Some random thoughts about the Chicago Bears and other things, mostly football-related as we count down the hours until we get to watch this team play football again:
Have you ever watched a movie, hated it, then found yourself watching it again and again? Maybe it’s a popular movie that was always on when you were growing up that didn’t hit you right or something your spouse loves to put on regularly that just isn’t in your genre. You find yourself watching a few minutes before you think – “I’ve
seen this movie before… I hate this movie, I need to get out of here”? That’s watching the Bears go to Lambeau for the vast majority of my life. Same movie with a rotating cast of characters, like endless additions to the Night of the Living Dead franchise where no one escapes, and the zombies always win. It’s boring, and I’m ready for a new series to start for real when our protagonist gets back healthy.
For those that may have never spent time in Wisconsin, my experience is that the default side next to a burger or sandwich is cheese curds instead of fries. Might be the only time fries would be considered the healthier side option.
I mentioned last week that I thought Tyson Bagent’s film against the Jets was a little better than I expected it to be on second watch. Unfortunately, and this might be hard to believe, I think the Packers tape was worse than I thought it would be. I’m not sure if he lost confidence after the first pick and things unraveled from there, but it was truly awful tape. I’ve seen some criticism of Ben Johnson’s gameplay, and I’d just invite anyone with that opinion to make sure they watch the tape before settling into that as their final answer. Johnson was far from perfect, but he did more than enough schematically for Bagent to succeed. The biggest criticism you could have of Johnson was his decision to start Bagent over Keenum in the first place, which may be fair.
Bagent’s workout of the burpee broad jump mile made some waves a couple years ago, which is easily the most insane workout I’ve ever heard of and I can’t get over it. I was asked recently if I wanted to do a Hyrox race, which features a burpee broad jump station as part of the experience. For 80 meters. Still too far for me, I think.
The Bears will likely get Caleb Williams back this week against the Atlanta Falcons. That’s great news as Atlanta has a lot of firepower in their skill players and the Bears may need to win a shootout. They’re dealing with some quarterback injury issues as well and it would be a huge win if Chicago sees Tua Tagovailoa instead of Michael Penix. The fall between those two isn’t as big as Williams to Bagent, but it’s significant.
I watched that Atlanta – Baltimore game and it will be a good challenge for the Bears defense to try and limit Bijan Robinson in this one. Best defense against Bijan will likely be a Caleb Williams offense that runs out to an early lead and forces Atlanta into a negative game script. Forcing a banged-up Penix or a fully functioning Tua into throwing 35+ times will lead to turnover opportunities, something this Bears defense desperately needs.
This time last year I was in New Zealand. One of those once-in-a-lifetime trips. I always try to eat local fare wherever I travel and of course, I had my share of kiwifruit. I’ve kept that going back stateside but I’m a much bigger fan of the gold kiwifruit. Pro tip: cut the kiwifruit in half and scoop with a spoon.
I’m officially panicking about Jaylon Johnson. Problem is, the Bears don’t really have anywhere to go on that one. Kyler Gordon’s return only goes so far.
We’re officially on Khalil Mack watch, and I, for one, couldn’t be happier. He’s playing some good football on a bad Chargers squad and one would like to believe that Chicago would be the one place he’d be happy to go back to a place with familiarity and where he’s beloved. It’s a position of need for Chicago, and everything is lining up perfectly. I also personally love the idea of Mack returning so I can dig out that throwback jersey and wear it again.
You got any musings? Hit the comments and let me know what’s up.
