Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
VICTORY FRIDAY: BEARS WIN
HAPPY FRIDAY CHICAGO FOOTBALL FANS! Your Chicago Bears are 4-1!
I need every single one of you to ride this momentum with me:
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BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS
Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press
If the Bears won every single week, Chicago would not need a governing body. Elections would be unnecessary, laws would be pointless, and everyone could leave their doors open all night.
When the Chicago Bears win — especially on a night like tonight — this city turns into a goddamn utopia. You can feel it in the air. When you run to grab a halftime snack, it’s like a ghost town, other than the few people running to do the same thing. Everyone is in their houses holed up watching the game, and if they’re not, they’re scrambling around and always good for a “Go Bears!” as they’re on the way out of the convenient store door.
It’s magical.
Now, it’s the best kind of post-victory day. Victory Friday. The sun is shining, the weekend is upon us, and the Bears have the third best record in the NFC.
Does anyone else make involuntary sounds during Bears games that they didn’t know their vocal cords were capable of producing? Sometimes my shrieks have a concerning and feminine pitch to them, and other times they sound so aggressively barbaric and masculine that I scare myself a little bit.
(There’s nothing better than an impulsive BALLLLL when the opposing team fumbles.)
The Bears are 4-1 for the first time since 2012, and they just beat Tom Brady as a starter for the first time ever. And guess what? He took it just how I like it. Walked out without shaking hands like a sore-loser sissy after losing track of the downs and getting dominated by the Bears defense.
During the game, I take notes so I can write a newsletter and get it out to the masses for the following morning. Tonight, I wrote down so many notes that they alone could serve as a newsletter. But so much of it is things that bothered me from the game, and for the most part, I want to stay the hell away from that.
I hope all of you won some drinking money on the Bears +3.5, or better yet, the Bears moneyline. I don’t mean to brag, but I had both of those plus a live line of +360 from when they were down 13-0. It’s not about being crazy, it’s about being confident.
A couple of you guys had some very great predictions for tonight’s game. Not to toot my own horn (again), but I think I had this game figured out before it started. Tom Brady’s fame hurt us badly at points, but we mostly stayed away from costly personal foul penalties.
Besides the ridiculous call on Mack that mitigated what would’ve been his third sack and a couple of absolute gifts they gave him in the form of defensive pass interference penalties, the defense was disciplined. And boy did they play their asses off. And guess what? They got the all-important created turnover too. It wasn’t how I expected it would come — a strip sack or tipped interception — but instead was a textbook big-time hit from Kyle Fuller to set up a Bears score.
My prediction was a 27-23 Bears win if they created one of those turnovers and kept Tom Brady from capitalizing off dumb, 15-yard+ penalties. I think we just watched that come to fruition.
This could be the Bears-win intoxication talking, but I don’t think there’s a better Bears win feeling than on a Thursday night. You’ve got the whole weekend ahead of you, a whole slate of football to watch on Saturday and Sunday stress free, and a Victory Friday to bask in all today.
I’m writing this knowing I may not even be able to sleep tonight.
We just beat a damn good football team. One of the best offenses in football, led by one of the greatest players of all time, scored one touchdown against our defense and looked helpless by the end of the game.
Brady’s QB rating, after increasing week after week, plummeted tonight. He averaged a measly 6.2 yards per attempt and was sacked three times — but it felt like a lot more. Mack and co. were in his face throughout the game, and he ended up on his back enough to have happy feet that led to some errant throws later in the game.
You could tell we were in Brady’s head when Khalil Mack was penalized for that sack and Brady yelled at him like a white woman in Walmart who just got asked to put her mask over her nose while shopping. Then the ref threw the flag as if Khalil Mack had just committed a crime against humanity.
Give me a break. And for you Khalil Mack sack watchers — you happy now? Just an FYI, my guy has been dominating all year long, but now he can avoid the wrath of the uneducated because he got a couple sacks in his state line (which should have been three.)
Without a healthy Robert Quinn, Mack put the team on his back, and he, along with a fantastic effort from the secondary, gave us a chance to win.
“I think we smelled blood in the water” — Khalil Mack, on getting to Tom Brady.
The Bears can’t keep letting the defense be their knight in shining armor at the end of the game, but god dammit they came through — repeatedly.
After Matt Nagy decided to just give Brady a chance to win by throwing a jump ball to Allen Robinson with a minute and change left, the defense never faltered. I’m damn proud of those boys.
How ‘bout them Bears?
For all its warts, goddamn I love this team.
And how about our guy Cairo Santos — aka King Tut — with two massive field goals? I mentally prepared myself for him to miss that final field goal by 15 feet and was more than pleasantly surprised when he put that bitch right through the uprights. My man may have tore his lat, hip, and hamstring trying to get that first 47-yarder through, but he was 100% on the day, and that’s all that matters.
Nick Foles. For all of you “PUT MITCH IN!” sons of bitches, I need an apology both in the comments and to Nick Foles before you have a sip of your coffee this AM.
The guy isn’t all that talented, so if he misses a throw here or there, don’t be surprised. Instead, he’s just a goddamn veteran who makes big plays when we need him to, makes big time decisions that Mitch can’t, and drags his big balls across Tom Brady’s forehead whenever he gets the chance.
Example given:
I’m not sure Mitch knows the difference between man and zone still, but that’s neither here nor there.
I wouldn’t want anyone else (definitely a big lie coming) running the show for my Bears from here on out.
Despite Matt Nagy taking 38 seconds to get him the play when he’s on a roll, Foles never wavered. Hey Matt, stop talking for one second and LISTEN. Once this man gets a long week of prep under his belt and gets on the same page with our sometimes-inept head coach, the Bears are going to be objectively dangerous.
“Big Nick did his thing” — Khalil Mack.
Does everyone feel that? Those 2018 vibes are coming back. This team loves each other and is winning despite their holes and mistakes, and not losing because of them.
You can fix inefficiencies and holes, you can’t galvanize a team who doesn’t care or make a team love each other like this team does.
The run game sucks, but David Montgomery deserves massive props for making the best out of it. Plus, if Foles can be accurate (30-42 tonight) enough to dump off short passes, those can take the place of runs until we straighten things out.
The whole “Run the Ball” issue is interesting. It’s a chicken or the egg scenario. Does Matt Nagy not commit to the run, and that’s why we don’t have a run game? Or are we incapable of running the ball, and that’s why we don’t? I tend to lean to the latter, and they both could be Nagy’s fault, but even though it may not be feasible long term — the Bears just beat a great team with 35 rushing yards.
And we are officially on the board with a rushing touchdown. Next week’s objective: score in the third quarter.
Side note: Nagy’s philosophy continues to confuse me. We come out of the second half like we’re up 40, totally content with punting the ball over and over. Then he decides to get aggressive at the end of the game when we should be running the clock down. I don’t understand it.
The other touchdown of course came from Jimmy Graham via a one-handed beauty of a grab. Have we ever, as a city, been more collectively wrong about someone than Jimmy Graham? The dude has been absolute nails this year, and looks revitalized. He may just be on some good HGH or something, and by all means, if he is, thank you for your dedication Jimmy! What a 180 I’ve done on that signing.
Chalk a W up for Ryan Pace there, and most importantly chalk one up for a guy bringing his career back to life at 33 years old.
Allen Robinson had a great game, but by his standards, it was a bad one. The dude has yet to be extended and is still okay with getting walloped after every catch for the team. Then he tweets this after the game:
(Translation for the older readers: I’ve got to be better.)
He’s quickly becoming one of the best Bear receivers of all time.
Notebook
Let me hit you all with some of the notes I’m still left with from last night’s game.
Once again, I am not a guy who complains about refereeing all that often. It’s a tough job and the calls usually level out. But they’ve been aggressively bad this year, and it has hurt the Bears. Thank god it hasn’t cost us a game yet.
Nice play by Darnell Mooney on that deep ball in the fourth quarter to break up that would-be interception that Bucs CB Jamel Dean almost corralled. Little plays like that win football games.
The Bears defensive lineman Brent Urban, who I really had never really heard of until tonight, had one of the most unintentionally funny moments of the night. Dude makes his first play of the season and is dancing after the play for a good two minutes like he’s in The Hangge-Uppe at 2 am, all while the Bears are still down 2 and it’s, like, second down. More power to the Canadian.
Bruce Arians, you cocky son of a bitch. Going for it on his own 20. First of all, what drives me crazy about Nagy is his game management. Forget the passive play calling, Nagy uses timeouts in the wrong moments and doesn’t challenge in the right ones. The Bucs should have had a fourth and a long one, and not 4th and 5 inches, and Nagy instead lets them QB sneak it to get a first down with ease. That was a slap in the face to the Bears, but we got the last laugh.
Our special teams blocking and coverage is terrible still, and if we didn’t have Cordarrelle Patterson covering punts or returning kicks we’d be have the worst unit in the history of the NFL. Also, please get Ted Ginn Jr. off of punt returns. The guy looks like he’d rather be in the back of an Uber on the verge of puking than catching punts.
Fans in the Stands
It’s a god damn shame that the 4th phase wasn’t in Soldier Field for last night’s game. Look, I know the health implications. At the beginning of COVID-19, I was spraying Lysol on my father’s steering wheel after borrowing his car, for Christ’s sake.
But my goodness, we need to find a way to get some energy back in the building. Hell, my buddy Jacobi has immunity. Lost his sense of smell and everything. He’s back at it now though, and he’s ready to get another virus with his shirt off and a Miller Lite turning his hand red in Soldier Field. Let Jacobi in! He’s no threat to public health — only his own — but god dammit would he have been a threat to Tom Brady last night.
Lori Lightfoot, let the 4th phasers in!
SGCTC Fan Appreciation
The SGCTC mob is the best in the world. Shout out to all of you who interacted with us on Twitter last night at @stillgottachi (FOLLOW).
Just some great banter on the above thread regarding everyone’s food, drink, and TV set ups for last night’s game.
This is the shit I love.
We had Bud Lights and Miller Lites going down; thin crust and deep dish pizzas; outside and inside viewing experiences; and most of all, a lot of pumped up Bears fans.
Shouts to all of you guys for reading and following along. I appreciate it. What a win. What a night. Enjoy the weekend.
And remember: STILL GOTTA COME THROUGH CHICAGOOOO!
Comment here:
If there was one guy in the world I could have a beer with it would be Matt Nagy...so I can try and understand what is going through his dumb fucking skull. Literally all game long you see something and think wow that was stupid how could he get any dumber and without fail he seems to one up himself every drive.
Sorry to kill the good vibes but I have some bitching to do but I will start with praise. If anyone cannot tell the incredible difference between Foles and Trubisky, stop watching football you don't get it. There were a good six times he threw the ball away or rushed a complete pass that would have had Trubisky sacked and fumbled. Not to mention the audibles and teaching.
Also, Jacobi, I as still mad at you for talking bad about my guy Cordarrell. I absolutely love it when he catches a kickoff and comes out of the endzone like a high speed train with no concern for his personal safety.
Nagy!?!? What in good gods name was he thinking at the end of that game? I hate when he pulls some hairbrained idea out of his ass and by some miracle it works because I know it encourages his moronic behavior. There is no logic to throwing twice down there. None. Lets see. Give the ball to Brady with 1:13 left needing a field goal or give it to him with 30 seconds left needing a field goal? Hmmm....
And watching Foles plead with him to pick up the pace as he was slicing through the Tampa defense while Nagy stared at his laminated play listing is just reason 101 why he is a hindrance to this team. We will never know if Trubisky was incapable or Nagy completely stunted his growth.
Lastly, I used to love Tom Brady until Deflategate. Watching that I said he was a little bitch. Watching him last night confirms my belief. Yelling at his teammates, yelling at Mack, not shaking Foles hand, not answering questions about the last series.....