We all know the narrative. Bears blow a victory vs WASH last year in catastrophic fashion thxs to Matt Eberflus dumbfuckery and Tyrique Stevenson yapping with the crowd.
Bears enter death spiral that results in the first Bears’ HC to ever be fired midseason making Caleb Williams shuffle through 3 OCs in his rookie season.
Meanwhile Jayden Daniels catapults to OROY, carrying his team to the playoffs amid media hype.
Many pundits preseason were predicting the Bears to be a ‘surprise playoff team’, but Washington stole their Cinderella slippers that day.
On the bright side, it was such a colossal disaster that it was enough for even the milk toast McCaskeys to show some balls and fire Eberflus.
Although in typical timid Halas fashion, it still somehow wasn’t enough to terminate the GM who hired that HC [and vouched for him]because…Bears.
So we know what’s at stake. This isn’t just another game. It’s nearly symbolic and a true measure of how far the Bears have really progressed since that fateful Hail Mary.
What needs to happen:
Well, once more, this isn’t rocket, or even rock ’em-sock’ em robot science.
The Commies are the best running team.
As I wrote on Tues.
Bears’ avg 102.3 YPG [24rth]; however, when one slices out the Caleb scrambles it leaves RBs: 3.4 YPC, 2 TDs.
Meanwhile, the Commanders: 156.4 YPG [1st].
On D, the Bears are giving up a whopping 164.5 YPG [31st].
Ergo. STOP THE RUN.
Or at the very least slow it down! This won’t be easy. Jayden Daniels can freeze the LBs opening up lanes for Bill Croskey-Merritt who is having a heck of a rookie campaign. I caught some of him, and he resembles Ashton Jeanty in that he’s shifty with zip.
Friendly reminder, Poles drafted Kyle Monangai [233rd] while Croskey-Merritt was selected 12 spots after. Fans dreaming about trading for Breece Hall or De’Von Achane when Poles could’ve just drafted Merritt straight up. Thanks, Poles.
Luckily for the Bears, T.J. Edwards and Kyler “Spider-Man” Gordon are projected back. Maybe they help. It’s important to remember that nickel in today’s NFL is basically the new SAM, as such, expected to make tough tackles in space. For the Bears’ sake, Gordon [and Austin Booker] return hungry.
As a Bears’ fan, my first instinct is to establish the run and keep ramming it down their throats. That simply isn’t feasible with this Poles’ roster. More realistically, Ben Johnson will have to pass to open up some lanes for the run as WASH struggles to defend the pass and employs a ton of zone.
Caleb Williams seems to excel vs zone, so chunk plays must be made. First downs can’t be missed; they will act as the defacto run game to keep WASH off the field and hopefully playing from behind. It’s not ideal. Much more can go wrong, from pre-snap penalties, drop passes, wrong routes, to sailing balls, blown up screens, jumped passes and strip sacks, but that’s what happens when a team can’t run.
Outside a slew of Bear-forced TOs, Commanders self-sabotaging, or crazy plays like blocked FGs, muffed returns, etc… this is likely the best path for the Bears to serve the chilly dish of revenge and finally bury that infamous debacle.
King Benny didn’t take it lying down and neither should the BJ Bears. Bang! Bang!