Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Bears Win In Frustrating Fashion and Playoff Baseball is Coming
Remember: Tell a friend to subscribe and tell another subscriber to get this newsletter out of their promotions tab and drag it to their primary inbox — that’s why a lot of readers have been missing out. Do it now! Please! Thank you.
If you didn’t catch last week’s newsletter, or any of them, check them out here:
Spread the word.
Bear … Down
Watching Cam Newton duke it out with Russel Wilson last night was frustrating as a Bears fan, and flat out embarrassing for Ryan Pace. We are paying $15 million more this year for two quarterbacks worse than him, probably significantly so.
And I didn’t want him. But to hold that against me is dumb.
I love Bears fans, man. Everyone screaming at each other this morning about who wanted Cam and who didn’t as the guy responsible for these sorts of things goes unscathed in conversation.
All the evidence that I had available to me personally suggested that Cam was a risk (not at all for $1.5 million, however) to sign. The last few games he had played before this year he looked like a guy using absolutely all of his might to throw the ball directly into the ground. His injuries and his style of play led me to believe it was all down hill from here.
And I love Cam.
I was wrong. But my full-time job isn’t to do recon on Cam Newton’s health and his ability heading into his age-31 season. The fact that the Bears seemingly didn’t even kick the tires on him, then jumped at paying Nick Foles a heap of money just to have him sit behind Mitch Trubisky, is a colossal failure.
That gets me to Mitch. Somehow, support for Mitch is growing among Bears fans. I’m really not sure why. Please assert yourself in the comments.
The guy is legit, and I mean this seriously, incapable of throwing a spiral. Even the worst quarterbacks in NFL history have been able to throw consistent spirals. That’s just a fact.
That touchdown throw to Darnell Mooney actually made me laugh out loud. How can you work on your mechanics all summer and throw duck after duck? Mitch’s mental capabilities have always been my chief concern — now his inability to physically throw a ball rivals that.
Sure, sure, he played well in the first half. The second half was awful. Rumor has it that Matt Nagy takes his foot off the gas pedal because he doesn’t trust Mitch. Okay — then what the hell are we doing here? Once again, we pay a quarterback $12 million right now, and it’s not Mitch. If you don’t trust your QB, make a change. Otherwise, I’m going to start blaming Nagy for every offensive failure. It’s in his control.
There’s simply no other excuse. Bringing this full circle, there’s also been reports that the Bears didn’t want to bring in Cam because he would be too threatening of a figure to Mitch. What kind of franchise are we running here? The NFL is a meritocracy, running your team like its not puts you at a considerable competitive disadvantage.
Danny Trevathan has looked awful and slow these first two weeks. And I love Danny to death. But want to know what happened in the second half? He played less snaps than he ever has. Because that’s what happens when you don’t do your job well in the NFL!
The fact that I had to stand up and do that stupid squat with my hands on my knees at the end of the game in my family room is inexcusable. I should’ve been laying on my fat ass the entire second half, dusting off the pizza crumbs and pepperoni bits off my chest while enjoying a 50/50 split with the game and Red Zone.
But no, of course Nagy and the Bears had to make it competitive against one of the worst teams in the NFL without their best player. And of course now we couldn’t even enjoy a Victory Monday because beating the Lions and Giants by a combined eight points feels like beating your little brother in one-on-one 12-10 in a game up to 11, win by two of course.
It’s shameful. I felt disgusting after that game, and it had nothing to do with the large pizza pie, bag of Milanos (double dark chocolate, fantastic), or the crippling hangover I subjected myself to.
I’m a big 2-0 is 2-0 guy. I really am. But it’s not as if the Bears just beat the Giants 17-13. I honestly would have taken that. It’s the way in which they won 17-13. Good teams step on lesser opponents’ throats. The Bears have repeatedly failed to do that.
We know that Mitch plays better when coming from behind. He plays awfully when we have a lead, for the most part. At some point, that comes down to the coaching. Change the game plan, change the mentality, or get him out of there if you don’t trust him.
Defensively, I’m happy with the performance. The Bears, like a lot of teams, are still finding their conditioning. It’s clear they get tired toward the end of games and that theoretically should improve.
If Eddie Jackson’s interception return isn’t called back, the ending of the game is much less stressful. Jackson claimed that the ref apologized to him about the call afterward. Perhaps I don’t understand the rules, but that seemed like a pretty textbook pass interference call? He got there early, no? I understand that if each player is going for the ball, it’s a wash, but it seemed to me like Jackson hit him without the intention of catching the ball prior to the ball getting there.
Edit:
Upon further review, this looks like it may have been a bad call.
Anyway, shout out Robert Quinn for the strip sack on one of his first active plays of the 2020 season. Quinn is going to help Khalil Mack and vice versa.
One of the most frustrating misunderstandings that all fans have — particularly Bears fans — is that if an edge rusher doesn’t get sacks, he’s not playing well. Mack consistently ranks as one of the best rushers week-by-week.
He cannot control whether he gets held (and receives no call), whether he’s doubled, or whether his D-Line brethren do not hold up their end of the bargin.
We now have two above average pass rushers. And Akiem Hicks looks like Akiem Hicks again, which is a great sign.
Quinn immediately making an impact, and just generally being healthy enough to play, is one of the greatest takeaways from Sunday’s game.
I’m hopping all over the place with no real breaks here, so bear with me. But how goddamn depressing was it seeing Soldier Field empty? If you don’t miss a bunch of overweight grown men going absolutely ballistic, spilling beers, and booing men half their age — you’re not one of us.
Finally, Allen Robinson should absolutely be extended, and it’s a joke that we paid an ancillary part of our offense before an integral part of it:
This will not likely affect Allen Robinson’s negotiations, but I have to admit that he is starting to look like he is not as interested during these games. Now, I have no way to prove that — but if it’s true at all — that’s really disappointing.
Having said that, we’re not shit without him. So, please, Ryan Pace, if you want to gain any good will with the fans over the next month, just get it done with.
Your other contributions to this team as of today are leading one of the only teams in the NFL who doesn’t have a viable QB or kicker. I mean seriously, watching these games and being envious of virtually every other team’s quarterback play is just getting exhausting. It keeps me from enjoying any other player independent from the Bears.
It also feels like we’re playing in a different league every time someone else lines up for a 50+-yard field goal. No problem for them. For us? Absolutely no shot. And that was incredibly dumb of Nagy, by the way, to give the Giants the ball back at the 40 so we could give Cairo Santos a shot at a 50 yarder.
Speaking of Cairo, my nickname for him — King Tut — fell flat in the group chat this past Sunday. Get it? Like, Cairo, Egypt? No one understood it. I’m not sure if that’s because all my friends are dumb or because I am. Probably both.
Finally, why the hell do I not get a Club Dub video anymore? That was like half of what got me through Mondays the last two years. I can’t get a video because of COVID-19? The players can’t film? We can’t set up some cameras? Make it work!
Michael Jordan
If there was a news source I could follow for every time Michael Jordan took a shit, I would follow it. That’s how much I care about Michael Jordan’s whereabouts.
Having said that, he just started a Nascar team, and I could honestly not care less. The thought that anyone would want to watch cars repeatedly drive around a track actually scares me. I cannot believe I inhabit the same country as they do.
North Side
Kris Bryant got hurt again in the Cubs 5-0 win over the Pirates Monday night. I was going to chart out all of the injuries he’s had over the last two years, but it honestly was too exhausting and sad to finish.
I am not as willing to rag on Bryant as many of you, but this season has to be one of the worst ever for a player in his prime who has an MVP under his belt. He is hitting 40% below an average hitter this year. He’s barely been able to stay on the field.
Scott Boras no doubt still thinks he deserves $300 million. I doubt anyone else thinks he deserves 70% of that anymore. Perhaps in the long run that’s a good thing for the Cubs. For now, it sucks. The Cubs are just a few wins away from winning the NL Central and their biggest star has been one of the worst players on the team.
To make matters worse, up until the late innings last night, the Cubs were devolving into their typical September slump, which continues to befuddle me. Baseball is a team sport, sure, but its mostly individual. I have no idea how the Cubs can play so bad collectively as a team at the same time, at the same period of the year, every year.
We’ve been waiting all year for some of the better hitters historically to come around. Rizzo had a nice knock tonight and Schwarbs doubled twice. But the overall production from the core guys has just not been there.
The Cubs will most likely win the division, but beating the Braves out for that second seed is a worthwhile cause right now. They currently have the exact same record. In a short, three-game first round, the Cubs need to play the worst opponent they can find. I’d also like to wait as long as possible to play the Dodgers, or hope they somehow lose in a fluke and not play them at all.
On a brighter note, Jonny Lester, who may have pitched his last game ever at Wrigley last week with no fans in attendance, has rebounded — despite being a shell of himself — in his last three starts. His close-to-1 ERA over that span has brought his ERA down to a respectable 4.4 for the season.
Every time I think this guy is done for, he proves me wrong. Hhe’ll always be one of my favorite Cubs ever.
The Cubs’ bullpen — led by the resurgence of Craig Kimbrel — has also gotten sneakily and steadily better month by month. Props to the Cubs coaching staff for managing it well enough to get these guys in the right spots as the season has gone on.
The South Side
The Sox are a game and a half up on the Twins in the AL Central, and they’re getting no help from their manager.
Edwin Encarnacion, who has a negative WAR this year, is still getting trotted out at the DH position. He’s one of the best home run hitters of the decade, but similar to the whole Trubisky conversation, this is a meritocracy — if you’re not getting the job done, you don’t get to play.
Ricky Renteria should be advised to not shoot himself in the foot when he has one of the most fun teams in baseball and a few of the best performing players in the entire game.
This isn’t 2018 anymore. The Sox are trying to win a division and make a playoff run. Put the best nine players in the lineup card every single night from here on out. Sox fans have only been waiting, I don’t know, twelve years for this.
When I was drunk on Saturday I randomly tweeted about Steve Stone, for what reason I don’t know. But my point stands.
One of the best broadcasters in the game has been forced to make good baseball conversation, which he has, while a subpar team has been in front of him for the last 10-plus years. It just warms my heart that he’s being rewarded for his patience this year and that him and Jason Benetti were able to call a no-no to top it off.
Forget the looting, forget the civil unrest and forget COVID-19. If the Cubs and Sox both win their divisions and the Bears can pull out a win next week, this city will be back together as one.
Still Gotta Come Through Chicago.
Bulls Coaching Search
The Bulls coaching search is reportedly down to four candidates, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
On the brink of final interviews, here is the list: Denver assistant Wes Unseld Jr., Philadelphia assistant Ime Udoka, Milwaukee assistant Darvin Ham, and former Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson.
All four of those, I believe, would be fantastic hires.
As I’ve written about before, Unseld Jr. is one of the catalysts to Denver’s success and a favorite of Arturas Karnisovas, having been together there for years. Mike Malone, Denver’s head coach, said himself after their take down of the Clippers that Unseld Jr. deserves a job.
Ime Udoka, I must say again, is married to Nia Long. He’s also highly touted as an assistant. But he’s also married to Nia Long.
Darvin Ham is Mike Budenholzer’s right hand man in Milwaukee. Budenholzer has been under fire for his playoff coaching the last couple of years, but the team has generally still been one of the best coached teams during their time there.
Kenny Atkinson is by far the most proven candidate and has documented success working with young teams mostly void of talent — like your Chicago Bulls!
This is very welcome news. Each and every one of these candidates would be the biggest upgrade in Chicago since the river was reversed and we got the poo and pollution out of the great Lake Michigan.
Now we just need to trade Zach LaVine.
Thank you for reading, as always. Thank you for sharing, as always. I appreciate the hell out of all of the SGCTC supporters. See you next week.
Comment below, and let’s have some fun!
I am tired of listening to Chicago Sports Radio and hearing Trubisky get all of the blame for this. Nagy is a clown and he continually gets a pass because of 2018. Trubisky is not good but I am also not sure what he can do because he is constantly being hindered by Nagy. Everyone notices that Trubisky is much better when the handcuffs are off. If they are behind or being aggressive he looks passable. When Trubisky threw that pick in the early 3rd Quarter, Nagy decided to take the air out of the ball. That is what almost lost the game not to mention his moronic play calling at the end of the game. If you were going to attempt that 50 yard field goal then while did you roll Mitch out on 3rd down where he had to scramble to get back with in yards of the line of scrimmage? Run Montgomery up the middle or run a boot play. Its wide open. Nagy refuses to implement certain things. When was the last time you have seen a Bear Receiver run a fly pattern?? You have to be willing to throw it just so they think you might. We haven't done that in three years. No threat!
Nagy IS the problem.
We are at 2-0 by the skin of our teeth, the luck is eventually going to run out. In no way do I like Mitch or think he should be a starting quarterback, but its becoming obvious that Nagy is the problem with the offense. I watched Nagy on Cowherd today and I can't stand that smug prick anymore, he thinks he's the second coming of George Hallas. Im a believer that Cam would be terrible for the bears, I don't have any reasoning behind that besides the fact that I feel like the bears are cursed. We are going to see what our defense is made of this week, all hands on deck for this one. #beardown #4thphase