👋 Good morning!
I’m tired.
That’s what happens without the adrenal boost from winning.
Plain and simple, this was a loser weekend. Even Cubs fans got duped by a premature Bob Nightengale report.
Any chance Garfield was a Chicago sports fan? No wonder the guy hates Mondays.
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If you know golf, you know the ball matters. TP5 and TP5x are the balls top players switch to when they want tour-level speed, control, and feel. And this holiday season, TaylorMade has dropped the price to just $44.99. Stock up now, for less, and make every round feel a lot more dialed in.
Packers 28, Bears 21
The Bears’ hold on the No. 1 seed in the NFC was short-lived. Now the Bears are clinging to the last spot in the wild card after yet another heartbreaking loss in Green Bay.
So Close…: The first half wasn’t pretty for the Bears’ offense and QB Caleb Williams.
At halftime, Williams was 6-of-14 passing for 32 yards. He finished the game 19-of-35 for 185 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Unfortunately, the interception was the Bears’ final play from scrimmage on fourth-and-1 with a chance to tie or take the lead with time running out.
Williams on the Bears offense’s slow start: “We shot ourselves in the foot more than anything. That’s where the frustration comes from. We had a great shot early in the game with the interception and the defense doing a good job and we kind of let them get going. They put up some points on the board and we had to try and rally, and that’s not always going to work in our favor.”
It wasn’t all bad from Williams and the offense despite the sluggish first half. The Bears’ rushing attack picked up 138 yards on the ground. D’Andre Swift contributed 63 yards on 13 carries and Kyle Monangai added 57 yards on 14 attempts.
The Bears also became the first visiting team to post more than 20 points and 300-plus yards of total offense in a game at Lambeau Field this season.
Not Good Enough: The Packers were 8-of-12 converting on third downs. Dennis Allen tried scheming up some blitzes against Packers QB Jordan Love but Love was seemingly ready at every turn, hitting WR Christian Watson for a 23-yard score in the first quarter and again for 41 yards in the second quarter.
Three of the Packers’ four scores came on third down.
It didn’t help that the Bears lost Kyler Gordon to a groin injury before the game even began. Gordon went through a warm-up before being ruled out shortly before the opening kickoff.
Ben Johnson on the impact of Gordon’s late scratch: “We adjust on the fly. That’s no problem. That’s what we always do. We had a plan. (Dennis Allen) does a great job with that. The next guys were popping up and they answered the call. We don’t miss a beat that way, but Kyler is a really good player and we
are better when he is out on the field. You do miss that, and when it happens in pregame like that, it also takes you down a man going into the game, too.”
Remember how the 2014 Western Conference Final between the Blackhawks and Kings ended? The Alec Martinez shot that ricocheted off of Blackhawks defeseman Nick Leddy and fluttered over Corey Crawford’s shoulder to send the Kings to the Stanley Cup? Ring a bell?
That’s what Williams’ back-breaking, game-ending interception reminded me of last night. That entire play felt like it developed in slow motion. So close to bringing that score within one point…
Alas, the Bears will have to have a short memory and bounce back against a bad Browns team next Sunday. It’s a prime example of a trap game, especially with the Packers headed to Chicago in 12 days for a special Saturday night primetime matchup at Soldier Field.
Despite the result, Cole Kmet offered the line of the night in an otherwise quiet postgame locker room: “We get ‘em again in two weeks.”
CHGO Bears POSTGAME
YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
• Jahns: Bears are close but not there yet
• Carm’s Grades: Packers take round one
Ducks 7, Blackhawks 1: Talk about a weekend to forget. Wrapping up their four-game West Coast trip in Anaheim, the Blackhawks looked as deflated from the opening puck drop as they did on Saturday.
Being outscored 13-1 in a 24-hour stretch probably wasn’t what the Blackhawks had in mind, and they’ll have to look inward quickly to avoid their recent downward stretch from spiraling out of control.
After their scrappy 10-5-4 start to the year, the Blackhawks are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games.
Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom faced 53 shots, making 46 saves including nine on the penalty kill. Tyler Bertuzzi scored the Blackhawks’ lone goal in 120 minutes of game time over the weekend.
Warriors 123, Bulls 91: Pack it up, shut it down.
Matas Buzelis had a jaw-dropping coast-to-coast posterizing jam. If you were compiling all of the Bulls’ highlights from last night’s game, that would be the only one.
Buzelis finished with 16 points and three rebounds and was a -30 in 25 minutes. Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 18 points.
For those counting at home, that’s seven consecutive losses for the Bulls. They’re 3-13 in their last 16 games. It’s impressively bad right now.
Once atop the Eastern Conference after a 5-0 start, the 9-14 Bulls sit in 11th and currently out of a play-in spot.
Just One of Those Nights
🐻 Hoge & Jahns
9:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
3:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears After Dark
4:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO White Sox
4:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
4:30 on YouTube
Something on your mind? Rate this issue and leave a comment, question or topic to discuss!
Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
