What a WILD game. I think this was the craziest game since that infamous Zona circa 2006.
Talk about the Raiders letting Bears off the hook!
Ashton Jeanty rushed for 128 yds, 1 TD, 6.5 per along with TWO rec TDs
The #1 key was to stop or minimally contain Jeanty; they failed miserably.
And before you crown his ass, a 33 yr old Raheem Mostert rushed 4 times for 62 yds at a mindboggling 15.5 per carry. They may as well have been Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl
Raiders rushed for a total of 240 yds.7.7 avg yet somehow managed to still lose!
Bears@Raiders Highlights
I have way too many thoughts on the game to squeeze into one post but few pertinent notes.
1. The Bears came out slow. I think they had 97 yds total in the first half despite the D spotting them great field position. Four times they started in Raider territory yet flopped.
This was a combo of Nagyesque small-ball, Crosby scud, dropped passes, batted throws, miscues and way too many stupid penalties. Kmet especially did his best Kellen Davis impression.
2. Raiders blitzed over 9 times, which was more in one half than Flus the entire game previously; it rattled Caleb. He looked uncomfortable, making iffy decisions [including on RPOs] and off throws. When he did scramble, his cast didn’t help him much. It was all discombobulated.
3. The run game stunk! 69 yd total, 2.7 avg. Ben Johnson reverted to Nagy-ball of quick screens, flats and dump-offs near the LOS to essentially act as the defacto run game. Only thing missing was empty-set diamond formation. The results were predictable.
However, all this seemed to change once Braxton was out [benched?], Benedet moved to LT, and Trapilo debuted at RT in the final drive before the half.
After the half, the oline seemed to settle-in while BJ became more aggressive.
It appeared BJ just gave up on the run, putting the game on Caleb’s shoulder, and he responded.
I wrote in real time that Caleb somehow looks more comfortable in the clutch than at the start of games. It’s truly odd. The ‘scripted’ plays didn’t help much today.
Caleb is a walking Dickenson quote, “It was the worst of halves, it was the best of halves…”
Then came the final drive where it was all on Caleb.
“This is what you’re built for.”
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams shared a moment ahead of the game-winning drive by the Bears offense: pic.twitter.com/ByaM6qRfiW
Flus’ Bears would’ve folded like knock-off jeans from a sweat-shop by the 4rth, but the Bears kept clawing back, including the D that forced the Raiders to settle for a FG late.
The Bears’ final drive itself was bumpy as well. As Data keenly relayed:
Loved seeing Caleb overcome some real adversity on that drive. Started with a penalty, then a drop to put them in 2nd and 22. Two strikes, 1st down.
Then another pre-snap penalty puts them in 2nd and 12, still gets the TD.
Naturally, it’s the Bears, so they [badly] screwed up the 2-point conversion making it 25-24 Bears.
At this point, our Angelo-Emery-Pace-Poles trauma triggered as we were cynically expecting the inevitable, no Vaseline.
Sure enough, the Raiders waltzed down field like Fred Astaire through the Red Sea, reaching the Kicker’s Promised Land which felt like anything near the 50.
Like Pavlovian losers, I wouldn’t be shocked if thousands of Bear fans hit the parking-lot trying to beat Strip traffic or make one last all-you-can-eat buffet before leaving Vegas buzzed, broke and bitter.
Then, the unimaginable manifested. Daniel Carslon lined up for a seemingly chip-shot 54 yd FG…
It only took 4 TOs, a slew of Raider mistakes, 4 Cairo FGs [including two beyond 51], a Tori coffin corner inside the 1 plus a blocked FG for a Bears’ victory!
🚨NEW: Jay Cutler takes plea deal in his Oct 2024 DUI arrest. Here's what we know about the deal: 🔐He will spend four days in Jail 💰 $350 fine + DUI safety Class 👮Unsupervised probation for 1 year
Cutler was arrested Oct 17 2024 after rear-ending another driver in Franklin,… pic.twitter.com/JBCdRVQrqL
Boy, I think this draft is going to split Bear fans
Camp 1. Obviously BJ in charge now, and as such, he’s finally ushering the Bears into the modern NFL of offense and playmakers
Camp 2. TE & WR were ‘luxury’ picks, and Ozzy was a big reach at LT in the 2nd. Poles shoulda stayed put and drafted trenches and HB – Draft Day Butch ———————- This is an informative Greg Gabriel interview [before day 2] cuz it shows how the sausage is made. Some insights.
“James Pierce just doesn’t give a fuck”. No wonder he dropped some. Huge risk
‘Mike Green was off the board for some teams, so you know he was never on the Bears’ board’
Scourton had 10 sacks at 256 standing up. As DE at 280 lost explosion. 5 sacks
Colt’s Insider msged Greg Gabriel that Bears drafted right TE
‘Ppl say, ‘trade down’, the Colts would’ve traded up for Colston. Other teams were trying to do same
That praise for Warren and Jeanty trade-up talk was to throw teams off Bears’ target: Loveland
Gabriel contacted DR. Shoulder will be alright. Sounds worse than it really is
OT Ersey is not a fit for Ben’s scheme. He doesn’t move well enough
OT Charles Grant is basically another Kiran project
‘This was a good draft for oline, just not LT’. Doesn’t think Wright athletic enough for LT
‘HB is a one-contract position now. Is that value?’
Alfred Collins had INJ concerns. ‘Not one big thing, just a lot of little shit’
Day 3
Daniel Jermiah comped Ozzy to Rob Havenstein, Gabriel thinks Ozzy like Mike McClinchey
Ozzy has athleticism and bend to play OG, though true, not many 6’8 OGs
“Shemar Turner is a bad MOFO”
—————– Twitts —————— Courtney Cronin@CourtneyRCronin The Bears draft is over. Here’s their 2025 draft class:
1st – 10th: TE Colston Loveland 2nd – 39th: WR Luther Burden III 2nd – 56th: OT Ozzy Trapilo 2nd – 62nd: DT Shemar Turner 4th – 132nd: LB Ruben Hyppolite II 5th – 169th: CB Zah Frazier 6th – 195th: G Luke Newman 7th – 233rd: RB Kyle Monangai ——————————– Adam Hoge@AdamHoge
No. 147 – SF drafts RB Jordan James No. 148 – Bears trade back —————————
Kevin Fishbain@kfishbain
Bears director of player personnel Trey Koziol on CB Zah Frazier: “We brought him in for a 30-visit and this guy was unbelievable. … Outgoing. Really self-aware. Had to take the long route to the NFL … but we absolutely loved having him in the building.”
Adam Hoge@AdamHoge
Summary on CB Zah Frazier from #Bears director of player personnel Trey Koziel: Height/length/speed guy. Got his hands on the ball a lot last year. Can turn and track the ball. Good instincts. Fits Dennis Allen’s desire for length/speed on the outside. 30-visit was great. A lot of energy. —————–
Kent Lee Platte@MathBomb
Ruben Hyppolite was drafted in round 4 pick 132 in the 2025 draft class. He scored a 8.22 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 570 out of 3204 LB from 1987 to 2025. ——-
Tyler Shough will officially be the last person drafted to the NFL born in the 1900’s —————-
Butch post-draft musings
BJ wants speed, speed and more speed. I think all draftees were fast for their position or ran a great 10 yd split [short area burst]. BJ wanted to give Caleb some easy completions. DJ/Rome/Kmet aren’t really ‘separators’. Loveland and Burden are.
Shemar at 290 is a 3T. HOWEVER, Allen stated he likes his DEs about 280. Shemar loses 10 pounds, he’s a DE
Bears needed a 3T and DE. Shemar may be both. He played INJed last year [stress fracture], but in ‘23 racked up 6 sacks
Bears either nabbed BPA [Loveland/Burden] or “reached” [Ozzy/Hyppolite]. Add all the tradedowns, and it’s understandable why many fans are ‘wtf?’
Poles may have reached for OT at #56, but look at draft. Another true OT [not projected OG] doesn’t get picked after Ozzy ’til pick #91 Emery Jones who may not fit BJ’s scheme. OT Charles Grant went #99, but he’s basically another Kiran project. So essentially the draft went a whole round without drafting an OT after Ozzy #tiers
