What is the story about?
My schedule is all kinds of out of whack right now and I don’t have as much time as I’d like to get my thoughts in order, so apologies in advance for some somewhat truncated Fan Notes this morning. I’m guessing you’re all as ready as I am to just shrug our shoulders and move on from this game. Kudos to the Bears.
- I’ll start these off with my usual rant of hypocrisy and nonsense: Thursday Night Football is the worst thing to happen to the NFL since Zeke Mowatt. It’s just an awful product. Not so awful that I won’t watch it when the Patriots play, but last night represented the last TNF game I’m going to watch this year that doesn’t fall on Thanksgiving, when I’m too full and drunk to care what‘s on TV at all. Nothing about that game represents either of these teams, and I just hate it.
- To be fair, it wasn’t even a bad game in terms of play or content. It was actually one of the better TNF games I can remember watching. I just don’t think you get the same thing from either side if last night’s matchup got moved to Sunday when everyone had more time and rest.
- And even though I didn’t know what to expect and I’m not taking too much away from this game one way or another, this isn’t one of those losses that sticks with me. I was over it almost immediately after the final whistle.
- It more or less came down to an end zone interception and some very ticky-tack penalties on the defense to keep the Bears on the field. Considering an away game on a short week, you kind of have to take that.
- Before I get too deep into these Fan Notes, a quick congrats to the refs for finding an obscure footnote in the NFL rulebook that states you must call at least one holding penalty per drive. Not sure how everyone else missed that.
- Hindsight is always 20/20, and I guess things always look clearer in the light of day. And I appreciate the faith in the offense and the desire to be aggressive on the opening drive. But going for it on 4th-and-5 with a patchwork offensive line just a hair over midfield might not be the best call.
- Other than that pick, I thought that Drake Maye looked very solid. I’m sure there was something that Raridon was supposed to do there, or maybe Maye has a ton of confidence in the rookie. Because otherwise I have no idea what he saw there. But that was really the only blemish on his night, and it ended up being what decided the game.
- That, and the defense not being able to get off the field and seemingly forgetting how to tackle. The D looked kind of tired out there. I don’t know how many yards Bears ball carriers generated after contact, but they seemed to be dragging Patriots defenders with them like Spike on the Little Giants. Tackles that might have been made on an average Sunday weren’t made, and the score reflects that.
- One of the douchiest things one person can do, in my opinion, is test someone else’s fandom of a particular NFL team by asking, “So you’re a fan? Then can you name the starting offensive line?” Like who cares whether you can name the whole line or not? And maybe I’m making this note right now because I for sure wouldn’t be able to answer that question if someone asked me right now.
- I don’t want to blame anything on injuries. Every team is banged up. But good lord is this Patriots team struggling with depth. The line held up as well as it could, and it’s not like Maye took 10 sacks, but the early playcalling was specifically designed to get the ball out quickly, and the Bears were all over it.
- By halftime I had stopped hoping that someone on the Patriots would cover Luther Burden and instead started hoping I would see a Patriots player and Burden on my TV screen at the same time.
- I started to make a snarky comment about 70 yards rushing for the Patriots, but I’m going to gve them some slack. Ninth-string offensive linemen aren’t really known as road graders.
- At least A.J Brown didn’t have four drops in this game. He just had one contested catch that would have set the Patriots up with goal to go that you kind of expect him to make, even with a defender in good position.
- Did the better team win last night? For sure. One team made plays and limited mistakes; the other team didn’t. That’s a good recipe for victory. But these are two very strong teams that will very likely be around in January. I highly doubt that we’ll be seeing a Patriots vs. Bears rematch this season… but there could very well be one sooner than four years from now.
Unless I’m mistaken, nobody else got IR’ed last night, which is all we can ask for right now. Time to enjoy a mini-bye, get healthier, and turn the page to Miami. I know the Dolphins stink,
but it’s an away game, and South Florida scares me for a laundry list of reasons.
