So I guess our blog jumped the gun a bit on the Bear’s season being over. You can’t really blame us, considering the Bear’s mid-season crisis and all. Not to mention the fact that we’ve only beaten 1 decent team (TB), and we had to come back from double-digit deficits in 3 of our 7 wins. But sure enough, we’ve come full circle. After starting 5-1, then losing 6 straight, these numbskulls had the audacity to flip it AGAIN and win 2 in a row. So now we’ve fallen so far in the draft, we might as well just make the playoffs. But it’s not up to us any longer. The Bears need help, and the one team that can save our season now is the Arizona Cardinals. So we’re stuck in limbo for at least another week, as this thing could really go either way. It’s like two roads diverging in the woods, and they both lead to nasty, public outhouses that’ve run out of toilet paper due to the pandemic.
So you’re saying the solution’s been in our backfield all along?!
The Low Down
The Bears scored on 7 of their 9 drives, including 6 straight. 2 things have changed in the past few weeks: 1) Nagy handed play-calling duties to OC Bill “The Blazor” Lazor, and 2) Our O-Line has been band-aided back into business. This has helped Mitch execute because the Blaze doesn’t ask him to be a pocket passer. Instead, we’re rolling him out so he can throw on the move, and we’re letting him run. And the repaired line has enabled Blazor to focus on the run game. Not only did he let David “3 Card Monte” Montgomery top 27 carries for the 1st time in 29 career games, but Monte responded with his best day as a Bear: 32 rushes for 146 yards and 2 TDs. It all seems to be coming together, as we’ve scored 99 points in our last 3 games. But we did blow 1 of those games when Mitch fumbled inside our 10 in Q4, so don’t go getting ready or going to any trouble…
Question: Is this the new face of our franchise?
Answer: No, he’ll be dealt as part of the rebuild.
But before we start re-mislabeling Mitch as our franchise QB, the point here is that Blazor has adjusted to Mitch’s strengths – or rather, Mitch’s weaknesses – by dumbing everything down. And that’s not a metaphor; the Blaze has literally set it up so Mitch has less to do. And yet at halftime, Mitch and Viking QB Kirk “Kissing” Cousins were a combined 19/28 for 192 yards, and 2 TDs. By contrast, ATL Falcon QB Matt Ryan by himself was 23/31 for 235 yards, and 2 TDs in his 1st half. Mitch finished 15/21, 202, 1 TD, 1 INT, and a 97.7 QBR, which is good, but nothing special. So for those who need the reminder, Mitch isn’t the answer to any question other than “Who is the Bear’s QB next week?”
Mitch, when told he would start at least 1 more week
Our defense has become our new biggest cause for concern. Even considering the Bears had 3 of our 5 starting DBs out injured, we allowed 400 yards and 27 points to a losing team. We did get 3 sacks and a takeaway, but our D was fresh all game with our O giving them plenty of time to recoup after each drive. We only punted once all day, our fewest punts in a game in over 2 years. And Cairo “Head Shoulders Knees And Toes, Knee” Santos may have earned himself a long term extension after going 4/4 on FGs, extending his streak to 22 straight. He’s now 25/27 on FGs, increasing his already franchise-best percentage to 92.6%. And did I mention that he’s WAY cheaper than Robbie Gould?
Santos, showing how many FGs he made Sunday (4) –
and this was the opening kickoff!
Outlook
At 7-7, and in possession of the 8th NFC seed, the Bears are on the outside looking in, even with 7 teams from each conference making the playoffs this year (rather than the usual 6). Our current draft position is 16th, and the best we could realistically do now is 14th. Since the best any playoff team can draft is 19th, there’s really very little to be gained by PFTDing (Playing For The Draft) anymore this year, especially considering we could still stumble into the post season. But of those 7 seats, only 2 remain possibilities for us – and they both come with significant contingencies.
You can argue if you want, but Bilal “Rhymes With Pedophile”
Nichols seems convinced the Bears are going to the playoffs!
The 1st Wild Card (the #5 seed) is already out of reach because it’s owned by the Rams (9-5). The best we could do is tie them, and they’d take the tie-breaker because they already beat us this year. The 2nd WC (the #6) is held by Tampa (9-5), who also has a 2-game lead on us. But since we beat them, we would take the tie-breaker from them. But to tie them, we’d have to win our final 2 games (@JAX and GB), and they would have to lose both of theirs (@DET and ATL). That’s a pretty long shot, especially considering Brady and the Bucs will be fighting for their own playoff lives. But it is one way the Bears could get an invite to the dance.
Wild Card rankings (the top 7 get in)
* = Spots within Bear’s reach
Our best hope of advancing is the 3rd Wild Card (#7), which is currently owned by AZ (8-6). We’d have to make up a game on them, meaning we’d have to win 1 more than they do (SF and @LAR) over the final 2 weeks. If AZ wins out, it doesn’t matter what we do because we couldn’t catch them (though we “could” still catch TB). But by my math, if we end up tied with AZ (whether it’s at 9-7 or 8-8), we’d skip the “head to head” tie-breaker because we didn’t play them, and we’d also tie in “conference records.” So it would come down to the “common opponents” tie-breaker, which the Bears would win. So you may want to check your local listings for SF @ AZ this Sat, Dec. 26 @ 3:30 CST.
“So I’m telling you there’s a chance…”
We should win next week in JAX. They’ve not only gone just 1-13, but they’ve lost 13 straight. We then face GB the following week, and they could be vying for the #1 seed (which is the only bye this year), so that could be too steep a hill to climb. But AZ plays LAR that week, and the Rams may be fighting for a division title, so that’s a tremendous advantage for us. But even if we do make the post season, we’d have to travel to GB, NO, SEA or LAR, and none of that bodes well for us. I fear the worst scenario is what’s going to happen, which would either be us finishing 8-8, missing the playoffs and drafting 16th, or us finishing 9-7, missing the playoffs and drafting 18th. My money’s on the latter because, after all, it is the Bears. And it is 2020.
Mitch’s prediction for the our final 2 games: we split them 1-1
Quotes of Note
Fox’s Greg Jennings, on Mitch’s 4th quarter INT: “Trubisky has made 2 bad throws this afternoon, and obviously this one was the most costly. In the redzone, you’ve got to be sure, and you can’t force it.” ~ Throwing a Q4 pick with a 3-point lead is really the exact opposite of what you want out of the QB position.
Some think Mitch stumbled back into the starting job; others
donated to a GoFundMe page to buy him a ticket back to OH
Comcast’s Lance Briggs, on the Bears committing to the running game: “If you want to think about the identity of this team, it’s Montgomery. It’s your O-Line. Block, run the ball, we’ll find success. Whenever you do it (run the ball), whenever you stick to it (keep running it, even if you’re not having success), somehow someway, the Bears find success.” ~ Has no one told Nagy this yet? I mean, this is football 101. At least the Blazor gets it.
Nagy’s last-ditch effort to keep his job was
giving it to someone else. And it’s working!
Comcast’s Olin Kreutz, on our offense and Monte: “The offense is getting tired of carrying the defense (laughter). 33 points a game the last 3 weeks, over 160 yards rushing (today)… It was good to see the Bears stick to what they need to do to win…run the ball, get (Mitch) out of the pocket, and stick with Montgomery.” ~ See, even Olin gets it. And he’s got more CTE than a crash test dummy!
Santos, who also dabbles in construction, took the time to
point out a few areas of concern in MIN’s new stadium roof
Comcast’s Alex Brown, on our offense moving forward: “They did a great job today…I’m glad we got to see that Montgomery CAN be the guy when given the opportunity. The o-line did a fantastic job…It looked like an offense that you can win with. It’s that other side of the ball (the D) that scares the hell out of me now.” ~ It’s almost too implausible to be true, but at the same time it makes perfect sense – our D has become our weakness. Even after special teams. Not to point fingers, but they’re a problem. They’re a real, real problem.
Some players have taken to protesting our defense now
Kreutz, on whether the Bears should be playing for the draft, or fighting for a playoff spot: “The question always is, what’s better for the franchise? You might as well let that (PFTDing) go. They’re gonna try to make the playoffs. They’re gonna try to win these games. So you might as well let that whole conversation go.” ~ Well, if Olin says we should, I guess we’re letting the PFTD plan go. At least for another week.
Mitch: “Come on! Do you want to be home on your couch for
the playoffs, or do you want to get crushed in the 1st round?!”
BEAR DOWN!
#MontgomeryIsTheSolutionNotMitch
#PlayoffsOrBust(DraftBustThatIs)
#LetsGoCards!
© 2020
Bear Down Baffa 
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