Windy City Gridiron
1) The Bears are who we thought they were. This team literally teaches us the Bane lesson from The Dark Knight Rises every season: there can be no true despair without hope. “They got Ben Johnson!” “Look at all these weapons they have on offense, Caleb’s gonna light it up!” “The Lions look cooked, and the Vikings are starting a dude who’s never started an NFL game before!” At this point, wake me up when they’ve won seven games. Then I’ll get excited. Until then, this is me.
2) Good for Justin Fields. I don’t care what team he plays for: I’m gonna root for the guy. And damn it if he didn’t play one of the best games we’ve seen from him in the NFL, especially as a pocket passer. He’ll never be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning back there. But that version of Fields as a thrower mixed with his running ability has the potential to be a good NFL starter—if he can manage it for more than 3-4 games a year (remains to be seen). Notice how I didn’t say I wished he were still the Bears’ QB…because I don’t. Like it or not, the Bears’ process behind trading Fields and starting over with Williams is now and always will be correct. Also, if you think the Bears would have gotten the best out of him, you haven’t been paying attention.
3) The Ravens are masochists. Lamar Jackson might be the best player in the NFL. Again. Their team started off Sunday night’s game looking like a Super Bowl contender. Again. And these mfers blew another monster lead to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Again. No team has mastered the art of looking absolutely unbeatable for three quarters and gagging all of it away in the fourth like the Ravens under John Harbaugh, whose teams have now blown 17 double-digit leads in his career.
4) Put every Chiefs-Chargers game in primetime from now on. The plethora of online clowns who try to tell us Justin Herbert isn’t good because his teams find ways to throw up on themselves in crunch time had no choice but to acknowledge his brilliance as he kept Patrick Mahomes chilling on the sideline to close out that Friday night game. He’s been this good. Hopefully, his team allows him to prove it. Mahomes, meanwhile, isn’t getting paid enough for the magic he has to work with this version of the Chiefs offense to make it do…anything. And he’ll probably still get them to the AFC Championship. Also, more games on YouTube, please. Gives me an excuse to make sure my five-year-old can’t hog the app.
5) Josh Allen has had an insane year. It should be illegal for one guy to win so much in such a short period of time, from winning MVP to marrying Hailee Steinfeld to capping off quite possibly the greatest Week 1 game we’ve ever witnessed with a game-winning comeback. It’s even crazier when you...
