Bears Vs. Buccaneers: NFL Week 10 Pre-Party Livestream and Open Thread

Good morning, and welcome back to the Bears’ season as they come back to a division that’s descended to an odd, weird place. The Bears are at the bottom, of course, but as they’ve played one game in the last 21 days (a win), the Packers look nothing like themselves in losing their last two games and the Vikings, though they lead the division at 5-3 still, have not won in three tries. Then you have the Lions, who have won four of their last five to push to a half-game of the Vikings after beating them in overtime last week.

Of course, the Bears are staring up at this chaos from their two-win... perch, I suppose? Can they get back into the division picture? Anything’s possible, though it’ll take quite an effort and a lot of cooperation (and increase the likelihood the Bears would be one of those “dreaded” division champs with a losing record).

But if it has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime. What better place than here? What better time than now? (You’re welcome.)

Standing in the way to being a 3-win team is an actual 3-win team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off back to back losses against the Raiders and the Falcons. Though Jameis Winston is having himself a decent little season (17 TD to 9 INT), the defense is... well, not, having allowed at least 37 points three times so far this year and at least 128 rushing yards in five of their last six games.

For the Navy and Orange, that means that rediscovering that the running game exists and is a viable weapon comes just in time. Twenty points is not a best-case outcome (against the Vikings was only the second time the Bears’ offense scored 20 points all season), but the kind of offense the Bears showed against the Vikings can be a difference maker this week. Of course, a defense that seems to be coming together a bit could also help.

Welcome to the second half of the season. Let’s go.

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Some pre-game linkage before we get underway:

Bears/Bucs Game Coverage: Game Preview (Sam) | Long and Sitton Return (Les) | Five Questions (Swallowed by the Kraken)

Second Half Bears: Dysfunctional NFC North (Zerg) | Bears Getting Healthier? (Les) | A Second-Half Foggy Crystal Ball (Zerg) | Freeman Named Mid-Season All-Pro (Les) | Midseason Awards (Les)

Distant Future Bears: Bears Scouting Brad Kaaya (Les) | Building the 2018 Super Bowl Champion Bears (Jack)

NFL Roundup: Power Rankings Roundup (Les) | WCG Power Rankings (Ken) | Ten Thoughts (Les)

Weird, Random Bears: The Mannequin Challenge (Side Note: I.... I just... what even...)

Salvage this trainwreck of a thread!: Fact Check: Penalties and Drafts (Josh)

So since it’s been a while since we’ve had a game on a Sunday afternoon, let’s throw a reminder out there. The game starts at noon. That’s when the first thread goes up, with each subsequent thread coming along as the game goes on. After the game, we’ll have a quick recap as well as the thread for the late slates of games. Tomorrow morning, we’ll have Notes for you as well as Snap Counts and additional breakdowns of the game.

Now with all the propers out of the way, Bear... Wait, wrong video.

Ah. Here we go. Bear Down!

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The WCG Sunday Livestream gets back to form as, well, one of the duo finds a way to be absent. Sam is in Mexico, so I’ll be taking you up till gametime with two hours of insanity and game and NFL type discussion.

As usual, there are a couple ways you can get a hold of me when this goes live:

• Here in this comment thread. Yes, look down. That’s a comment thread. I do read the comments. I’ll happily read yours. As long as you’re not calling me a twelve-year-old. (You’re safe, Dave, for now.)
• Over on the Twitch page. Click those words. There’s a chat over on the Twitch page. I try to read that too!
• Over on the Twitter. I’m at @SJS_illini. If Sam were here, he’d be at @SamHouseholder. But he’s not, so he isn’t.

We go live at 9:30 AM CT. I say “we.” Well, you’ll be there, won’t you?