Bears4Ever_34

I don't think SoS applies for playoff positioning unless you get past a crazy amount of prior conditions. For WC spots, it's head to head (if applicable) first, then record in conference, then common opponents. For divisional tiebreakers, it's head to head, divisional record, common opponents.

Must win. Steelers aren't good on either side of the ball, but will present a better challenge on offense than the Vikings did with McCarthy. TJ Edwards and Kyler Gordon need to come back this week. 10 wins might not be enough to get in this year. Highly unlikely they can get to 11 without this win.

We may have to hope the Packers are the team that flounders their way out of the playoffs now, because it doesn't look like SF is going to lose many more games this year. Their next tough opponent doesn't come until the final 3 games of the season: IND, CHI, SEA. Bears might have to win more than 10 games to keep them out. Otherwise, you better beat GB twice or miraculously win the division.

He was airmailing open receivers most of the game, and the ones he threw accurately were dropped on critical downs by Burden, DJ Moore, and Symthe. Rome might have had one too. Bears offense continued to stall out just outside of the redzone and settled for FG's in all but one drive. Ben got cute a couple times using Bagent as a decoy for 3rd and medium run plays. One of them worked, but the others got stuffed. Both tackles were horrible. Wright and Benedet gave up too much pressure in pass pro. The Bears couldn't run the ball most of the game, save for a few later in the 4th, but far too often, they were losing the majority of their 1 on 1 battles with Minnesota's front 7. Cairo's kick came at a pivotal period when they were up 16-3 with a chance to push it to 3 scores. It was like a 48 yarder he just flat out missed, which allowed MIN to get right back into the game and recapture all the momentum. The defense forced a punt on MIN's possession, but the Bears offense gave it right back and allowed a big return that set MIN up to score right away. Once it got to 10-16, you knew what was going to happen. The "O" came out on the next possession with another punt, and then the defense imploded late, allowing McCarthy to throw a TD with like 50 seconds left. Duvernay had a huge kickoff return that set the Bears up just outside FG range. They ran the ball three straight times for 9 yards and Santos narrowly made the kick just inside the left upright for the win.

I'm getting 2001 vibes about this team, and not in a good way. They're winning, but it's definitely starting to feel a little fluky. Caleb's progress has really plateaued since the Cowboys game as a passer. He hasn't gotten any better being on time and throwing with accuracy. He's been great in the 4th quarter, but he was doing that last year, too. At some point, he has to start putting a complete game together. There's just no excuse for the game to come down to a FG at the end. McCarthy is the worst starting QB in football and nearly pulled another win out of his ass, because the offense couldn't take advantage of the Vikings self-inflicted mistakes, whether it was drops, errant throws, or interceptions. Need a MUCH better performance from Ben Johnson and Caleb next week back at home against a bad Steelers defense.

This is probably the worst way to get to 7-3. Coach sucked, QB sucked, run game sucked, defense imploded again late in a game, and huge special teams gaffes, but still somehow able to come away with a victory. Game ball goes to the TE's today. They were the unsung hero of the game. Kmet had his best game catching, and Loveland had a huge 3rd down conversion after a horrible drop by DJ Moore.

Lol, they're going to let McCarthy do it again.

Lol, freakin Santos. Get the freak off this team.

Lol, Bears are totally losing this game now. Offense shits the bed and now the special teams gift wraps them a touchdown opportunity.

Brisker injures himself and Stevenson on what should have been another interception. Didn't look good for Stevenson either. freak! Just when they were about to get healthy in the secondary.

And, of course, the Bears can't finish the knockout punch with a touchdown. Settling for another FG. Ben Johnson goes to Swift way too much. If he had Monangai in instead, they more than likely pick up that first down on the play before the 3rd down mess.

Redemption for the rookie.

Burden drops a critical pass to move the chains. Bears doing their best to keep Minnesota in the game.

Potential knockout drive here if the Bears are able to come away with 7.

Referees miss a blatant facemask on 3rd down that would have continued the drive. Yet another game where the Bears get screwed by the officiating.

Ben Johnson with one of the worst end of half decisions I've ever seen. What in the literal hell was he trying to do there?? Just run the ball 3 times and force MIN to burn all their timeouts! Instead, he throws the ball, calls a timeout on 3rd and 1 on their own side of the field, and then Caleb overthrows another open receiver deep down field on the next play, giving MIN a shot to get the ball again with all their timeouts. He almost got burned again like in the first game. 7/16 for the QB that half. Totally inexcusable performance by Caleb. Luckily, McCarthy has been even worse, but the offense is not taking advantage of opportunities. Another big opportunity to start the 2nd half with the ball. They have to push this to two scores to force KOC to abandon the run.

Ugh.. Missed a huge opportunity to go up two scores with a touchdown after that pick. Bears get the ball back to start the half. Cannot allow Minnesota to put up points before then.

Finally a great drive! Keep Monangai in the game. He's a beast!

Caleb throws with no touch, whatsoever. These overthrows are college backup quality.

Offense didn't come ready to play. Horrible playcalling and execution. Caleb missing open deep throws. Not good.

This team has to find a way to do no worse than 2-2 during this 4 game stretch if they want to keep their playoff hopes realistically alive. Today's the most important day of the 4. Knock off Minnesota as a wildcard competitor and start racking up wins in the division, which could be important for tiebreakers later.

Damn, nice find! Though a loss wouldn't be the end of the world, it'll be hard for me to take the Bears seriously if they let JJ McCarthy sweep them.

He's listed as questionable against the Vikings, which is crazy. I was thinking he'd be back for that first Packers game, but in light of this news, it might be even sooner than that. Ben said he's healthy. Now it's just a matter of conditioning. What a huge boost that would be to get him back during this difficult stretch.

Drake Maye has a lot of similarities to Jordan Love, in my opinion. He's very talented, and if he hits, I think he'll always be a fringe top 10 guy, but there's something about him that I don't trust. Great deep ball thrower who has a good feel for hitting his checkdowns, but his decision making leaves a little to be desired at times, too. He's a little clumsy. Takes too many bad sacks, loses control of the football a lot, and has had a few Jordan Love-like gaffes in the redzone in his career. Caleb is the more dynamic player. I'd still take his arm talent over Maye's, but he's just not as polished yet as a pocket passer. He's also less prone to mistakes and probably one of one in the NFL in terms of avoiding pressure. We're starting to see a little more college Caleb in that regard this year the way he's been toying with pass rushers. Maye deserves his flowers for how good he's been this year, but people are crazy if they think he's a real MVP candidate over guys like Stafford, Darnold, or even Jonathon Taylor. Unless Caleb falls off a cliff by the end of the year, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him take back the #1 QB of his class next year once Maye gets a 1st place schedule and faces stiffer competition. Last year it was all about Daniels and Bo Nix with Maye and Caleb a distant 3rd and 4th. This year it's become mostly Drake Maye with Caleb a distant 2nd. Next year could be Caleb's year.

Burkhardt and Brady are calling this matchup. Brady's called two of Caleb's best games of his career (Packers last year, Cowboys this year). Let's hope that continues