The Bear’s Den, September 15, 2021

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

Inside the Stats After Bears vs. Rams - On Tap Sports Net - Diving into the stats that determined the outcome of the Chicago Bears vs. Los Angeles Rams game. Matthew Stafford had quite the day.

The Bears Hosted Three Defensive Backs for Tryouts (Because, Well, You Know) - Bleacher Nation - D.J. Hayden was one of three cornerbacks reportedly in for tryouts. And with 91 games under his belt, he has the most experience.

Searching for an Offensive Identity? Look No Further Than David Montgomery - Bleacher Nation - If Nagy is still looking for an offensive identity, then he should walk over to FedEx Ground Player of the Week Nominee David Montgomery.

The Great Justin Fields Debate: Why Now? Why Not? Week 4 Expectations, Precedent, Free Agent Promises, More - Bleacher Nation - I don’t know how much more Justin Fields we’ll see this week, but we haven’t seen the last of him.

Goodwin: Bears’ passing played into Ramsey’s hands - 670 The Score - In a 34-14 loss to the Rams on Sunday night in their season opener, the Bears didn’t attempt a single pass longer than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Tashaun Gipson takes blame as part of Bears’ breakdowns - 670 The Score - Bears safety Tashaun Gipson took part of the blame for his team’s breakdowns in coverage during a 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night in their season opener.

Column: Chicago Bears need some accountability, not buzzwords - Chicago Tribune - The Chicago Bears have huge investments on defense and a coordinator who knows the players. Talking about culture and using corporate jargon only will pass the time from one Sunday to the next. The Bears need action, and they need to play with an edge when they host the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field.

Justin Fields: Chicago Bears QB's Week 1 performance - Chicago Tribune - Andy Dalton remains the Chicago Bears starting quarterback. But Justin Fields is already mixing in, scoring touchdowns and igniting his teammates. “J. Fields is special. He already has a natural aura to him that changes the flow of how things go."

A new test for Andy Dalton, Justin Fields' scout-team success and more: 5 Bears takeaways – The Athletic - Andy Dalton is facing a unique challenge in his home debut in Week 2 after Justin Fields played in Week 1 against the Rams.

If the Bears' offense and defense are this bad, it's soon going to be Justin Fields Time – The Athletic - While Jay Cutler was already slightly used New Balances when he got here, Justin Fields is a new pair of Jordans right out of the box.

Bears roster: Stock up, stock down after Week 1 loss to Rams - Bears Wire - From David Montgomery to Marqui Christian, here's a look at whose stock is rising or falling after the Bears' Week 1 loss against the Rams.

Bears vs. Bengals: Chicago opens as 2.5-point home favorites in Week 2 - Bears Wire - The Bears will host the Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago is early 2.5-point favorites in Week 2.

Bears' lack of deep balls may have played to Rams' D strengths - RSN - Matt Nagy dialed up quick passes from Andy Dalton to limit Aaron Donald. But it could have backfired.

Hoge's 10 Bears Things: New quarterback in Andy Dalton, same problems - RSN - There's a lot to digest from the Bears' season-opening 34-14 loss to the Rams in Los Angeles, from Justin Fields debut to Eddie Jackson's struggles.

The Conundrum That is the Bears' Plan for Justin Fields - On Tap Sports Net - The Chicago Bears instantly get better when Justin Fields enters the fold. If he starts too fast, it could keep Matt Nagy around longer.

Matt Nagy's Recent Record Paints A Bleak Picture - On Tap Sports Net - Matt Nagy's career record might instill confidence in some, but the Bears head coach won't be able to coast on past accomplishments forever.

Bears 1st-and-10: The Charles Leno curse at left tackle? - Chicago Sun-Times - The dependable, if imperfect, Leno made 95 consecutive starts for the Bears. By the fourth quarter of their first regular-season game since cutting him, the Bears already were on their fourth replacement after injuries to Teven Jenkins, Jason Peters and Larry Borom.

Putrid NFC North might save Bears yet - Chicago Sun-Times - So what if they’re 0-1? So is everyone else in the worst division in the NFL.

Welcome to the Justin Fields Plan; what will it look like? - Chicago Sun-Times - When they traded up to draft him, the Bears said quarterback Justin Fields would be following the Patrick Mahomes Plan. That notion ended four plays into the Bears’ first possession Sunday night.

Bears notebook: Matt Nagy OK with fourth-down gambles - Chicago Sun-Times - Despite going 0-for-4 on fourth down against the Rams, Nagy said the attempts were more a sign of confidence in the offense than a lack of faith in the defense. “We just didn’t convert them.”

Chicago Bears: When will QB Justin Fields start? - Chicago Tribune - Justin Fields is the Chicago Bears franchise quarterback — or at least the hope is he will be once he is named the starter.

A new test for Andy Dalton, Justin Fields’ scout-team success and more: 5 Bears takeaways – The Athletic - Andy Dalton is facing a unique challenge in his home debut in Week 2 after Justin Fields played in Week 1 against the Rams.

Bears vs. Bengals: Chicago opens as 2.5-point home favorites in Week 2 - Bears Wire - The Bears will host the Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago is early 2.5-point favorites in Week 2.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Saints have eight total positive COVID tests on Tuesday - ProFootballTalk - The “handful” has an extra finger or two.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

NFC North Rundown: Injury bug bites Detroit as entire division begins 0-1 - Acme Packing Company - The Lions will likely face the Packers next week without three key players.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Householder's Chicago Bears Stock up, stock down: What happened to Eddie Jackson? - Windy City Gridiron - Not a good start to the season as the Bears defense looks like a bigger problem

Wiltfong's NFL Power Ranking after the Bears week 1 loss - Windy City Gridiron - We go around the power rankings to see what the experts have to say about the Chicago Bears.

Berckes: Ten Thoughts on the NFL - Windy City Gridiron - Week 1 is in the books and I have some thoughts

Wiltfong and Berckes' Bear & Balanced: Taking a (mostly) level-headed look at the Bears game - Windy City Gridiron - We’ve had some time to cool off after that awful Bears loss to the Rams, so what kind of takeaways do we have now?

THE RULES

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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, Rule of 3 with R. Schmitz, Danny Meehan, and Brandon Robinson, and the occasional T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; 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.

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