👋 Good morning!
On behalf of the two-hour commute community, can we please knock it off with the snow just for a little while?
I can handle the cold temps that are expected to put Chicago in a deep freeze this weekend.
I can’t handle wondering which way I’ll be facing every time I pull out of my driveway.
Don’t get me wrong — I love a good snow game. But this isn’t Bear Weather; this is white-knuckling-the-steering-wheel-the-whole-way-to-work weather.
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Man of the People
Ben Johnson spoke to the media via Zoom on Monday to discuss his viral locker room moment from last Friday’s win and share his thoughts on the Bears’ passing attack after watching the film from Philadelphia.
I Wish I Had A Million Dollars - Hot Dog! When The Wiener’s Circle offered to feed Chicago free hot dogs – a second time after Caleb Williams’ four-touchdown performance vs. the Cowboys – if Ben Johnson went shirtless in the post-win locker room scene, the first-year head coach quipped, “Why would we want to see that?”
As it turns out, the entire city of Chicago wanted to see that, especially with the added bonus of a free hot dog.
Johnson on why he finally decided to go shirtless: “That was a spur-of-the-moment deal, I guess. I figured the sooner the better, because I am not in the weight room very much anymore and so this thing keeps getting a little bit worse as we go along in the season. So, it was good, man.
“I hate to draw attention away from our players, but the intent was to bring up the city of Chicago and hopefully it gave them a little excitement because they're a big part of this journey as we're going through this season also. … I think anytime you get a chance to feed a city, you want to do it. So, man of the people.”
Feeding a city is exactly what he’ll do. Today at 11 a.m., The Wiener’s Circle (2622 N Clark St.) will hand out one free Chicago dog per customer while supplies last. Get there early to avoid the inevitably crazy line. You might even see some of the fine folks from CHGO while you’re out there.
Job’s Not Finished: Despite the Bears’ current five-game winning streak, Johnson also expressed the need for the Bears’ passing game to become a threat in the coming weeks.
Caleb Williams hit a season-low 47.2 percent completion rate on Sunday vs. the Eagles. Over the Bears’ win streak, Williams is just 92-of-173 passing (53.2 percent) and averaging 217.2 yards per game.
The important thing is that the Bears are winning. But Williams and the rest of the offense are leaving too many points on the board with their failures to consistently connect.
Johnson, when asked about Williams’ accuracy troubles, said: “There's a number of them that we've been talking about where we have to fundamentally be correct. The primary receiver, when he is open, we want to make sure we hit him.
“And then, all of our pass catchers, we just harped on it today. We need to be more disciplined in our route detail. It's not where it needs to be. Our depths are not proper all the time. Our steps aren’t.
“And so, everybody's got a role to play to get this pass game cleaned up. It's not where it needs to be. We're winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it. None of us are pleased with that right now.”
Johnson was also quick to compliment Williams’ growth in understanding the offense and the overall procedure. The coach specifically highlighted one moment where he relayed a play call to Williams incorrectly but the QB bailed him out and was able to fix the call in the huddle.
That’s a big step forward from where Williams was a season ago.
What should excite most about Johnson’s adamant determination to fix the passing game is that his team is not a lost cause without it.
Imagine if the 9-3 Bears – the current No. 1 seed in the NFC – can hit their stride through the air. Watch out.
Magic 125, Bulls 120: No lead – or deficit for that matter – is safe in the hands of the Chicago Bulls. They’re not good enough to win decisively and they’re not bad enough to get blown out.
One thing is for sure: they are bad — but in classic Bulls fashion, not bad enough to do anything about it.
After blowing a 15-point lead in the third quarter, the Bulls couldn’t help themselves from playing a sloppy, disorienting brand of basketball down the stretch, which included some ugly sequences on the glass and some extracurricular frustrations boiling over after whistles.
Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 22 points and was among four Bulls with 20-plus points. Coby White was a late scratch from the lineup with a left calf strain. White missed the first 11 games of the season with a right calf strain.
So much for that 5-0 magical start to the year. The Bulls are 4-11 since then and have slipped to the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference — right where they belong.
Roster Move: The Bears re-signed running back Brittain Brown to the practice squad on Monday. Brown was waived from the active roster last Thursday to make room for Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon’s return from injured reserve.
To clear space for Brown, the Bears released linebacker Dominique Hampton from the practice squad.
Whether or not Hampton’s release could signal the nearing return of one of the team’s injured linebackers is unknown. The Bears are scheduled to practice today, with their normal Tuesday player-day-off moved to Wednesday.
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:30 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
Pregame at 8:30 on YouTube
🏒 Blackhawks at Golden Knights
9:00 on ESPN+ & Hulu
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
Postgame on YouTube
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Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
