The Bear’s Den, January 6, 2021

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

Bears enter NFL playoffs with no kicker problems, but issues everywhere else - RSN - Two years ago, the Bears’ biggest weakness was Cody Parkey - and it cost them a playoff game. Now, Cairo Santos is a strength, but so many other parts of this team now look like a weakness heading into the wild card round of the playoffs.

Pace Should Need Playoff Miracle to Keep His Job - Da Bears Blog - Recently, The Athletic‘s Mike Sando published a list of NFL GMs, along with their winning percentages. Of the 18 GMs who have been in the league at least five years, Ryan Pace ranked 14th in terms of winning percentage. Two of the guys behind him have been fired. One owns the Bengals, where winning isn’t that big of a deal. The fourth? Well, how does Jason Licht still have a job?

Tony Romo may call Bears-Saints playoff game from home - 670 Sports - CBS color commentator Tony Romo remains questionable for the broadcast of the Saints-Bears playoff game Sunday due to COVID-19 protocols, but there may be a way for him to be on the call without being at the game.

2020 NFL season: 1 interesting stat for all 32 teams - 670 Sports - The 2020 NFL regular season was a 17-week journey like no other. Jordan Cohn of RADIO.COM Sports took us through some of the most interesting statistics to come out of it, going team-by-team.

Tale of two outcomes: How Bears can win, lose to the Saints - 670 Sports - The Bears are heavy underdogs against the Saints in their wild-card round matchup Sunday. If Chicago is to pull off an upset, it will have to follow a certain blueprint.

Five lessons the Bears can learn from their last Saints matchup - Chicago Sun-Times - After rewatching the game film, it’s clear the Bears can still learn from the 26-23 overtime loss in Week 8

Mitch Trubisky has Bears stuck in neutral - Chicago Sun-Times - The middling quarterback is not good enough to win big with or bad enough to force them into a total rebuild.

The Chicago Bears — somehow — are back in the playoffs. The Bear Download podcast previews the matchup with the New Orleans Saints. - Chicago Tribune - These 8-8 Chicago Bears feel different from the 12-4 team that made the playoffs two seasons ago. Nevertheless, they'll try and make the most of their wild-card matchup against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

NFC playoffs: How Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints compare - Chicago Tribune - As the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints gear up for Sunday's NFC playoff game, here’s a look at the teams by the numbers.

Matt Nagy: Convince 8-8 Chicago Bears they belong in playoffs - Chicago Tribune - In a measuring-stick game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the Chicago Bears once again didn’t measure up. But they got into the playoffs anyway, so now coach Matt Nagy must try to fine-tune his team's psyche.

NFL: Who has the best offense? Ranking the playoff teams – The Athletic - How do the red-hot Bills compare to the Chiefs? Where will the inconsistent bears slot in? Ranking all 14 NFL playoff offenses.

Playoff week kickoff with Dan Pompei, Kevin Fishbain has a bone to pick with Hoge & more - Hoge & Jahns - Podcasts - The Athletic - Time to talk Bears playoffs! Hoge and Jahns bring you a special playoff edition of the podcast with special guest Dan Pompei of The Athletic, your week 17 Packers voicemails, plus Kevin Fishbain brings some social media heat to the show as him and Hoge take their "beef" to the airwaves.

How does Mitch Trubisky rank against playoff QBs? – The Athletic - Is Mitch Trubisky the worst quarterback in the playoffs? Why is the Bears defense slipping?

Wildcard Week: Revisiting the New Orleans Saints (with Ross Jackson of Locked On Saints) - Chicago Audible Podcast - Listen as host of Locked On Saints, Ross Jackson, joins the show to share the latest out of New Orleans heading into the Bears-Saints Wildcard matchup.

Bears Fortunate Week 17's Loss to Packers Wasn’t Worse - Chicago Audible Blog - Even though the Bears lost by 19 points to the Packers in their Week 17 matchup, Chicago is lucky that

Former Bear, Viking Allen one of finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 revealed - Led by quarterback Peyton Manning, receiver Calvin Johnson and defensive back Charles Woodson, the 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 was unveiled on Tuesday. Although he earned his HOF credentials as a Minnesota Viking, Jared Allen also played for Bears in 2014 and 2015, as well as in Carolina.

Bears’ defense under the gun vs. Saints - Chicago Sun-Times - Under Chuck Pagano, the defense has lost much of its bite — just 10 interceptions (tied for 23rd in the NFL). But it almost alarmingly also has lost its mental edge — the ability to buck up in tough situations.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Cycling News, Podium Cafe - January 6, 2021 - Podium Cafe - A suspension, a termination of contract, training "bubbles" and more today in the links...

Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists: My picks for Class of 2021 - NFL.com - Will Peyton Manning be joined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame by Calvin Johnson? Adam Rank lists which finalists he’d place in the Class of 2021.

J.J. Watt tells Deshaun Watson: “I’m sorry, we wasted one of your years” - ProFootballTalk - “Good job, brother. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. We wasted one of your years. I’m sorry. We should have 11 wins,” Watt told Watson.

Chris Grier: Tua Tagovailoa’s our starting quarterback - ProFootballTalk - “Tua, I’m very happy with. He’s our starting quarterback. . . . I thought Tua did a great job of working himself through the whole process,” Grier said, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.

Eagles’ Miles Sanders: Nobody liked the decision to bench Jalen Hurts - ProFootballTalk - “If I’m being honest, nobody liked the decision, nobody,” Sanders said on 94 WIP. “That’s all I can say, really. I don’t know who was the main person behind that decision. All I know is that a lot of people on the team was confused.”

Panthers interviewed four G.M. candidates Tuesday - ProFootballTalk - Carolina has also reportedly requested interviews with 49ers vice president of player personnel Adam Peters, Colts assistant G.M. Ed Dodds, Chiefs assistant director of player personnel Ryan Poles, and Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly, so they are putting together a sizable group of candidates to fill the role left open when they fired Marty Hurney during the season.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong's NFL Power Rankings: What do the experts say about Trubisky and the Bears? - Windy City Gridiron - We take a look at some NFL Power Rankings to see what the experts think about the Chicago Bears.

Householder's Stock up, stock down: Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers review - Windy City Gridiron - Take a look at which players are stepping up at the right time and which need to kick it up a notch with the playoffs coming

Wiltfong's Ten Thoughts on the NFL - Windy City Gridiron - The 2020 regular season is over, so check out our Thoughts on the league, and be sure to drop some of your own in the comment section.

Infante: Bears exec Champ Kelly tied to Broncos GM job - Windy City Gridiron - The Broncos, and now the Panthers too, have reported interest in one of the Bears’ top front office executives.

Wiltfong: Bears vs Packers: Snap counts, stats and more - Windy City Gridiron - We share the complete playing time breakdown, and spotlight a few individual and team statistics from the Chicago Bears in their 35 to 16 loss at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

THE RULES

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