Windy City Gridiron
2015 was ten years ago, and a lot of bad Bears memories have littered our minds. That doesn’t mean we don’t have some good ones to share.
Deflategate. Hamilton. Hotline Bling. Deflategate. The blue/black and white/gold dress.
2015 feels like more than a decade ago. Perhaps more for Bears fans than anyone else. Jay Cutler was still our quarterback. It was John Fox’s first season as Head Coach. My god, we have lived many Bears' lives since.
If I am being honest, there haven’t been many Bears lives I would want to re-live since 2015. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any I would like to re-live.
So let’s keep it simple - bask in some glory days, and share some of our favorite memories in the last decade.
What is your favorite Chicago Bears memory from the last decade?
Mine? Khalil Mack’s debut half. Note, I do not mean Khalil Mack’s debut game - just the first half of his first game. We don’t even need to acknowledge what happened in the 2nd half - too much air has already been wasted on it.
It was September 9th, 2018. The Bears opened the season at Lambeau Field to an unfamiliar amount of fanfare. Mitch Trubisky was in his second season. Matt Nagy was in his first. Players like Allen Robinson, Eddie Jackson, Taylor Gabriel, and Roquan Smith were added to an already ascending roster.
Aaron Rodgers is 35 and in decline after a rough 2017 season. The Bears finally have a chance to dominate the rivalry.
Then there is Khalil Mack. Arguably, one of the most shocking trades in NFL history brought a HOF-level Mack to the Bears in his prime. He was the missing piece, the crown jewel.
And on September 9th, 2018, he showed exactly why.
After a remarkable start that found the Bears up 10-0 in the 1st quarter, Aaron Rodgers was injured after a Roy Robertson-Harris sack. With 3 minutes left in the 2nd quarter and the Packers marching, Khalil Mack literally ripped the ball out of backup QB DeShone Kizer’s arms.
But that was just the start. After the Bears stalled and punted back to the Packers, Kizer was trying to make something happen to close out the half. Khalil Mack had something to say about that.
Mack read the screen pass setup, intercepted it, and ran it to the house to put the Bears up 17-0 at the half.
It was truly my favorite memory as a Bears fan in the last decade. To make it even sweeter, I was the lone Bears fan at a bar in Madison, Wisconsin. Packers fans were so whiny at me that they refused service. But I didn’t care. I had nothing but eternal hope and a dumb grin.
The rest of the game and the rest of the decade are blurs, honestly. That’s the only half I choose to remember.
*Now it’s your turn! What is your favorite Bears memory from the last decade? Sound off...
