Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?
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.
Poetry
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
Three Reasons the Bears Win
- If the Bears Can’t Run It This Week, They May Never Run It Again. After the embarrassment of Philadelphia. Back at home. Desperate for something positive to happen. Facing a team that allows 130 rushing yards a game. This sets up perfectly for a Bears rebound performance, with the offensive line and Jordan Howard dominating.
- Mitch Trubisky’s Splits. Tru is pitching to an 85.9 quarterback rating at home and a 52.7 on the road. He is 3-1 TD-INT at home and the opposite on the road. Not uncommon for a rookie to play far better football in safer confines. Expect that to continue Sunday. And I really think Tru wants to win a game in front of these home fans.
- Bears Interior Defense. Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman are significant mismatches for the interior of the Niners offensive line. That especially goes for the oft-maligned guard Laken Tomlinson, a major liability, and center Daniel Kilgore. Would be surprising if the Niners offense has any success running up the middle or keeping a clean pocket for their new starting QB. And Vic Fangio will certainly attack these guys with blitzes before he takes on Joe Staley outside.
Three Reasons They Don’t
- Marco! Garoppolo! Is there any reason to believe the Bears are going to mount a serious enough pass rush to bottle up Jimmy G. and keep the Niners from moving the ball down the field? Is there any reason to believe John Fox will suddenly divert from his norm and NOT rely on Mitch Unrein and Sam Acho to disrupt the Niners attack? I don’t care how many wins the opponents have, when you don’t pressure the quarterback in the modern NFL, passes are going to be completed with ease.
- Have You Been Watching the Bears? If so, what leads you to believe they are capable of a complete, four-quarter effort? What makes you think they won’t continue to commit drive-killing penalties? What evidence do you have this defensive coaching staff will be adequately prepared for a new, talented quarterback when they were so thoroughly beaten by Brett Hundley? The Niners are one of the worst teams in the league but the John Fox Bears are clearly capable of beating themselves.
- Empty Building, Empty Tank. A player once told me “the only thing worse than playing in an empty building is playing in your home building when it’s full of the opponent’s fans”. Adam Jahns and I set the over/under on unused tickets for Sunday’s contest at 10.5 thousand. (I took the over.) There will be a lot of empty seats at Soldier Field and many of the occupied ones will be looking for every opportunity to jump down John Fox’s throat. It could feel like a road game.
Tweet of the Week, Volume I
A retiring legend on the Eli Manning benching…
Must listen: Mike Francesa Destroys Ben McAdoo https://t.co/wzjFbrznkd
— Brian Monzo (@BMonzoWFAN) November 28, 2017
Charity of the Week
Team sucks. So let’s do some good, people! Cook County Commissioner is a good friend of DBB and a partner with one of our main sponsors, AREENA. This year she is once again leading a drive for shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap…etc. for incarcerated women. It costs very little for you to contribute. For $5 at Walgreens or CVS, you can make someone’s life truly better.
In December, Commissioner Gainer will once again join me on the pod and we’ll raise some money for the cause.
Tweet of the Week, Volume II
The lesson from Eli approaching 2018: Expediency is an ethic, loyalty is a liability. It’s not just the @nfl and these flailing @giants alibi artists. You see it everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Why are you surprised?
— Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) November 28, 2017
While ESPN fills their networks with mostly jerks and nonsense, Ley stands above the mud.
Game-Related Links!
- Don’t think the Niners offensive line is a problem? Some covering the team believe that unit is single-handedly responsible for at least three of the teams losses this season.
- John Lynch is a media favorite but he’s been catching some hell up in northern California for Solomon Thomas’ struggles over the first half of the season. (I can’t kill him. I loved the kid coming into the draft.)
- Marquise Goodwin lost an unborn baby a few weeks back on a Sunday morning. He then played football that day and hauled in an 83-yard TD on the day of San Fran’s only win. Here’s the remarkable story from Nick Wagoner at ESPN.
- Here’s a fun blog post about the 49ers’ Thanksgiving Day loss to the Seahawks in 2014 – Harbaugh’s final season. No idea why it’s relevant to this week but it’s interesting and I didn’t know any of it.
- Every article previewing Jimmy G’s first start will point out that he is from Arlington Heights, including this one from Yahoo! But here’s some video of his time at Rolling Meadows High School.
Game Prediction!
I’m not going to predict what I think this game will be. I think this game will be unwatchable. Instead I’m going to predict what this game could be in my romantic heart: a wild shootout between two young quarterbacks eager to show off their stuff.
Chicago Bears 39
San Francisco 49ers 31
