lions secondary that can cover Allen Robinson. He should have 150 yards today.
• One positive thing about Mitch is he does have a good hard count. And for this offense, the difference between 1st & 5 and 1st & 10, is miles.
• Cordarrelle walks in for an easy touchdown and makes the game 16-6. This is the best performance by the offensive line and backs all season. And it’s not close.
• Mack sacks Stafford and Skrine commits an illegal contact, giving Lions life. Just feels like a moment the Bears will rue. (On replay, the call is abysmal.)
• 3rd & 10, 4:36 remaining in the half: Mitch throws a ball over the middle that should have been intercepted. Slow read, slow delivery, tight window. It is simply a throw he can not attempt in that spot. And it’s those kinds of decision that hold back his development. When it’s not there on 3rd & 10, dump it off to Mooney in the flat and let your playmaker try to make a play.
• Roquan “Don’t Call me Raekwon” Smith just defended a screen to Kerryon Johnson about as well as a linebacker can. Sniffed it out, the ball got completed, tracked down the back for a two-yard gain. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.
• Then on 3rd & 13, no pass rush. Zone defense. Easy completion for Stafford. Then a bomb touchdown on the next play. What has happened to this defense? Why is there zero pass rush? How much money has to be poured into that position to make Stafford mildly uncomfortable? On both of those big completions, per Adam Hoge, Mack and Quinn were in one-on-one situations. Nothing.
• Every time I watch Stafford I think the same thing. Put him on a contender next year and he’s winning playoff games.
• Anthony Miller performing on the first-half ending drive like he’s expected to perform. Tough catches. Tough runs. If this kid showed up weekly, he’s be a viable second option for this club. But he doesn’t do that.
• David Montgomery played his best half as a Chicago Bear.
• With time winding down, Skrine gives Jones the inside leverage for ANOTHER long completion. No, the pressure did not do its job, but with safety help over the top, why are the corners giving this kind of space?
• The Hail Mary could easily have been caught.

Hard to see a scenario where the Bears don’t hit the 30 mark in the game. So if this game is lost, it falls entirely on one side of the ball: the defense.

Bears 23, Lions 13

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His name is Bear. But he’s a lion.

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

And the Lions stink.

Best Tweets from Patricia & Quinn’s Former Players

These guys seemed…popular.

What is it going to take for franchises to realize there is no “Patriot Way”. There is Bill Belichick, a certifiable football genius. There was Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback to ever play. That – and an historically bad division around them for two decades – was why they won all those games.

(Also, it is thought that Patricia has been lighting up the Lions via a Twitter burner account in the last few days.)

__________

Welp 🤷🏾‍♂️

— Ezekiel Ansah (@Ziggy_Ansah) November 28, 2020

__________

I was the problem tho😂😂😂 https://t.co/B5GG29ilqt

— Darius Slay (@bigplay24slay) November 28, 2020

__________

Haha told me you’ll take my career away from me but I guess they have other plans for you 😂😂

— AshawnRobinson (@AshawnRobinson) November 28, 2020

__________

about to text bob quinn see if he straight. 😂

— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) November 28, 2020

Trubisky vs. the Lions For the Final Time?

Wrote the following in the Week One Game Preview:

Mitch Trubisky’s success against the Lions is not a myth. But it is absurd.

In five career games, he has completed 70.1% of his passes for 1,359 yards, 11 TDs and only 4 INTS. That’s a passer rating of 106.3.

In his three starts against them under Matt Nagy, those numbers move to 74.7%, 9/1 TD to INT and a rating of 132.4. And most importantly, three victories.

Let’s take just touchdowns and interceptions for a second. Remove the Lions numbers from Mitch’s totals and he’s at 37 TDs and 25 INTs. That’s…horrendous. It’s quite remarkable how these Lions performances have skewed his poor career statistics slightly more positive.

Trubisky’s week one performance? Crap until the fourth quarter but he ended with 242 yards, 3 TDs, a 104.2 rating and the victory. I mean, seriously, is there any reason to think Trubisky won’t beat the Lions Sunday?

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The story feels written. The outcome assured. After the full-team collapse Sunday night in Wisconsin, it will surprise no one if, at season’s end or sooner, George McCaskey and family fire Ryan Pace, fire Matt Nagy and reassign Ted Phillips within the organization, away from football operations.

But for those wanting these changes to take place yesterday (or the day before) it is time for a pragmatic pause. Because while this season feels over, it is not actually over. The Bears face the bad Lions, with an interim coach and lame-thumbed quarterback, Sunday at Soldier Field. They face the bad Texans, who were apparently popping PEDs like Sweet Tarts, in that same building the following week. If they win both of those of those games they will be 7-6 and viably challenging for spot in the tournament.

And making the tournament still matters. The Bears, for as bad as they’ve looked offensively through this five-game losing streak, are one game out of the 7th spot and a game and a half out of the 6th spot currently held by Tampa, a team they have beaten. Just because this current incarnation of the club has zero shot of winning the Super Bowl doesn’t mean a playoff berth ceases to be an achievement. Winning these next two games would, if nothing else, earn Pace and Nagy the right to complete this 2020 campaign. That’s it. It would allow them the opportunity to fix the mess they’ve created. Is that likely? Of course not.

If the Bears lose EITHER of these next two games, the time for pragmatism ends. A seventh loss with three (or four) to play ends the dream of January football. And not making the playoff field in a year where the NFC has this little depth is certainly cause for termination. If the Bears lose either of these next two games, Pace and Nagy should be fired the following day. (The Ted reassignment can happen whenever.)

Will making changes in-season have any tangible impact? Unlikely. A few reasons:

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