By Carl Mohrbacher

While the Bears moved the football effectively against the Titans last Sunday, a historic case of the dropsies ultimately sunk what looked like a certain comeback win.
Sure, there were a couple of costly red zone turnovers that – if converted to points – would have eliminated the need for an epic comeback, but in this town those kind of mishaps are the stuff of QB normalcy.
This one stung a bit, but even so you had to marvel – well, “marvel” is a bit strong; maybe “raise an eyebrow” – at the performance of Matt Barkley, especially when you contrast Sunday’s loss against his other appearance this season.

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Posted on November 30, 2016

By Jim Coffman

On Sunday, the now 2-9 Bears stayed on track for a top-five, first-round draft pick, and young quarterback Matt Barkley showed some promise (and, yes, a flaw or two) as the Titans prevailed 27-21. What’s not to like about this latest chapter of a trainwreck season?
The only thing to do at this point is to move along quickly . . . no gaper’s delay here!
And in Chicago there are always other teams gettin’ busy. Clearly the time has come to focus on the winter sports – at least until the Cubs make a waiver claim, or even any other sort of the tiniest of transactions.

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Posted on November 28, 2016

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Jay Cutler, John Fox, the McCaskeys, 1985, Soldier Field, Halas, Butkus, Urlacher, OB, Joniak, Hub . . . sick of it all. Also: The Circus – And The Soap Opera – Has Left Town; Blackhawks Can’t Help It If They’re Lucky; Oh, The Pageantry!; Dex Knows; Chapman Doesn’t; and Selling Sale.

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Posted on November 26, 2016

By Carl Mohrbacher

Even though I’ve been rationing this type of turn-of-phrase throughout 2016, I’m going to exhaust snappy “50% of the game was really f-ing bad” themed one-liners sooner than I thought if this trend continues much longer.
Who knew that 11 weeks into the year, we’d have enjoyed exactly two complete efforts by the Bears – and that’s counting the wire-to-wire shitshow that was the loss to Tampa Bay on November 13th.
What else is there to say? Next week might be titled “Chicago Area Football Team Plays Game (Sigh).”
We’ll cover what worked in the first half in next section, but let’s take a minute to throw some shade at the Bears coaching staff.

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Posted on November 23, 2016

By Dan O’Shea

It’s time again for that most sacred of holiday traditions – the awarding of a greasy, fatty turkey anus to the worst fantasy football performers of the season.
Here are the winners of the 2016 Pope’s Nose Award:

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Posted on November 23, 2016

By Mic’d Up & More

“You only get one shot at this once a week . . . tomorrow’s not promised and yesterday’s an afterthought.”

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Posted on November 23, 2016

By Scott Malone/Reuters

The doctors who patrol the sidelines of NFL games to assess whether injured players can safely return to the field should report to the league and players’ union rather than individual teams, said a Harvard University study released on Thursday.
That was one of the recommendations in a 500-page report by Harvard researchers who have worked with the National Football League Players Association union over the past two years to study the heavy physical toll that the sport takes on athletes.
The study comes amid heavy scrutiny for football, at all levels of play, over the high rates of concussion suffered on the field.

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Posted on November 22, 2016

By Jim Coffman

I had some of my best stuff locked and loaded: I was going to spend today firing on the Bulls for having Dwyane Wade sit out last night’s game in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
But then Jimmy Butler went off again (scoring 40 points) and his team won 118-110, extending a surprising run of season-opening success.
The Bulls are now 9-5 overall and 3-1 on a Circus Trip that this year featured four straight opponents who came in with better than .500 records. No trips to Sacramento or Phoenix in this one.

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Posted on November 21, 2016

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Love the art, not the artist. Including: The “P” In MVP Stands For “Player,” Not “Person”; Peak Jay Cutler (Again); Grandpa Wade; and Corey Crawford Standing On Head.

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Posted on November 18, 2016

By Dan O’Shea

Random observations from a week in which we were really trying hard to care about football again:
Jordan Howard looks like a keeper: With the stunning drug suspension of Alshon Jeffrey, who – let’s face it – didn’t produce much fantasy value this season anyway, Jordan Howard, is the last Bear standing with any fantasy value, and even he may end up sitting this week after a mystery injury last week.

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Posted on November 17, 2016