Hello, old friends. I missed you last week — almost as much as I missed the Bears. I hope everyone’s bye week was restful and full of dreams of Chicago going to the Super Bowl. Will it be this year? Probably not. Regardless, read on.
The quarterback comes back
The week off gave Mitchell Trubisky enough time to recover from his shoulder injury. At practice this week, he did all the necessary reps, and even though he was listed as questionable until Sunday, most believed he would start. Does that mean we will waive our new third-string quarterback in the coming weeks? Unsure.
The marching
Alright, I’m going to make this short and sweet because I’m hurting. The Bears lost to the Saints at home. Here’s what happened. The New Orleans Saints have been rolling. They’ve only lost one game this season — an NFC Championship reprise against the Los Angeles Rams in week 2. Since then, they’ve won five straight games without their shining star Drew Brees, who was out due to injury. Brees’ goal is to be back for the Week 8 matchup against the Cardinals. Not that they need him. Former Viking Teddy Bridgewater is the Saints’ second-string quarterback, which is just an insult to injury regarding Sunday’s game, if we’re being honest.
The visitors got on the board early with a safety against the Bears’ special teams unit. Don’t see many of those. After going three-and-out on their first series, the Bears’ Pat O’Donnell’s punt was blocked. 2-0 New Orleans. Ten minutes later, Bridgewater found TE Josh Hill for an easy 7-yard touchdown pass. 9-0. But the quarter wasn’t over yet — the Saints kicked off before second quarter only for Bears WR Cordarrelle Paterson to return it for a 102-yard touchdown. Wowza. It was as beautiful as it sounds.
Second quarter was pretty hush-hush, but we did get to see a kick from Eddy Piñeiro. He’s alive! Good from 46 yards out. Not bad, young grasshopper. Unfortunately, the Saints matched our three points pretty easily, making it 12-10 Saints at halftime.
Third quarter was when we really fell apart. We gave up a silly touchdown at the 12-minute mark and then trusty, dependable RB David Montgomery fumbled the ball on Chicago’s next possession. The defense came in for a big-time stop in that series, but we got lucky. Before Sunday, we were the only team in the NFL without a fumble — how the times have changed. With a combined total of 24 points scored by the Saints in the second half, the Bears lost their second straight 36-25, moving the team to 3-3. This loss hurt.
Our offense? Ouch.
Oh, friends. Our offense is not good. It’s one of the worst in the NFL. As of today, the Bears are 30th in the league in passing yards, 26th in rushing yards and 29th in total yards per game, according to Yahoo! Sports. Let me remind you that the NFL only has 32 teams. Can I get a YIKES, please? Trubisky was barely a presence on Sunday, and that’s too bad when you think of how anticipated his return wasy. Stings a little more when when Aaron Rodgers had such a good game on Sunday.
Are we doomed?
Not to be Debby Downer, but how much can we expect from the Bears for the rest of the season?We have to start getting more realistic the closer we get to inching out of mid season. There are only so many games left.
Lessons learned
-Home field advantage literally means nothing.
-We can score points in the fourth quarter!
-Hester who?
Maddie’s Monster of the Game
Okay, Patterson. I see you. I don’t know why you were on special teams instead of Tarik Cohen today, but I’ll take the touchdowns however I can get them — and you can quote me on that. Congrats on a great performance.
Divisional roundup
Sad face. The Bears dropped to third this week, pushing the Detroit Lions into second place. Which isn’t even fair because they had a bye this week. Whatever.
NFC North: Current standings
1st place: Packers (ew) are on a three-game winning streak.
2nd place: Vikings are also on a three-game winning streak.
3rd place: Bears (tears)
4th place: Lions. Somehow, the Lions are in even worse shape than we are, having lost three games in a row.
Charged and ready
I will personally fly to Chicago and have a serious conversation with every single team member if we lose to the Chargers this week. They are 2-5, for crying out loud. Not to mention that we’re at home — not that that means anything, as we’ve established.
Kickoff is at noon on Sunday, October 27.
Until then, stay positive — if you can — and Beardown.
