Da Dos

Tag: Week 18

  • 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.