The Bear’s Den, January 2, 2018

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

BEARRRSSSS

Mullin: Greatest Bears turnaround coach ever? Da Coach? Lovie? Nagy? You make the call - NBC Sports Chicago - Coaching changes are made expressly for purposes of effecting a turnaround, a reversal of failing fortunes. Sometimes they work, most of the time they don’t. The Bears bear (pun intended) witness to that.

Stankevitz' film review: How Kyle Long's return could power Jordan Howard against Eagles' stout D-line - NBC Sports Chicago - Kyle Long's return to the Bears' starting lineup helped pave the way for Jordan Howard's longest run of the season, and could be a major boost on Sunday against a stout Eagles defensive line.

Ellis: Antonio Brown on the Bears would be fun, but there are a bunch of reasons why it's unrealistic - NBC Sports Chicago - There are plenty (seriously there are a lot) of people out there who think that the Bears should go after Brown. That's not a bad thing! Hypothetical, Maddenesque trades are part of what makes sports fun and the last time Bears fans 'shipped an All-Pro to their team it actually happened, so what's wrong a little heat check every now and then.

Stankevitz: Why the Bears don't see a lack of playoff experience as being a factor - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears haven't played a playoff game together as a team, but have enough players and coaches with playoff experience to feel comfortable heading into this weekend.

Mayer: Bears are NFL’s top team in Aikman Ratings - ChicagoBears.com - According to the Aikman Efficiency Ratings, which rank NFL offenses and defenses based on several different categories and not just total yards, the Bears finished the regular season as the best team in the league.

Mayer: Playoffs will be business as usual for Bears - ChicagoBears.com - Matt Nagy knows from experience that the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season, but the Bears coach will not change his team’s approach or preparation heading into the postseason.

Bears launching new playoff show - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears this week will debut “Monsters of the Midway Live,” a new playoff show hosted by Lauren Screeden and featuring analysts Tom Thayer and Larry Mayer.

Kaufman: Where Bears team, players rank in the NFL - ChicagoBears.com - Take a look at where the Bears stacked up both as a team and individually in the NFL rankings after wrapping up the regular season.

Dannehy: Trubisky Can Lead Bears to Something Special - Da Bears Blog - That was the message from Matt Nagy after thoroughly kicking the butt of a team that fully expected to be contending for the Super Bowl this season. The Bears didn’t just knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. They offered a glimpse of how talented they actually are.

Riddick picks Bears to win Super Bowl - ESPN Video - Louis Riddick doesn't expect the Bears to lose another game this season, culminating in a Super Bowl victory in February.

Potash: Sky’s the limit for Bears’ defense after Minnesota masterpiece - Sun Times - The last time a defense ranked in the top-10 in every major category was the 2013 Seahawks, who won the Super Bowl that season.

Finley: One year after firing John Fox, it's clear Bears found right voice in Matt Nagy | Chicago Sun-Times - The Bears fired John Fox a year ago Tuesday.

Kane: Bears veterans Akiem Hicks and Prince Amukamara are savoring playoff life, a year after ‘emotional’ end to 2017 season - Chicago Tribune - Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara knows how hard it is to get into the playoffs, and he'll impress that upon his younger teammates this week as the Bears prepare for the Eagles.

Campbell: 5 observations from rewatching Bears-Vikings - 3rd-down dominance, Kyle Long's and Jordan Howard's promising performances and more - Chicago Tribune - Five observations from rewatching the Bears' 24-10 win over the Vikings include Mitch Trubisky's improvement avoiding sacks, Kyle Long's quality return, Jordan Howard's re-emergence, Cody Parkey's inaccuracy and two decisions against Kevin White.

Biggs' NFL power rankings: Saints still at the top with the Bears No. 2 in final standings - Chicago Tribune - The Saints keep the top spot, while the Bears remain No. 2 in Brad Biggs' final NFL power rankings of the 2018 season.

Meet the Philadelphia Eagles (with Zack Rosenblatt of The No-Huddle Show) - The Chicago Audible Podcast - The Chicago Audible kicks off their wildcard preview by gaining a firsthand scouting report with everything you need to know about the Philadelphia Eagles.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Ranking NFL coaching vacancies: Browns, Packers most alluring - NFL.com - With a quarter of the league’s teams looking for a new head coach, which of the available jobs is most appealing? Judy Battista reveals her ranking of the eight vacancies.

Five teams can be forced to do Hard Knocks – ProFootballTalk - The last thing most NFL coaches want during training camp is to be followed everywhere they go by cameras and microphones. Which means NFL teams rarely volunteer to appear on Hard Knocks, the behind-the-scenes reality show that documents training camp.

5 potential offensive coordinator candidates for the Detroit Lions - Pride Of Detroit - A look at five different coaches that could replace Jim Bob Cooter.

Jim Bob Cooter will not return as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator - Pride Of Detroit - After 2.5 years, the Lions offensive coordinator has been relieved of his duties.

NFL Power Rankings: Who are the best teams in the 2019 playoffs? - Pride Of Detroit - Ranking the 12 teams still alive in the race to the Super Bowl.

Vikings Off-Season Evaluation: Special Teams Coach - Daily Norseman - Mike Priefer has been special teams coach for the Vikings since 2011. In all those years, he has coached fundamentally sound special teams units. He’s been instrumental in drafting kickers twice...

Vikings Off-Season Evaluation: Defensive Coordinator - Daily Norseman - Evaluating Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards has always been something of a difficult task from the outside - because it’s hard to know just what his duties are - except we know...

Report: Tampa Bay Buccaneers request to interview Vikings DC George Edwards - Daily Norseman - Another Vikings’ assistant gets a request

Pro Football Focus does their postmortem of the 2018 Vikings - Daily Norseman - And it’s a lot deeper than "OMG IT’S ALL KIRK COUSINS’ FAULT!"

KNOW THY ENEMY

Mike Groh talks familiarity with Chicago’s defense, and Eagles’ recent offensive success - Bleeding Green Nation - Plus, the Eagles offensive coordinator talked about Alshon Jeffery’s development.

Jim Schwartz says Rasul Douglas and the state of the Eagles’ defense share a connection - Bleeding Green Nation - Plus, he talked a little bit about the plethora of open head coaching jobs right now.

Recent trends highlight battle between Eagles’ offense and Bears’ defense - Bleeding Green Nation - The opposing units have been moving the needle...

Eagles vs. Bears: Thoughts on Philadelphia’s wild card opponent - Bleeding Green Nation - Previewing the enemy. Ken's Note: Only one of these two teams are a wildcard, and it ain't us.

Mike McCarthy will interview for Jets’ head coaching job, per report - Acme Packing Company - Will Mac go from the NFL’s smallest market to its biggest?

NFC North Rundown: Regular season comes to a close, only Bears make playoffs - Acme Packing Company - A demoralizing home loss to the Bears with the playoffs on the line ended Minnesota’s season prematurely.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Bears’ fans, bring Nagy’s BOOM to Soldier Field - Windy City Gridiron - Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times wrote that Chicago Bears’ head coach Matt Nagy first did his, now signature “Boom,” after the Thanksgiving day win in Detroit. Nagy said the Boom “happened...

Duerrwaechter: Giving credit where credit is due - Windy City Gridiron - It’s only fair to recognize everyone involved in the front office, and not just the obvious names, for a historic turnaround in Chicago.

Wiltfong’s NFL Power Rankings: Are the Bears the hottest team in the NFL? - Windy City Gridiron - Now that the 2018 NFL season is over, let’s take a final trip around the internet to see how the experts ranked the Bears.

Defending the Bears’ RPO concepts - Bleeding Green Nation - What Jim Schwartz can do to limit Nagy’s staple RPOs...

Schmitz’ Bear With Me: Vikings and Eagles and Playoff Bears, Oh My! Vikings Review, Eagles Preview, Nick Foles Deep Dive, News Recap - Windy City Gridiron - On the latest episode of Bear With Me, Robert reflects on a statement Vikings win before previewing the upcoming game against the Eagles. He dives deep into Nick Foles and asks the burning question: How has a “backup quarterback” been able to play so well?

Sunderbruch: 10 Thoughts on the NFL and the Bears - Windy City Gridiron - With the regular season over, WCG is resting a starter and letting a backup take a tour around the NFL.

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

2 Minute Drill - Website - iTunes - Andrew Link; Steven’s Streaming – Twitch – Steven Schweickert; T-Formation Conversation - Website - iTunes - Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; WCG Radio - Website - iTunes - Robert Zeglinski

THE RULES

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WCG Contributors: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Zeglinski; Like us on Facebook.