Windy City Gridiron
Our crew is begging the Bears to just put some kind of effort into this game.
The Chicago Bears play a nationally televised game against a Minnesota Vikings team on a six-game winning streak that is looking to clinch a postseason berth.
What could go wrong?
It’s not like we’ve seen the Bears get embarrassed in similar spots numerous times in the last decade.
It’s not like this team, fresh off firing the coach that allegedly the entire team wanted gone, laid a gigantic egg just last week.
Let’s get to this week’s keys. There’s a theme here if you look close. Well, you won’t even need to look closely; none of us were really that subtle about it.
Sam: Thomas Brown’s debut was less-than-ideal. Actually, it was horrible. This Bears team has yet to show up in a meaningful way on the road. Now you have an 11-2 Vikings squad looking to clinch a playoff spot. Big yikes. If Brown is going to truly hold people accountable, like we were told he would, and be a leader and tell it like it is and all of that, this is the week to show it. Guys were making business decisions and playing lazy. Let’s see some fight and effort. Let’s try to get revenge for the OT letdown the Vikings gave us a few weeks back. Use the short passing game to take the heat off of Caleb Williams, actually involve Cole Kmet in the passing game.
Defense, get after Sam Darnold. The secondary is going to have to shutdown Jordan Addison, who went off in the first meeting and Justin Jefferson. Jaylon Johnson did his part in the first game but his performance against San Fran says he might be checked out. Get these corners locked in.
Don’t go down without a fight or it’s going to be a long night and an ugly, uninspiring slog over the last four games.
Josh: The defense needs to regain its dignity. They need to be aggressive and get after Darnold. As for the offense, it’s hard to do much of anything when there’s no pocket to step up into, but Caleb needs to try to be more aggressive with the ball. Of note, I’m not saying anything about the coaches. I have no belief that they would add value to this team. The players need to do this.
Bryan: Compete. Play like they care. Rally to the ball and play relentlessly on D. Block through the whistle and fight for every yard on O. If we can have more than one or two guys appear interested in playing football on Offense and Defense, we should have a chance. It would surely be nice if someone would step up and make a big play on defense when it matters too. Give some momentum back to the O for a change.
Mason: Be a different team? Have a time machine and fire Matt Eberflus this past January? Establish an actual culture and maintain...
