Happy Friday Chicago!
Last week was a great one for this guy right here.
I watched the Bears win and then hit the road down to Oxford, Mississippi to take in the Ole Miss Rebels-Arkansas Razorbacks game, The Grove, and all the glory that came with both.
As always, I did some on-the-ground reporting, while not mentioning that I write for a living to anyone from below the Mason-Dixon Line.
For one, oddly enough, the Arkansas and Ole Miss fanbases are both in on Justin Fields, if you were wondering.
Arkansas fans are special in that they all look like pig variations, and also don the word PIGS on their hats, sweatshirts and t-shirts to support their team.
That reality puts them in between a rock and a hard place. It would be like, for me, if the Bears were not the Bears, and instead called something like the Chicago Baldin’ Big Heads.
No offense to Arkansas fans, of course.
Ole Miss women are an attractive bunch, but I spent little time marveling at them, and more time marveling at the guys they were standing next to — presumably their boyfriends or husbands — who were sunburnt, overweight, and generally wreaking of cigarettes and Gingivitis.
Let’s just say, it wasn’t my place to ask the Oxford women if they needed help when they were standing next to their significant others, but the thought raced through my head more than once.
Also, the word “Yankee” — outside of a baseball context — is much more alive and well than I would have otherwise known. The Southerners were showing me a wonderful time, so I abstained from calling any of them inbred morons yearning for a time that past before they were born. Credit to me.
The Grove — Ole Miss’ tailgate scene — was a football lover’s paradise. Sunny with a slight chill, the band playing, endless food and cold beer, and televisions set up at every tent so you didn’t have to miss one second of the earlier games.
I have no doubt that the Ole Miss people I was with were gossiping the next day about me, the guy who could not keep the “Man, it’s a beautiful day” comments to himself, even after the 16th or 17th time.
The night ended with a home-team W, and without incident, other than one buddy spilling a full vodka-red bull on my lap (we were set to go back to the hotel in 30 minutes), and before I could even get a word out screaming, “I won’t apologize,” because it was an accident — and everyone knows you don’t apologize for accidents, I guess.
Fresh off the vodka-red bull he guzzled down, an hour later he was two inches from my face, emanating snores so powerful they suggested he had four kids, a mortgage, and a farm to till back at home.
But, over those snores, as I wiggled me toes underneath the blanket trying to go to sleep next to a snoring man with a full beard, me and the gentleman sleeping in the other hotel bed in the room — also next to another grown man — talked about the Bears as we fell asleep.
Simultaneously, I was being reminded of adolescence and thrust toward the next stage of adulthood I was entering into.
Whispering about the Bears before bed felt like reminiscent of a childhood sleepover, like we were up past bedtime talking about all the possibilities that could lay before us.
“Hey, do you think middle school will be as fun as grade school?”… “Hey, do you think Justin Fields is really the guy?”
Those conversations are what keeps me going.
They were interrupted, repeatedly, by those snores, though. Which, of course, was a good indicator that it’s probably time to start ponying up for more than one hotel room on four-man trips. That’s what thrust me forward.
But we’ll see about that.
For now, ahead of the Bears-Vikings game on Sunday, I am a dog that has spotted a rabbit on a walk with my owner. The rabbit in the distance represents the Bears excitement, the Bears delusion, and I want it so bad. I know that my owner will get upset with me if I run after it, that I probably won’t catch the rabbit, and that I may even get smothered by incoming traffic.
It’s a good thing I am both dog and owner in this situation. And I am giving the “Go Get It, Boy!” go-ahead. If the car comes and we collide, we’ll patch things up later. If we don’t catch it, it’s what we expected anyway.
From now until Sunday, though, the rush to catch that rabbit will be fun.
The saying always goes that the losses hurt more than the wins feel good. That may be true outside of the battered and beatdown Bears fanbase.
Strangely, I find myself getting over those losses by Thursday, while I’m still glowing from a win — the Bears first win in Week 5 — a week ago. This is probably another time to bring up that whole Stockholm Syndrome concept.
You can read my instant recap from last week’s game here.
But it’s time we get onto Minnesota.
Firstly, some news. The Bears traded Chase Claypool and a 7th round pick in 2025 for a 6th round pick in 2025. In a vacuum, they get rid of a toxic personality, his remaining game checks, and move up a round in a future draft.
Of course, you have to mention the cost to get Claypool in the first place — an early second round pick. There’s no doubt that it’s a massive failure of a situation overall, the worst of Ryan Poles’ tenure thus far.
But Poles has also admitted the failure verbally, and also admitted the failure by doing away with Claypool. The move may have seemed obvious, but admitting your mistakes and moving on is not something general managers tend to do well — especially first-time ones.
I think one of the best traits a general manager can have is the ability to swallow his pride and move on when things don’t work out. How much better off would countless teams be, throughout the major sports, if they had a general manager that didn’t think he was incapable of making mistakes.
I’m glad the Claypool era — which I thought would be a good one for the Bears — is over.
The Bears already seem to be adapting the “Us Against The World” mentality, and getting the distraction out of there should theoretically strengthen that ethos.
A game I evoked in a previous newsletter was last year’s Texans-Bears matchup. It was the third game of the year, and Justin Fields looked awful. The texts came pouring in, “I guess we need to find another quarterback,” just as they did over the first three weeks this season.
I don’t think we know if Fields is 100% the guy yet, but he’s sure played like it the last couple of weeks. I once again must acknowledge Luke Getsy’s malpractice over the first few weeks, but also the preseason.
Matt Nagy didn’t care about the preseason. He thought he was a genius because of it. He turned out to be wrong.
This could not be the case at all, but it sure seems like the Bears — the coaches and Fields — could really use some extended reps in the preseason in years moving forward, if this gang sticks together.
The NFLPA has done a good job of making the offseason far less strenuous on players, but it has also undoubtedly taken away from game readiness in the first quadrant of the season. I know there’s injury risk, but the Bears should probably consider taking the preseason a tad more seriously moving forward.
The Minnesota Vikings are coming into Soldier Field this weekend allowing close to 25 points per game, good for 23rd in the league.
Over the past two weeks, the Bears have put up 28 and 40.
The defense looked better last week, but is banged up and, well, bad, if we’re being honest. Matt Eberflus doesn’t have much help there yet — they’re reportedly looking to hire a senior defensive analyst — but the Bears have been given a gift this week.
Justin Jefferson has absolutely torched the Bears in his career. He has 41 catches and 585 yards against them in just six games. Great news: he’s not playing Sunday.
Kirk Cousins relies so heavily on Jefferson, and Jefferson has not missed a game in his career until now. I think that will make for major trouble for Cousins, if Eberflus puts in a sensical game plan understanding that — which is not a given.
The Bears are still 3-point underdogs at home, which, ugh…, seems ridiculous. The Vikings have been far more competitive, yes, but, God bless it, I love the Bears this weekend.
The only issue. While there’s not a player out for the Bears that’s even as close to as impactful as Jefferson, the Bears injury report this week reads like a laundry list.
It almost hurts to look at. The defensive backfield is going to be thin and hobbled, which is yet another reason to thank God that Jefferson will not be playing.
Fields has been great this week, but he hasn’t yet hit his stride — still. The injuries may hinder him — namely the running backs being out — but I also think it offers an opportunity for him to go Demon Mode. For the older adults reading that don’t know what that means, I don’t know either really, but I’m thinking 300 yards passing, 80 yards rushing and four total touchdowns.
If the Bears win this game, no leash will be able to keep me from chasing that rabbit, basically from here on out. Especially if Fields goes Demon Mode.
Everybody now: Bear Down!
What’s that? Is the Blackhawk kid back, not writing about generational greats being shown the door or hidden sexual misconduct?
Yes sir!
I watched two Blackhawks games this week, which is I think more than I’ve watched since the COVID-19 season, combined.
There’s good hockey players, and then there’s great hockey players. Here’s the difference: the untrained eye cannot recognize a good hockey player, but can recognize a great one.
Connor Bedard already looks like one of those great ones. The opener in Pittsburgh was not just an exciting game, it was electric every time Bedard got the puck. The entire position that led to his first professional point — an assist — was mesmerizing. That was the most-watched regular season game in ESPN history, according to ESPN PR.
The next night he scored the Blackhawks one and only goal in Boston.
Bedard is so good that I learned the advanced stat xG this week, and will be following it closely all year, using it as my only frame of reference. That’s how advanced stats are supposed to work, right?
I doubt the Hawks are going to win a ton of games this year, but Bedard is worth flipping the TV to NBC Sports Chicago.
I was planning on watching every game this year, actually, but that won’t be realistic given how invested I will now have to be in the Bulls season.
What changed? Oh, you didn’t hear. The Bulls just knocked off the Nuggets in Game 2 of the preseason. I thought they were the champs? LOL. See you all next week for a full Bulls season preview.
Thank you for reading Still Gotta Come Through Chicago so regularly during this Bears season, and thank you for commenting your thoughts below. The community is better off when it’s more than just me talking. Let’s go!
Sorry for the initial mistake that said the Blackhawks played Philly, and not Pitt, Tuesday.
Those SEC people still a little sore about that war 160 years ago?