Week 4 Bears-Less Sunday Pre-Party Open Thread

Have I ever made it apparent that I greatly dislike days where the Bears don't play? Well, I just did. Because then we have to do things like discuss the Ravens defeating the Browns on Thursday night and a whole bunch of other storylines that don't really relate to the Bears. So we'll start off today by coming up with some storylines that matter to the Bears.

New England @ Buffalo - Okay, there's nothing here that can relate to the Bears in any fashion. Wow, we're off to a fantastic start.

Tennessee @ Houston - Another AFC-only matchup. Well, the Bears play the Titans the first week in November, and maybe Chris Johnson will continue playing badly enough that it carries into that matchup. Apologies of course to everybody's fantasy team.

San Diego @ Kansas City - What is it with the AFC and all these early matchups? How dare they have teams that play in the slot we're most accustomed to our Bears playing in? How dare they.

Oakland @ Denver - Well, if it takes Denver wins to assure themselves that they won the trade for Kyle Orton, have fun with that I guess.

Cincinnati @ Jacksonville - Hey, the Bears play against Jacksonville six days after their game against the Cowboys! Relevant information!

Miami @ Arizona - Arizona is becoming somewhat of a surprise team. And it has a very good chance to go 4-0 and screw with everyone's already projected draft order.

San Francisco @ NY Jets - San Fran's loss to Minnesota makes them 2-1 against the NFC North this year. And 2-1 in the NFL. Surprise! Also, the Niners are still a good team, and they're behind the Cardinals. How long does that last.

Minnesota @ Detroit - Who would have predicted this battle for the NFC North basement at 1-2? (Editor's Note: Apparently I can't count to two, the number of Minnesota wins.) Detroit has to try to right the ship, and Minny wants to push back into NFC North relevance.

Carolina @ Atlanta - And we have to rematch Carolina this year? Well, maybe Newton doesn't go off for 300+ against the Bears this year.

Seattle @ St. Louis - Seattle beat Green Bay. The Bears beat St. Louis. The Bears have to face Seattle later. It'll be on in the lower half of Illinois. It might be watched. Surprise.

New Orleans @ Green Bay - Opened the season last year. Imagine, New Orleans could be 0-4 or Green Bay could be 2-2. Who would have predicted either of those?

Washington @ Tampa Bay - Good for a potential NFC wild card competition - and the Bears won't face either of them.

NY Giants @ Philadelphia - Again, neither are faced, and both are potential wild card conflicts.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't that easy. Here's the coverage maps via the506.com. What matchups are you guys interested in?

Gamethreads will be posted at noon CT and as each set of games kicks off. We'll be linking the threads up in a StoryStream, so if one vanishes on you as the next comes up, that's why - you'll be able to click back to it in the Stream.

As always, Open Thread Responsibly (TM).