The Bear’s Den, November 10, 2021

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

Bears’ Matt Nagy reflects on Justin Fields’ growth this season - RSN - From No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to exciting comeback drives on Monday Night Football, Justin Fields has come a long way already.

Justin Fields was PFF’s highest-rated quarterback in Week 9 - Fields went 17-of-29 for 291 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the air and added eight carries for 45 yards on the ground. The pick was a bad result, but it was more of a testament to a great play from the Steelers’ Cameron Heyward as opposed to sloppy decision-making from Fields.

Lunch With Urlurker (and Larry): 11.9.21 - ChicagoBears.com - Urlurker grills Bears Senior Writer Larry Mayer, who his favorite play from Monday night’s game in Pittsburgh, analyzes the different offensive formations that were on display and gives his keys to success for the second half of the season in his weekly Q&A with Urlurker and some random other little people of no account.

Emma’s observations from Bears-Steelers - Beyond the officiating, the Bears did plenty to lose the game too.

Florio breaks down awful officiating in Bears-Steelers game - 670 The Score - Asked about the controversial officiating in the Bears’ 29-27 loss to the Steelers on Monday night, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk joked the officials must’ve had Pittsburgh -6.5. Ken’s Note: I’m not convinced, and neither are a lot of others. I CALLED that a bogus penalty was about to drop, about a minute before the “taunting”, check my twitter feed.

Bears PFF grades: Best and worst performers in Week 9 loss vs Steelers - Bears Wire - Here’s a look at how PFF graded the Bears offense and defense in their loss to the Steelers.

NFL fans believe Bears finally found franchise QB in Justin Fields - Bears Wire - Everyone can't stop gushing about Bears rookie Justin Fields' breakout performance vs. Steelers.

Chicago Bears - Pittsburgh Steelers Postgame Show: Justin Fields Shines as Bears Nearly Complete a Monday Night Comeback - The Chicago Audible - In this episode of The Chicago Audible, the guys break down the Chicago Bears' 27-29 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

‘It’s time’: Rookie QB Justin Fields makes major leap in the Bears’ loss to the Steelers – The Athletic - Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields played well against the Steelers despite the loss. The signs of progress are apparent.

Despite Bears' loss, there's a lot to like about Justin Fields' growth: Postgame Pompei – The Athletic - Fields appears to be taking extra credits in an attempt to finish his NFL quarterback education early.

Bears Tuesday Rewind: Matt Nagy on the penalties, Justin Fields' 'top-three' throw and more observations – The Athletic - The head coach seemed frustrated about the result and the officiating but hopeful for what's to come for the Bears and Justin Fields.

Chicago Bears: Brad Biggs' 10 thoughts on Week 9 - Chicago Tribune - 10 thoughts after the Chicago Bears staged a furious fourth-quarter rally, setting the stage for rookie quarterback Justin Fields to be the hero only to have their hopes dashed in a wild 29-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Column: Chicago Bears must balance Justin Fields' development with NFC standings - Chicago Tribune - The challenge for Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy is contextualizing the development of Justin Fields with the need to get back on a winning track. Because while it’s easy to sell hope to a fan base when it comes to a potential franchise passer, that doesn’t fly in the locker room where the other 52 players want to win.

Bears lead the NFL in taunting flags, whether they like the rule or not - Chicago Sun-Times - Matt Nagy’s players keep making the same mistake. That makes them undisciplined, or poorly coached, or both.

Ex-apprentice Justin Fields making his own plan work - Chicago Sun-Times - Bears coach Matt Nagy’s original strategy to have Fields to sit behind veteran Andy Dalton this season overlooked perhaps the rookie’s strongest trait: He learns well.

Matt Nagy thought 65-yard field goal and Hail Mary had about the same chance of success - ProFootballTalk - After the game, Nagy said he felt that a 65-yard field goal and a Hail Mary had about the same chances of success, according to Bears sideline reporter Mark Grote.

After slow start, Bears’ TE Cole Kmet on target - Chicago Sun-Times - The 2020 second-round draft pick had six receptions for a career-high 87 yards against the Steelers. He already has eclipsed his rookie totals with 28 receptions for 284 yards in nine games this season.

‘It’s time’: Rookie QB Justin Fields makes major leap in the Bears’ loss to the Steelers – The Athletic - Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields played well against the Steelers despite the loss. The signs of progress are apparent.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

One or more Steelers seemed to be lined up offside on the final Chicago field goal try - ProFootballTalk - As noted by Adam Jahns of TheAthletic.com, the All-22 film suggests that multiple Steelers may have been lined up offside on the field-goal try.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Householder's Chicago Bears-Pittsburgh Steelers stock up, stock down: Kmet, Robinson - Windy City Gridiron - There’s still some things to be excited about, outside of the Bears dropping their fourth loss in a row

Wiltfong: NFL Power Rankings - Where are the Bears this week? - Windy City Gridiron - With the Chicago Bears suffering their fourth straight defeat it’s natural for them to be ranked near the bottom of the week 10 NFL power rankings, but I was curious how far they’d fall, and also...

Wiltfong: Cassius Marsh was flagged for his posture and the NFL agreed - Windy City Gridiron - The fourth quarter taunting penalty was ridiculous in its own right, but what’s up with that ref throwing a hip check?

Sunderbruch: Fields is #1 (on Pro Football Focus’s Week 9 chart) - Windy City Gridiron - Justin Fields has had some ups and downs already in his young career, but at least one major outlet is finally saying he passes the eye test.

Leming: 10 Bears takes after an impressive outing from Justin Fields on Monday Night Football - Windy City Gridiron - The Chicago Bears lost a heartbreaker on Monday Night but how bad should fans really feel after a career performance from their rookie quarterback? All of that and more in Week 9’s 10 takes.

Wiltfong: Bears vs Steelers - Takeaways from the snap counts, stats, and more - Windy City Gridiron - Here’s the full playing time breakdown for the Bears, a spotlight of some individual stats, and also a few team statistics from Chicago in their 27 to 29 loss to the Steelers.

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.

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder (their BOB YouTube Channel can be found here), Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, Rule of 3 with R. Schmitz, Danny Meehan, and Brandon Robinson, Bear & Balanced from Jeff and Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., and T Formation Conversation from Lester; EJ also co-hosts The Bootleg Football Podcast with Brett Kollmann; R. Schmitz has a film breakdown show on YouTube titled Run Pass Opinion; Will Robinson II has his WhiskeyRanger YouTube channel, and Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert.

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Jack R Salo; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Will Robinson II; Robert Schmitz; T.J. Starman; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like WCG on Facebook.