The Bear’s Den, October 29, 2019

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

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

BEARRRSSSS

Trade Deadline Looms: Adding a Tight End (Eifert, Howard?), No-Go on Gordon, Available Bridge QBs, More - Bleacher Nation - The NFL’s trade deadline is tomorrow. And while we have already seen some movement, we are on the brink of even more before 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Let’s get to

Jaguars Reportedly Will Not Trade Nick Foles, To the Extent You Were Thinking About It - Bleacher Nation - Thanks to the surprising, mustachioed rise of Gardner Minshew, a lotta fanbases out there have been wondering whether perennial kinda-pretty-fine quarterback

Hughes: “Ted, George…I F****** Up.” - Da Bears Blog - Ryan Pace wakes up... He gets into the office an hour earlier than normal to prepare stares out the window, waiting to see the cars of Ted Phillips and George McCaskey arrive. They finally do. It’s time.

5@5: Who Deserves Most Blame For Bears’ Loss To Chargers? - 670 The Score - The Mully & Haugh crew debates a five-pack of questions every weekday.

Bears’ Matt Nagy Resolute On Late-Game Kneel-Down - 670 The Score - ”I would do it again a thousand times,” Nagy said.

Bears Standing By Mitchell Trubisky As Starting QB - 670 The Score - The Bears are standing by Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback after he struggled once again in a loss to the Chargers on Sunday. Ken’s Note: It’s not like there’s any option at this point... what do people expect Nagy to say, “Oh, yeah, let’s go with Chase!”?

Why you shouldn't expect the Bears to make a move at the NFL trade deadline - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears are not in a position to make a move before Tuesday's 3 p.m. trade deadline for a number of reasons.

Matt Nagy's worst-case scenarios in kneel-down decision were incredibly unlikely | NBC Sports Chicago - Fumbles, holding penalties and losses of yards are rare on running plays, yet Matt Nagy seemed consumed by those possibilities in deciding to have Mitch Trubisky take a knee before Eddy Pineiro's missed field goal Sunday.

Ironically enough, the most successful version of Matt Nagy's offense may be the one he's tried to avoid the most - NBC Sports Chicago - Nagy wants to air it out, but what if the Bears are a run-first team?

If crisis of confidence starting to infect Bears offense and coaching, reasons not hard to find - NBC Sports Chicago - An overarching theme after Sunday’s 17-16 loss was the apparent lack of confidence coach Matt Nagy displayed in his offense, opting for a 41-yard field goal attempt rather than run a play or two to improve his kicker’s odds.

Bears grades: quarterback, coaching failures strike again - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears' coach-quarterback pairing continues to look more and more broken as 2019 wears on.

Matt Nagy says Bears will stick with Mitch Trubisky at QB - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears will stick with QB Mitch Trubisky after a poor showing in Week 8 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

If you're going to have the conversation about changing playcallers, here are some names to throw around - NBC Sports Chicago - Would they change? Should they change?

Chicago Bears defense looks to keep its rhythm - ChicagoBears.com - Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano discussed Sunday’s loss to the Chargers on the Bears Coaches Show on WBBM Newsradio 780 AM and 105.9 FM.

3 things we learned from Week 8 loss - ChicagoBears.com - After watching tape of Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, Bears coach Matt Nagy discussed improvements he’d like to see on offense and defense, positives from the game to build on and more.

Teenage Bears fan enjoys experience of lifetime - ChicagoBears.com - Sam Buono, who has battled a rare and life-threatening autoimmune disease since he was three, got a chance to meet his idol, Bears Hall of Fame middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, Sunday at Soldier Field.

Matt Nagy on Bears kneel-down: ‘I would do it against a thousand times’ - Chicago Sun-Times - Bears coach points to Colts coach Frank Reich’s conservative approach vs. Broncos on Sunday as evidence he made the right call.

Bears: Will Matt Nagy make a move before Tuesday’s trade deadline? - Chicago Sun-Times - With the NFL’s trade deadline Tuesday at 3 p.m., Bears coach Matt Nagy was asked Monday if he thought the Bears were in need of change.

Matt Nagy says he knows kicker Eddy Pineiro will ‘bounce back’ - Chicago Sun-Times - Bears coach Matt Nagy said he has confidence that kicker Eddy Pineiro will recover after missing two of his five field-goal tries Sunday.

Bears stick with Mitch Trubisky at starter but need to see progress - Chicago Sun-Times - Matt Nagy argued Monday that there’s plenty of time left in the season for quarterback Mitch Trubisky to play the way the head coach wants him to. But the clock is ticking: The 3-4 Bears are in last place with nine games to play.

Bears snap Judgment: Fewer snaps on defense made a difference - Chicago Sun-Times - The Bears didn’t need to rotate much defensively, an encouraging sign from Trey Burton and other notes from their snap distribution against the Chargers.

‘Halas Intrigue’ Episode 39: Matt Nagy and Mark Potash meet in the octagon - Chicago Sun-Times - Bears coach Matt Nagy explains his decision-making to the assembled media horde.

What was Matt Nagy thinking in the final minute of the Bears’ loss? - Chicago Tribune - A kneel down with 43 seconds left? With the kicker scars these Bears already carried? With little belief that the offense would produce a positive play? What was Matt Nagy thinking in the final minute of his team’s latest gut-wrenching loss?

Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy doubles down on late-game decision - Chicago Tribune - Bears coach Matt Nagy didn’t waver on his decision to have Mitch Trubisky take a knee on first down Sunday against the Chargers rather than run another play to try to shorten Eddy Pineiro’s potential winning 41-yard field-goal attempt.

The Bears found another way to lose, this time to the Chargers. Which leaves plenty to break down in the Bear Download podcast. - Chicago Tribune - Another Bears loss gives Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer plenty to discuss on the Bear Download podcast. Some of the usual suspects deserving of blame are there, though the Bears can’t lose in a conventional manner anymore.

Chicago Bears winners and losers from Week 8 - Chicago Tribune - Remember when Sports Illustrated said the Bears would finish last in NFC North? It’s not so funny now, is it? It’s our weekly look at Bears winners and losers.

Khalil Mack says the Bears defense should take its share of blame for the loss: ‘We were capable of holding them down’ - Chicago Tribune - Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack, speaking publicly for the first time since before the Bears lost to the Raiders, said the defense accepts its share of the blame in the 17-16 loss to the Chargers.

POLISH SAUSAGE

NFL trade rumors: Eagles trying to acquire Darius Slay, Lions price remains ‘very, very high’ - Pride Of Detroit - Will the Lions budge?

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Rapoport: Patrick Mahomes has “outside chance” of playing against Vikings - Daily Norseman - But "probably not"

NFC Playoff Picture, Post-Week 8: Packers are squarely in contention for a first-round bye - Acme Packing Company - Everyone’s chasing the 49ers in the NFC, but the Packers will get a shot at them in a few weeks.

Bruce Arians: “Referees aren’t held accountable” – ProFootballTalk - The Buccaneers were on the wrong end of a bad call on Sunday against the Titans, losing what should have been a fumble return for a touchdown because an official blew the whistle before the fumble recovery. Bucs coach Bruce Arians is understandably not happy about that.

Bill Belichick's throwback Pats; plus, assessing deadline trades - NFL.com
- Gregg Rosenthal runs through the latest trades at the deadline -- plus, how Bill Belichick is getting the most out of the 2019 Patriots by taking them back to the roots of New England's NFL dynasty.

IN CASE YOU YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Infante's Game Notes: Bears fall to Chargers in heartbreaking fashion, playoff hopes take major hit - Windy City Gridiron
- At 3-4, the Bears face extremely steep odds to make the playoffs this year.

Wiltfong: Bears drop third straight while broken offense sputters - Windy City Gridiron - Lester gives his thoughts on the game, plus he shares the complete playing time breakdown, and spotlights a few individual and team statistics from the Chicago Bears in their 17 to 16 loss to the Chargers.

Wiltfong: How would you fix the 3-4 Chicago Bears? - Windy City Gridiron - We took to Twitter to find out what you guys would do.

Householder's stock up, stock down: Chicago Bears-Los Angeles Chargers - Windy City Gridiron - Everything is bad. 2019 is over.

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, and T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert; and Robert Zeglinski’s The Blitz Network

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. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, and T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert; and Robert Zeglinski’s The Blitz Network

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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 Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like us on Facebook.