The Bear’s Den, November 15, 2021

THE DAILY SPONGIE NFL OFFICIATING SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

Studs and duds for Bears at the midway point of 2021 season - Bears Wire - There have been plenty of standouts and disappointments for the Bears through their first nine games of the season.

NFL privately admits to officiating mistakes in Bears-Steelers game - Bears Wire - The NFL privately acknowledged there were “at least 3 critical calls and non-calls that went against the Bears” in loss to Steelers.

Grading the Bears’ 2021 NFL draft class at the midway point - Bears Wire
- Here are our midseason grades for all seven players selected by the Bears in the 2021 NFL draft.

Report: NFL officials know flags in Bears, Steelers game were wrong - RSN - Matt Nagy’s team got no help from the referees last week, and some inside the NFL reportedly know it.

Report: NFL’s Officiating Department Knows They Blew the Bears Game - Bleacher Nation - The league privately acknowledges that there were at least three critical blown calls.

Analytics company ranks every NFL coach so far in 2021 - 670 The Score - The Jaguars’ Urban Meyer, the Vikings’ Mike Zimmer and the Bears’ Matt Nagy don’t rank all that badly for three coaches who could be seen as reasonable hot seat candidates. Still, a lot of the issues in those situations have to do with more than play-calling, which wouldn’t be taken into account by the model.

Justin Fields drawing advice from Michael Vick, Cam Newton - 670 The Score - “I had to get his cleats when I was younger,” Fields said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Friday. “He’s definitely one of the most electric players that I’ve seen play in my lifetime.

2001 Chicago Bears: An exciting — and unexpected — season - Chicago Tribune - The 2001 Chicago Bears had one of the most unexpected seasons of success and excitement in franchise history, thanks to a stingy and big-play defense, rock-solid offensive line, bruising rookie running back — and several miraculous comebacks.

NFC North Week 10: Lions tie Steelers to end losing streak - Chicago Tribune - Playing without star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who entered the COVID-19 protocol Saturday night, the host Pittsburgh Steelers slogged their way to a 16-16 tie with the Detroit Lions in an ugly, nearly four-hour marathon that produced more comedy than highlights.

Five things Bears need to show in the second half - Chicago Sun-Times - With Justin Fields in place as the starting QB, the Bears’ arrow should be pointing up heading into 2022. But they need more than hope, they need performance. Here’s what they need to show:

POLISH SAUSAGE

WFT analytics expert told Ron Rivera to take a knee after final TD - ProFootballTalk - Washington scored a late touchdown on a fourth down that gave the home team a 10-point lead over the Buccaneers. When the time came to go for one or two, coach Ron Rivera opted to go for zero.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Lions final score: Detroit DOESN’T LOSE after ugly tie with Steelers - Pride Of Detroit - The Lions had a chance to win it—several times—but Detroit’s pathetic offense couldn’t capitalize.

4 takeaways from the Lions tie versus the Steelers - Pride Of Detroit - A tie?

Lions tie Steelers - ProFootballTalk - It was a game neither team deserved to win. And neither team did win.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: NFL officials admits points were stolen away from the Bears - Windy City Gridiron - The narrative surround the Chicago Bears would be much different had the refs simply done their jobs last Monday.

Berckes' Sports Gambling Basics- Building Blocks to Better Betting - Windy City Gridiron - Jeff Berckes and Robert Schmitz talk about spreads, moneylines, over/unders, and the Vig on this video

Zeglinski: The Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields leans on Cam Newton as a mentor - Windy City Gridiron - The rookie quarterback joined 670 The Score’s Parkins & Spiegel on Friday afternoon. He had a lot to say about those helping him reach his potential, among other things.

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.