Da Dos

Author: ButchDeadLift

  • Packers@Bears III. Playoffs, baby!

    Packers@Bears III. Playoffs, baby!

    So I got a little busy this week, but couldn’t think of anything awe-inspiring to write about the matchup.

    A major part of that is because this is the THIRD time the Bears have faced Green Bay this season.

    Divisional games are always a toss-up. That’s how you end up with Commanders defeating the Eagles last week, or the Bears prevailing against the Packers’ in the ’24 finale. Then you add this is the 3rd time [in 5 weeks] playing against one another in the same season, and voila, near coin-flip.

    As they say, familiarity breeds contempt, and you know the Packers are still fuming over the dramatic loss, so they are going to come out brawling.

    An interesting factoid though which caught my eye.

    How many points have the Bears scored against the Packers in the first half this season?

    If your answer is 3, you are sadly correct.

    Clearly, the Bears can NOT sputter out of the gate this time around.

    We saw what a slow start does to the crowd in the final Lions’ game; it totally nullifies the homefield advantage, NVM breaking any offensive rhythm while exhausting the D and sapping any psychological mojo.

    Bears are not a juggernaut. Regardless of record, they are the underdogs [Vegas agrees: Pack are -1.5 road favorites]. They are young with little to no playoff experience. Difference makers like Rome, Gordon and Ozzy will be playing through INJs.

    Soldier Field forecast predicts 9°F, snow and possibly 39 MPH wind!

    Halas has heavily invested in transforming the Bears into a modern offensive-minded team. Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and crew simply cannot afford to cede an entire first half or else “The Iceman” is going to mean starting cold.

    The Chicago media-machine has conjectured what has gone wrong early. Some surmise it is BJ’s initial opening script, specifically that the NFL has figured it out. Some theorize Caleb is too unfocused and erratic when the game is not on the line. Clay Harbor pushes that it simply comes down to execution and eliminating mistakes, especially on 3rd down; he further elaborates the defense “bending” but not breaking for 8 minutes straight ices the offense. It is going to be hard to get into any sort of rhythm if Caleb, Swift and Burden are thawing in their snowy trench coats through two commercial breaks.

    Whatever the issue for slow first halves, the Bears MUST solve it, PRONTO.

    The easiest solution would be for the Bears’ oline to open up lanes for Swift and Monangai to win TOP and keep a shaky D off the field.

    No reason Bears can not start hot either. The Packers’ D in the past 4 games[w/out Parsons] has imploded:

    Which brings me to why I struggled a bit with a preview since I am going to sound cliche:

    The team that wins the trenches, turnover and redzone battle will likely prevail.

    This applies to the defense as well. They cannot for the life of them get off on 3rd down, which allows for QTR long, soul-sucking drives.

    They began [up to Nov] the season top 6ish in opponent third-down conversion. They finished like 22nd [allowing around 40.8% success], and we have witnessed this downward trend in the two losses against SF and DET.

    It does not even seem to matter what Dennis Allen calls either. He mostly played zone vs SF, and they lit that D up for 42 points.

    He mostly played man vs DET, and they lost the TOP battle (19:12-10:48) while their WRs abused Wright, CJ and JJ to 7.7 yards per attempt.

    So what is the answer?

    Well, again, this is going to sound trite.

    Bear players must rise to occasion. The roster must overperform. Sweat, Booker, Jarrett, Brisker, Wright…gotta play out of their minds.

    An interviewer [Manziel] once tried to blame Rex Grossman for the SB loss, but Urlacher was having none of it. Urlacher pointed out that the Colts racked up 250 yards passing and a mind-boggling 190 yards rushing when season long that ’06 D gave up 300 TOTAL. Fans often forget that part.

    In other words: The ’06 Bears’ SB D underperformed.

    [Granted, no MB or Tharris hurt]

    That cannot happen this time around. The Bears must not just meet but SURPASS their potential.

    Since this is a trilogy, think Rocky.

    I compared the ’25 Bears to the both the SB winning ’08 Giants and ’10 Saints.

    In short, both teams “overachieved”.

    Racking up key TOs, clutch moments, and bold decisions. That is how a team overcomes a talent deficit.

    Much like in life, the Bears gotta be the BEST versions of themselves on this unexpected playoff run because as Urlacher relayed, nothing is guaranteed going forward.

    So Godspeed, Chicago Bears.

    For once in 40 years shatter our cynical ‘same ole Bears‘ mantra.

    Rewire the Favre-Rodgers trauma and make us once again BEARLIEVE.

    Bear Down and FTP!

  • Zen 15

    Zen 15

    7 yr old nephew, “What are you doing uncle?”

    Butch, “Going to cut the grass.”

    Nephew, “But I like grass.”

  • Lions Pounce on Listless Bears

    Lions Pounce on Listless Bears

    If you were to relay to a non-football fan that one of the teams was playing for something, and the other wasn’t, he would have quipped, “Oh, so that team in white is obviously playing for something.” Bears came out like the Fox zombies – oddly disinterested and disjointed. They completely nullified their home crowd.

    These were the stats by halftime:

    Lions 237 yds; 19:12 TOP; 13 points

    Bears 69 yds; 10:48 TOP; 0 points

    Abject failure. At least the defense was holding them to mostly FGs despite the Bears’ O just giving it right back. So yes, while the defense faltered, not nearly as much as the offense. In fact the O didn’t wake up til late in the game while the D did the heavy lifting.

    This is unacceptable. Poles hired Ben Johnson so that the new engine to the Bears would be the offense. He drafted Loveland instead of a pass rusher, doubled down with Burden [“overdrafted” Trapilo], and oh yeah, used the #1 overall on Caleb and another top #10 for good measure on Rome.

    Meanwhile the defense is being held together with bailing wire, the ghosts of Dayo, Shemar, Gordon and ailing underperformers.

    This is why BJ’s decision to punt it on 4rth and 4ish late in the 4rth was so baffling. Did he not see the game? They asked BJ why he decided to punt. He responded:

    “Because we had three timeouts and thought we were going to get the ball back.”

    How can such a sharp mind use that logic? ESPECIALLY when his other trait is aggressiveness. Needless to say, he came to regret that decision.

    We expect the defense to struggle while the offense carries the game; it shouldn’t be the other way around.

    Ben Johnson said as much in his post-presser:

    “I was not pleased with the offense today,”

    He added: “We can’t dig ourselves in a hole like that. I was disappointed with the offense as a whole. I let those guys know that. And we’ll be better for it.”

    Naturally, the BounceBack Bears, well, bounced back, but it was too little too late.

    And that’s twice in a row now resulting in two [totally different types of] defeats.

    It’s like continually hitting on 16 in Black Jack. Eventually the laws of averages bust you out with a vengeance.

    Luckily for the Bears, hitting on 16 didn’t cost them much this time. Nick Sirianni in his infinite wisdom decided to “rest” Hurts, then proceeded to lose to the terrible Commandos, thus locking the Bears as the #2 Seed to face the Packers this Saturday.

    Overtime:

    Congrats to Caleb Williams for becoming the Bears all-time leading season passer.

    Like I wrote in the game thread, I really didn’t give a crap about him hitting 4K. It’d be nice, like receiving Cheesecake Factory gift cards, but nothing mindblowing. I would’ve been more impressed if it happened in 16 games.

    Before this 17th game:

    ’25 Caleb YPG=233.1
    ’18 Bisquit YPG=230.2

    3 more yds per game than Trubisky isn’t exactly anything to write home about. Still, it’s not nothing, so golf clap.

    Speaking of which, congrats to Myles Garrett for breaking the season sack record

    Michael Strahan apparently wasn’t buying it ‘Garrett is the record holder for the 17 game season. I’m the record holder for the 16 game season’

    I may have agreed with him, but Garrett played for the freaking shitty BROWNS who likely weren’t ahead much. The stats say as much:

    Scott@WFNYScott
    Snaps required for each sack record:

    Myles Garrett (23): 437
    TJ Watt (22.5): 616
    Michael Strahan (22.5): 567

    Strahan’s buddy Favre diving for him was also highly dubious, so Strahan can suck it.

    Congrats to Loveland too. This may have been his breakout game, but outside from one tough drop, he’s been a 3rd/4rth down conversion machine. Brady even referred to him as “Baby Gronk,” and coming from him, that’s saying something. It’s even more remarkable because TEs notoriously progress slowly, so such ROI so soon should end any ‘shoulda drafted a HB’ or ‘Tyler Warren’ protests.

    I hope to gawd his back and not his will gave out. I don’t really put this INT on Caleb. He threw it to a spot like in that Pack game, except this time DJ flopped, literally.

    DJ wasn’t the only Bear to flop though. Many fans also noticed JJ looking slow and soft. These are vital vets getting PAID; they need to show the hell up in the crunch.

    Factoid:

    In a truly surreal season, the Bears won the NFCN despite going 2-4 in the division.

    Fitting. On a related note

    It’s Packer Week III!

    #FGB

  • Final Week of NFL Season. Lions@Bears

    Final Week of NFL Season. Lions@Bears

    Not gonna lie, it’s a little hard to get into this game because I simply don’t know what Lions’ team is going to run out of the tunnel.

    Will they be like the Bears last year vs Pack in the finale desperately trying to play spoilers even if it only involved some marginal playoff seeding?

    Or will Dan Campbell rest his MASH unit and call it a season, maybe even doing a small favor to his former OC Ben Johnson? I mean, the last thing Campbell would want is Goff tearing his achilles in a meaningless game [Remember when Lovie made Lach play the last game, and he INJed himself and was never really the same?]

    The seeding is relatively simple now. Seattle clinched #1 Seed [that D impressed]. Bears currently hold tie breaker over Eagles for the #2 Seed, so if both win out, Bears are #2. If Eagles tie/lose, Bears are #2.

    As for who the Bears will face as the #2 Seed, well, that’s a bit more complicated which I’m sure the pregame shows will math ad nauseum, but suffice it to say, Bears will likely host a game vs Packers which would be insane.

    9ers and Rams are also possibilities. Sadly, not which ever NFCS team limp-dicks in.

    ✶ Sports Mockery ✶@sportsmockery·16h

    Here are the odds for who the Bears might face in the first round:

    1. Green Bay Packers: 78%
      • They are the clear favorite if the Bears win against Detroit or if Philadelphia loses. The Packers are already locked in at the #7 seed.
    2. San Francisco 49ers: 13%
      • If the Bears lose to Detroit and Philadelphia wins, they will drop to #3. Seattle wins and the Rams beat Arizona also affects this.
    3. Los Angeles Rams: 9%
      • Similar scenario as with the 49ers; Bears drop to #3 if they lose to Detroit and Philadelphia wins. If the 49ers win or if Seattle wins and the Rams lose to Arizona, this also matters.

    I’m interested in Ben Johnson’s strategy.

    Will he follow the Belichick way of playing all the starters to keep them sharp for the playoffs?

    Or will he choose to rest players since they aren’t the #1 seed and don’t have a bye?

    Maybe he’ll find a middle ground and rest some injured players and older veterans who usually would play.

    Ultimately, the main goal is to win and stay healthy.

    The Bears will need every advantage in the playoffs since they’ve exceeded expectations all year.

    Bear Down, baby.

  • Zen 14

    Zen 14

    You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. – Jon Kabat-Zinn

  • Happy New Year!

    Happy New Year!

    Can you believe it’s already 2026? Man, this year zoomed by.
    From a Bears’ fan point of view, we went from 7 win expectations, to maybe a winning season, to – hey, Wild Card is entirely in the realm of possibility – to holy shit, NFCN champs; maybe we can win it all!

    It’s been a crazy ride, and no matter what, it was fun. It’s not often life pleasantly shocks. May the Cinderella season continue, and a happy New Year!

  • Not sure who I wanna fight!

    Not sure who I wanna fight!

    Rams, Seahawks, 9ers, Puke?

  • Bears Lose 9er Shoot-out 38-42

    Bears Lose 9er Shoot-out 38-42

    Bears’ D still as awful as it was pre-bye, and even a pick-6 wasn’t enough to mask it.

    Dline pushed around. Bad angles. Slow recognition. Loose coverage.

    Pass rush non-existent, and run defense a sieve.

    Only thing that slowed down 9ers was their INJs.

    It’s hard to imagine this team getting to SB with such a sub-par defense, but one must also remember that the Bears were, again, a throw away from stealing a victory against an 11-win team competing for the #1 seed at their house.

    Gotta trust that both Ben Johnson and more specifically Dennis Allen can learn from the beating and adapt.

    If not, it’ll be a short playoffs.

  • Bears@9ers WK17 SNF Thread

    Bears@9ers WK17 SNF Thread

    Game preview?
    Stop Christian McCaffrey on the ground and through the air.
    Purdy is efficient, but he’s not super-mobile and can throw some INTs if pressured.

    Hopefully, BJ/Caleb start cooking early and deliver 4 complete QTRs of scoring, preferably by running over 9ers [minimal cuteness, por favor].

    We’re all going to be Panthers’ fan for a day. We’ll find out if SEA loses, and if Bears are playing for the #1 seed [and 9ers possibly for the NFCW] by kickoff.

    Let’s roll!

  • Sat Night Thread Week 17

    Sat Night Thread Week 17

    Been away and busy, so I’ll do a Laconian 9er preview manana, but from what I gather, it no longer matters if the Puke win unless they’re shooting for the NFCN, but gotta think, with all the INJs which Loins suffered, and out of the playoffs, doubt they play Goff or any marginal starter, eying 2026 [I agree with other regs that their ‘window’ has been shut, but that’s off-season banter].

    As such, Puke may be resigned with the WC.

    I would still love for the Bears to win the #1 seed, so, beat the 9ers, because playing a team thrice, esp div rivals in one season is dicey AF.

    I wish Data were here to give the %, but from memory, facing a team twice then in the playoffs is a coin-flip regardless of all other factors.


    So Sat games may not matter as much.

    The Sun night game much more vital, + SEA loss.

    That extra week would also buy some time for Gordon, Rome, et al, to return when it REALLY matters.