:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/38123830/20140822_mje_sn8_245.jpg.0.jpg)
Happy Sunday. There will be NFL football on your TVs today, and the game that should take precedence on our minds here is the first one of the day, as the Bears play host to the Buffalo Bills.
The Bears have an opportunity to take a good step forward in the NFC North with the Packers falling to the Seahawks on Thursday night. It may be early in the season, but if you're going to be in contention for the division, might as well start out ahead if you can.
The Bills won't intend on making it easy for the Bears, behind a top-line pass rush that garnered 57 sacks last season (and returning their top three sack-getters, who alone outsacked the entire Bears' defense last year), and a running game that put together 2,307 yards and 15 touchdowns last season - two areas that have plagued the Bears in recent seasons.
But the Bears think they're somewhat past that, having had an offseason to address the latter and spending the prior offseason ensuring that the pass protection was much improved over the prior few years (30 sacks allowed in 2013).
Now, it's time to see some results. Let's gameday link.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. School of Self-Promotion, we have my PTMY and my six keys to victory. Lester's got you covered on the Injury Report.
And I've got you covered on how to watch the game.
We've done a couple interactions with the Buffalo Rumblings guys, who are really awesome on all things Bills. Here's their answers to our Five Questions, our answers to theirs, and the discussion I had with Matt Warren on Tuesday.
(I know it's Chicago, but not THAT kind of discussion, people.)
Ronkowski's back with his Playbook series, and he's already in midseason form.
Sam has some bold predictions about today's game.
And never, ever forget about the greatest repository of ever-evolving Bears links to ever hit the Interwebs - the Weekend Bears Den. If there's ever a thing you need to know, Spongie's found a link for it. And he's updated the Bears Den in his usual game-day fashion with new links and game previews and fun stuff like that.
This is a beautiful, beautiful scene.
Mostly sunny today at Soldier Field. Kickoff temperature expected to be in the low 70s. #Bears pic.twitter.com/1ZgPbbTErE
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) September 7, 2014
Gameday procedures, in case you forgot, are as follows: The game kicks off at noon central, 1 PM ET, which means the first quarter thread goes live at noon, with each subsequent thread popping up as things go on. After the game, we'll have a quick recap as well as other open threads to discuss the other football related happenings today. In the morning, we'll have Notes and such.
So with all the propers out of the way, for the first time this season, Bear Down, my friends.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's game marks the return of the WCG Sunday Livestream, our de facto pre-game show. Today, it'll just be me, myself and I, so I'll be here for up to two hours discussing the matchup, the outlook for the Bears, and whatever else crosses our minds as we get ready for the game. I'll be taking your questions, comments, and anything else you want to say. There are three methods to do this:
- Here, in this post, right in the comments;
- Over on my Twitch page (http://twitch.tv/sjs_illini)
- Or over on my Twitter (@SJS_illini)
The stream goes live at 9:30 AM CT, and we'll go until about 11:30 AM CT. Deal? Deal. See you then. [Rewatch Link]