And It Could Have – Should Have – Been So Much Worse

“Even by Chicago Bears standards, Sunday’s offensive ineptitude was an all-timer,” Jeff Dickerson writes for ESPN Chicago.
“The Bears finished with 6 rushing yards in their 31-3 loss to the Eagles – the second fewest in franchise history. It was the fewest by any team since the Colts rushed for 1 yard in December 2014, according to ESPN Stats & Information. And on average, the Eagles hit the Bears 1.3 yards into the backfield on designed run plays, the second-worst average before contact since 2009.”
It was, as they say, a laugher.

While Dontrelle Inman was being looked at, Bears sent punt team onto the field on third down. Then after Inman walked off and O regrouped, Bears had to use a TO with only 10 men on the field.

— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) November 26, 2017

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Posted on November 27, 2017

By Jim Coffman

Well, I did tell you the Bears season was over last week. And the team had clearly packed it in on Sunday, offering no resistance (at least on offense – the defense did force three turnovers after all) against the Eagles on their way to a 31-3 loss that, it must be said, could have been much worse.
Then again, as far as the sheer embarrassment factor goes, this might have been the worst weekend in Chicago sports history.

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Posted on November 27, 2017

But Make No Mistake, This Is Another Loss That Reflects Poorly On John Fox And Ryan Pace; They Should All Go!

“The Chicago Bears play in a lot of tight games,” Jeff Dickerson writes for ESPN Chicago.
“They also find ways to lose most of those games, too.
“Missed field goals, dropped touchdown passes, late defensive breakdowns . . . the Bears have touched them all in the maddening John Fox era (12-30).
“Chicago now has three losses of six points or fewer in 2017.
“The Bears dropped a combined 12 games by six points or fewer in 2015 and ’16 . . . Chicago is 3-13 in NFC North games under Fox.”

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Posted on November 20, 2017

By Jim Coffman

I had a chance to take in most of the Eagles-Cowboys game Sunday night. I tuned in expecting to see Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott play better than he had the week before and former Bear receiver Alshon Jeffrey step up his game for Philadelphia.
Neither happened (although Jeffery did grab a touchdown) as the Eagles gave the Cowboys a 37-9 thumping. And so the storyline I’ve been pushing – that Bears general manager Ryan Pace is the primary culprit for the Bears’ difficulties due to his dubious decisions in the draft and free agency – took a bit of a double hit.

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Posted on November 20, 2017

By Roger Wallenstein

Shortly after White Sox reliever Jerry Staley threw a game-ending double-play ground ball at Cleveland’s mammoth Municipal Stadium, preserving a 4-2 White Sox victory to clinch the 1959 American League pennant, the fun began in the White Sox clubhouse.
And for good reason. The Sox hadn’t won a pennant since the infamous 1919 season. Only home day games were telecast in those days, but WGN made an exception on that particular September 22. Signing off, the venerable Jack Brickhouse used his signature closure, “That’s it for a little while,” adding, “But what an ‘it.'”
Fire Commissioner Robert Quinn infamously set off the air raid sirens in celebration. Please remember: Nikita Khrushchev was the Russian tyrant in those days at the height of the Cold War. Vladimir Putin is Snow White in comparison. Sox fans might have understood the origin of the sirens, but Cub diehards and those uninterested mistakenly headed for their basement bunkers.
And there was Jungle Jim Rivera, by that time a 37-year-old reserve outfielder for the South Siders, cavorting in front of his teammates, a fedora atop his pate, in a one-man conga line. After chasing the Yankees for a decade, the Sox had finally come out on top.
Rivera died last week at age 96. He came to the Sox via a trade in 1952 and managed to hang around for 10 seasons, primarily because he hustled and was the epitome of intensity and effort. The over-used phrase, “He’s good in the clubhouse,” could have been invented for Jim Rivera.

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Posted on November 20, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Browns West. Plus: Davey Martinez Came Cheap; White Sox Acquire Fireballer; Blackhawks Circus Trip Lives!; and Bulls Circus Lives.

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Posted on November 17, 2017

By AP

“Stan Hooley, the CEO of Alaska’s Iditarod acknowledged the race is in its darkest time after disclosing that four dogs belonging to a four-time Iditarod champion tested positive for the opioid painkiller tramadol in this year’s race.”

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Posted on November 16, 2017

By Jim Coffman

A Chicago sports fan could turn to the Blackhawks on Sunday evening . . . yeah, that was the ticket. And here were the Hawks scoring one, two, three, four goals in the first period!
They gave one up late but still led 4-2 after 20 minutes. That was more goals than the Hawks had scored in most recent games. They were clearly building on the momentum started the night before, when they rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to beat Carolina 4-3 in overtime.
And then the Devils scored four before the end of the second. New Jersey went on to win 7-5.
Anyone have a Cubs trade rumor? Any more reports of White Sox prospects tearing up the, well, the fall leagues are over right? How about winter ball, has that begun?
We are now officially grasping for anything here at Beachwood Sports. But first we have to spend some time with the now 3-6 Bears after their abysmal 23-16 loss to the Packers.

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Posted on November 13, 2017

Worst Replay Challenge Ever Almost The Least Of It

“The blame for Sunday’s inexcusable loss to the Green Bay Packers starts at the top with coach John Fox,” writes ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson in “Bears’ Ugly Loss To Packers A Reflection On Their Coach.”
“In his most important game as head coach of the Chicago Bears, John Fox flopped,” WGN-AM’s Adam Hoge writes. “In fact, he flopped spectacularly.”
“Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers absolutely took the Bears’ coaching staff to school,” Pro Football Weekly’s Hub Arkush said on The Score’s post-game show.
And how.

John Fox has more turnovers today than Brett Hundley.

— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) November 12, 2017

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Posted on November 13, 2017

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Don’t sleep on Brett Hundley! Plus: The NFL’s Tomato Cans; Martellus Bennett Is Bigger Than The Game, Y’All; Canadian GOAT: Marc Trestman; Cubs Hot Stove Burns; Dear Rick Hahn: Stay The Course!; An Analytics Story; Blackhawks Baffle; and Bobby Tortoise’s Chicago Bulls.

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Posted on November 10, 2017