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The Bear's Den: September 13, 2016

Transition Tuesday is upon us, where thoughts turn to this week's enemy, the Philadelphia Eagles and our home opener. Will Soldier Field give the Bears a "home field advantage" this season? The jury is out on that one.

By Ken Mitchell

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Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!

BEARRRSSSS

Hoge: For Young Bears, Opener Goes As Expected - WGN Radio - Competitive. Just not good enough. That’s the easiest and most accurate way to describe the Chicago Bears in their season opening 23-14 loss to the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium Sunday.

Video: Bears drop season opener to Texans - CSN Chicago - In today's edition of the Morning Update, the Bears fell to the Texans, 23-14, in their season opener.

Davis: Payton Presser - Bears have work to do - WGN Radio - Well ladies and gentleman the 1st NFL Sunday is in the books and the Bears have officially begun their 2016 campaign.

Weaver: Five Bears who balled out against Texans - Cover32 - The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener to the Houston Texans but there was a lot to like about what we saw on the field.

Dickerson: Chicago Bears better find a way to protect Jay Cutler, and fast - ESPN - Jay Cutler was sacked five times as the entire offense could do little to protect him from the Houston pass rush. Ken's Note: Of course, the obvious answer of "hey, let's not play against Watt, Mercilus and Clowney next week!" comes to mind for starters...

Perez: Bears are lone winless team in NFC North - Bears Wire - After one week of the 2016 NFL season, the Chicago Bears are the only NFC North team who failed to register a win in Week 1.

Podcast: Four things we learned from the Bears' Week 1 loss - Chicago Sun-Times - In the latest episode of "Halas Intrigue," the Chicago Sun-Times' Patrick Finley breaks down four things we learned from the Bears' season-opening loss

Bears Talk Podcast Episode 1 - CSN Chicago - Positives and negatives of loss to Texans in season opener

PFF Grades of Houston-Bears - Pro Football Focus - Here's the most important thing any publication/news service will ever say about the September 11, 2016 Chicago Bears-Houston Texans game!!!!! Here's PFF's stuff, if you care.

Cox: What we learned from the Chicago Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans - Bears Wire - The Chicago Bears have to use their loss to the Houston Texans as a learning opportunity to grow and improve as the season continues.

Hub Arkush's film review: After recent sea change, Chicago Bears weren't prepared for Houston Texans | Pro Football Weekly - Bears' offensive tackles get worst grades of day vs. Texans

Gantt: Packers were worried about Josh Sitton becoming locker room cancer - ProFootballTalk - The Packers were able to get through the first game of the post-Josh Sitton era with no major protection problems. But they were apparently much more worried about the locker room atmosphere if the Pro Bowl guard had stayed, which led to his surprising release during final cuts.

Perez: Chicago Bears’ Players of the Game from Week 1 - Bears Wire - The Chicago Bears received promising efforts from two players in their Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans

Cox: Stock-up, stock-down from the Chicago Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans - Bears Wire - With a number of new faces making their debut, the Chicago Bears had up and down performances from many of their starters.

Pompei: Observations From Bears-Texans - CBS Chicago - What happened Sunday is what everyone should've been expecting.

Wiltfong: Where the Bears Fell Short in Execution in 23-14 Loss to Houston Texans - Bears Sports Radio - The easiest way to listen to all the latest Chicago Bears news and analysis in one place.

Perez: Offensive line struggles against Texans in Week 1 - Bears Wire - The Chicago Bears offensive line was the main culprit in the Bears' 23-14 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season. Ken's Note: In other news, water is wet, anvils are heavy and gravity still works today.

Da Bears Brothers: Charles "Peanut" Tillman on the Cornerstone Foundation and his "Great Times" as a Bear - It’s not every day that you get to sit down and talk to one of your childhood heroes, but that’s exactly what happened today as we were able to talk with an all-time Bears great, Charles “Peanut” Tillman.

Campbell: After Bears' difficult opening test, real intrigue of season begins - Chicago Tribune - Feel free to award the Bears a moral victory for leading the Texans into the fourth quarter. Monday night's game against the Eagles is a different story.

Noble: Chicago Bears Approval Ratings, John Fox, Week 1 - Windy City Gridiron - Come cast your vote in our Week 1 Approval Rating poll!

Schweickert: Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down - Windy City Gridiron - The Bears made some mistakes and the Texans simply didn't look back. But there were some interesting takeaways from the game. We're going over our notes from yesterday's loss.

Wiltfong: Chicago Bears falter in the second half - Snap counts, stats and more - Windy City Gridiron - We'll take a deeper look at the statistics, both individual and team, and also run down the playing time breakdown for the Bears season opening loss to the Texans.

Householder: Observations from Texans-Bears - Windy City Gridiron - That was not how any Bears fan wanted the season to start. At the half it really felt like the Bears were going the be all right after a rough preseason but then they were shutout in the second...

Sunderbruch: The Chicago Bears Proved Everyone Right - Windy City Gridiron - What they proved is up to you.

POLISH SAUSAGE

2017 Draft Stock Report: Jake Butt rising - A top tight end prospect is trending in the right direction, while a star pass rusher is moving in reverse. See who's up and who's down after Week 2 in college football. Ken's Note: I know it's entirely juvenile of me, but wouldn't you like to see Butt on a team coached by Hurtt? Besides, it's safe to say that TE is most definitely a draft need area.

McGuire: The NFL's new kickoff rules did not go according to plan in Week 1 - TheComeback.com - The NFL's newly implemented kickoff rules didn't go as expected during Week 1 of the season - more kicks were returned than last year.

Biggs: 10 thoughts on the Bears' 23-14 loss to Texans - Chicago Tribune- Ten thoughts after the Chicago Bears lost a lead in the fourth quarter and fell to the Texans 23-14 on Sunday at NRG Stadium.

Noble: Chicago Bears John Fox presser. "People think running the ball is not aggressive, but I tend to differ" - Windy City Gridiron - John Fox spoke with the media after the Bears loss to the Texans, and might have said a few things that you won't agree with.

Video: Fox on loss to Texans presser - ChicagoBears.com - Bears Head Coach John Fox meets with the media after Sunday's loss vs the Houston Texans.

GNL: Kyle Long in studio - ChicagoBears.com - Larry Mayer talks with Bears head coach John Fox following the Bears loss to the Houston Texans.

Mayer: Week 1 video postgame talk with John Fox - ESPN - Larry Mayer talks with Bears head coach John Fox following the Bears loss to the Houston Texans.

Wiltfong: Bears should learn from loss to the Texans - Windy City Gridiron - It was a tough game yesterday for the Chicago Bears against a very tough Houston Texans team. The Bears actually held the lead after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters, but the Texans proved to be too resilient. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes.

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!

Chicago Bears Salary Cap now 7.9M under for 2016 after Long deal - Over the Cap - Chicago Bears salary cap, contracts, bonus money, dead money, and cap savings for every player in 2016 and beyond.

2017 NFL Salary Cap Space shows Bears still have 4th most room in 2017 - Over The Cap - Over The Cap's NFL salary cap space estimates shows the Chicago Bears with an estimated $55.7 million in space for 2017, 4th highest space amount in the NFL. NOTE: This does not figure in any deal Alshon Jeffery might sign following the season.

McNair: Jadeveon Clowney doing what we thought he’d do - ProFootballTalk - After he missed the Texans' playoff loss to the Chiefs because of a foot injury, Jadeveon Clowney said that his goal was to return to health and dominate the league in 2016.

Rahm Emanuel loses sports bet with Houston mayor - Chicago Tribune - Rahm Emanuel bet on Chicago sports teams this weekend -- and lost.

Gantt: Greg Olsen on NFL’s player safety - "You can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth" | ProFootballTalk - Much of the attention regarding the multiple hits to the head of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton last week has centered on whether the concussion protocol was properly followed.

KNOW THY ENEMY

Gates: Vikings Win Despite Glaring Issues - Daily Norseman - Yes, the Minnesota Vikings got a win on Sunday afternoon in Tennessee, but there were some pretty significant issues that bear watching going forward.

Mangels: Eagles beat the Browns, 10 things we learned - Bleeding Green Nation - A good start to the season

BGN Radio #186: We got ourselves a football player - Bleeding Green Nation - Recapping the Eagles win over the Browns

Mangels: Eagles-Browns winners and losers - Bleeding Green Nation - Hint: The Eagles won

Hermann: Doug Pederson loved what he saw from Carson Wentz - Bleeding Green Nation - Pederson spoke Monday after the Eagles' win over the Browns.

Hermann: Zach Ertz might miss the Eagles' Week 2 game against the Bears - Bleeding Green Nation - The tight end suffered an injury in the first quarter of the Eagles' Week 1 win over Cleveland.

FANPOSTS

FanPosts - Recent - Windy City Gridiron - Here's a link to our FanPost section, where YOU have the opportunity to contribute to Windy City Gridiron. Take a few minutes and write a post about what you are thinking about regarding the Chicago Bears, and there'a chance it will be linked right here in the Den.

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments, FanPosts, usernames or anywhere else in an SB Nation community: Comments, FanPosts or usernames that are intolerant or prejudiced; Personal attacks or threats on community members; Gendered insults of any kind; Trolling; Click link for full information.

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Ken's Note: IMHO one thing everybody should keep in mind about the Texans game when you hear media members throw around "click me click me" terms like "throttled" and "dominated" and "crushed" is that Chicago was ahead in the fourth quarter before Houston got a couple of scores to pull ahead. This wasn't a "World Famous Mel Tucker 50-Burger Special". Just some grist for your mental mills for this fine Tuesday.

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