👋 Good morning!
Maaaan — I stayed up for an overtime loss.
The 9 p.m. starts are annoying when the Blackhawks are on the West Coast. But I understand it — the world doesn’t revolve around the central time zone.
It’s insulting when the league forces it on home ice, though.
That game going into OT was inevitable. It ending at 11:20 p.m. was avoidable.
🚨Live Watchalong!🚨
Pay Heed, All Who Enter:
Beware of the Gjallarhorn.
For the first time under coach Ben Johnson, the Bears have a shot at redemption on Sunday, traveling up to Minnesota to face a Vikings team that beat them in Chicago in Week 1.
Go With The Flo: QB Caleb Williams is 0-3 lifetime against the Vikings and defensive coordinator Brian Flores. As a play caller, Johnson is 4-1 against Flores. That one loss was Johnson’s first game as a head coach.
Getting back on track against one of the game’s best blitzing DCs is top of mind for all involved in making the Bears’ offense click.
Johnson on Flores: “Got a lot of respect for Flores. He's done it at a high level now since he entered the division. Gives you all kinds of problems. You gotta be on your best for all 60, 70 plays on offense to have a chance, and it's as mentally fatiguing as it is physically fatiguing for our guys. Quite a challenge. They do a number of things very well.”
Williams on Flores: “He's probably one of the more challenging coaches that I've had to go against so far in my career. Obviously, I haven't played every single team yet and every single defensive coordinator, but up to this point, he's been that. It's all 70+ plays that you have or so. Every single play, he's challenging you to the full mental capacity that you are and can be.”
The Iceman Cometh: Don’t discount Williams’ improvements over the last nine weeks. He’s only gotten better with more time with Ben Johnson. The entire offense has.
Johnson on the difference between the Bears in Week 1 & now: “The trust level has grown for a number of players within our coaching staff. I think we really can hang our hat on a number of guys now at this point and feel really good about what we're going to get on game day.
“Then you look at offense, we’re running the ball a little bit crisper and cleaner. I think the backs have a better feel for what we're asking them to do. The O-line has started to gel. I think Caleb's got a better understanding of what we're getting done.”
But as Williams gets a better handle on Johnson’s offense, it’s his ability to still don the Superman cape when necessary that has turned would-be losses from a season ago into wins with his new coaching staff.
Williams on his late-game mindset: “You just start flying, you get into a mode and you don't feel anything. You're flying at that moment, and you have to go do it. So, you go into survival mode. I wouldn't say that I get faster or I get more decisive, anything like that. I think it just comes down to ‘we have to win a ball game and here we go.’”
Week 11 is where the fun begins for the Bears.
Their remaining opponents (counting the Packers only once) share a combined 35-28-1 record. The Bears’ six wins have come against teams with a combined 15-41-1 record.
It’s not the Bears’ fault for playing their schedule, and they deserve props for being 6-3 even if some of those wins feel more snug than they should.
But the Vikings should be a great litmus test to see just how much they’ve changed since Week 1. Remember, they were on their way to running away with that game in the first half, but just couldn’t break through consistently on offense.
Since that loss and the Week 2 blowout loss in Detroit, the Bears and Caleb Williams have learned how to win late. That’s huge — and potentially significant for Sunday.
Devils 4, Blackhawks 3 - F/OT: Sam Lafferty may have scored the goal of the year for the Blackhawks late in the third period.
OK, maybe not. But Lafferty toe-dragging a defenseman and goaltender out of position before burying a backhander wasn’t really on the ol’ bingo card, either.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, they had no answer for Devils defenseman Simon Nemec, who tied the game with 3:46 left in the third and tallied the game-winner to cap off his first career hat trick.
Connor Bedard scored a goal in the first period, extending his points streak to nine games.
Andre Burakovsky missed the game due to illness. In his place, Landon Slaggert, who was recalled from the Rockford IceHogs for the night, scored. Frank Nazar also missed his second straight game with a mid-body injury.
Pistons 124, Bulls 113: The Bulls are going to want that one back.
Even without Josh Giddey, who missed his second consecutive game with an ankle sprain, the Bulls should’ve been able to mount a stronger effort against the Cade Cunningham-less, Jalen Duren-less, Tobias Harris-less, Isaiah Stewart-less, Ausar Thompson-less, and Jaden Ivey-less Pistons.
The Pistons essentially took the night off, yet the Bulls still couldn’t take advantage, even after trimming a 21-point third-quarter deficit to one with 8:26 to play.
Matas Buzelis finished with a double-double, leading the Bulls in both points (21) and rebounds (14). But that was about it. They’ve now lost five of their last six after beginning the season 5-0.
Just Play-In Around
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
2:30 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
4:30 on YouTube
🐻 Brick x Brick
6:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs Related
8:00 on YouTube
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Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
