Bears Fall Short Of NFC Championship In Defensive Divisional Round Battle

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Wellness check on everyone…are you all hanging in there?

The magic has come to an end. What a battle against the Rams, and what a wild and exciting season for the Bears. From 5-12 to an overtime away from the NFC Championship game. The future is bright at Halas Hall!

CHICAGO BEARS

PLAYOFFS - DIVISIONAL ROUND

L - RAMS 20 BEARS 17 (F/OT)

FINAL FOUR FALLOUT

The Bears’ shocking NFC Championship bid ended a drive short as their miraculous season came to an end.

A game that could have been a shootout for the ages transformed into a hard-hitting defensive showdown in the snow. The Bears defense played their hearts out behind a raucous Soldier Field, and both offenses piled up a laundry list of mistakes.

Before the season, I expected the defense to carry the team while the offense figured out their new system and Caleb Williams developed. Instead, the offense, mainly thanks to Caleb’s heroics, won them more games than the unintimidating defense. How fitting that the last game of the season turned the tables!

The Bears had 4 sacks, only gave up 340 total yards, and allowed 5/16 3rd down conversions. They shut down the top scoring offense in the NFL and held MVP candidate Matthew Stafford to 258 yards, 0 TDs, and a 47.6 completion percentage.

As for the offense…the disjointed effort started earlier in the week when Joe Thuney was named the left tackle and Jordan McFadden the left guard. Even though they racked up 417 total yards, Caleb Williams threw 3 INTs, they went 3-for-6 on 4th down, Rome Odunze’s goal line drop on the first drive started a chain of drops, and they couldn’t put enough points on the board.

Caleb had one last miracle up his sleeve when he retreated, tossed up a rainbow from the 40 yard line, and completed the game tying touchdown pass to Cole Kmet in the corner of the end zone with 18 seconds left in regulation.

Their table was set in overtime after the Rams went 3-and-out to give the Bears a chance to seal the deal. A miscommunication between Caleb and DJ Moore resulted in a dagger of an interception, and the Rams drove down the field for the game-winning field goal.

The Bears were at the 48 yard line and were a few plays away from field goal range. Soldier Field is now silent, and the heart attacks will cease until we’re back in September.

Standouts:

• Jaquan Brisker had the best game of his career, and Kevin Byard was constantly around the ball

• DJ Moore and Cole Kmet caught the Bears’ 2 TDs as 6 players had 2+ receptions

• Kyler Gordon had 1 sack and 7 tackles to lead a cornerback group that showed up against the run and pass

Quick Hits:

• Puka Nacua and Davante Adams combined for only 80 yards and 0 TDs

• Caleb injured his finger on a throw early in the game, so I’m curious how much that affected his performance

• Bears pass catchers were so disappointing with drops, incorrect routes, and no big plays

• Bears turned it over on downs with 3 minutes left in the game after having a 1st and goal situation. 3 straight runs to D’Andre Swift were stuffed.

• 3rd/4th-and-1 plays killed the Bears offense all game long

• Should Ben Johnson have gone for 2 at the end of regulation???

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Jaquan Brisker

14 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 2 PDs

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Caleb Williams to Cole Kmet TD

Caleb Williams already has a statue:

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - OILERS 4 BLACKHAWKS 1

CONNOR, CONNOR, PAGING CONNOR

• Connor Bedard came down with the team-wide illness and missed the game

• Connor McDavid had 2 assists, and Connor Ingram saved 29 shots in just his 7th game of the season

• Artyom Levshunov (despite a marathon 5:33 shift earlier in the game) was flying around during a furious but unsuccessful rally with the extra attacker

L - FLAMES 3 BLACKHAWKS 1

PENALTY BOX BLOWOUT

• Teams combined for 15 total penalties

• Levshunov accidentally grabbed a referee during a scrum and got a penalty

• Flames scored 1st period power play and shorthanded goals

L - BRUINS 5 BLACKHAWKS 2

THE BACKUP BOWL

• Both backup goalies started, and Arvid Soderblom (18 saves on 23 shots) was great in the 1st period before getting consistently beat

• Hawks had an early 2-0 lead before giving up 5 unanswered goals

• Ryan Greene and Wyatt Kaiser scored goals

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Wyatt Kaiser

1 goal and 1 assist (2 points), 20:52 TOI

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Spencer Knight save

Nick Lardis and Kevin Korchinski were named to the AHL All-Star Team

Frank Nazar is close to returning from injury!

SCHEDULE 📅 M/TH/F/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

L - ROCKETS 119 BULLS 113

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A SEESAW

• Hard fought game featured 35 lead changes (a Bulls franchise record)

• Tre Jones had career-highs of 34 points and 5 3PT made, he shot 11/12 FG and had 7 assists

• Bulls led 106-105 with 3:10 left, but Jabari Smith hit a few consecutive clutch shots to pull ahead

W - BULLS 128 JAZZ 126

A SENSABAUGH CONCLUSION

• Nikola Vucevic (35p) scored the game-winner with 4.0 seconds left thanks to a bullet pass from Tre Jones

• Brice Sensabaugh scored 43 points off the bench for the Jazz on 15/22 FG and had the most 1st quarter points (21) by a bench player in the NBA this season

• 5 Bulls bench players scored in double figures

L - NETS 112 BULLS 109

RALLY KILLER

• A 37-23 4th quarter was not enough for the Bulls as Michael Porter Jr. scored with 5.4 seconds left, and Tre Jones turned it over on the next inbounds play

• Bulls only scored 40 points in the 1st half on 36.6% FG shooting

• Ayo Dosunmu attacked the rim all night and finished with 18 points

W - BULLS 124 NETS 102

AUTOMATIC SWISH

• Bulls shot 52% FG and 43% 3PT and tied their season high with 41 assists

• Coby White (24p) made a season-high 7 3PTs

• Ayo scored 19 points off the bench and made 5 3PTs

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Nikola Vucevic

21.2p/7.7r/5.2a per game, 1 double-double

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Okoro rebound & Jones pass & Vucevic game-winner

The condensation game was rescheduled for January 29th, which creates a 3-game series between the Bulls and Heat between the 29th and February 1st. The Bulls have never faced the same opponent in 3 consecutive games in the regular season before!

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/SAT

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

Signed RHP Corbin Martin to a minor league contract. He appeared in 17 games for the Baltimore Orioles last season but has mainly pitched in AAA.

Jon Lester and Jody Davis were inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame!

Kyle Tucker is officially moving on…and joining the evil empire. He signed a 4-year, $240M (!!!) mega-contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers that includes opt-outs and an MLB record $57M per year in net present value

2026 will be a year-long celebration of 150 years of Cubs baseball!

Alex Bregman will play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic

Claimed INF Ben Cowles off of waivers from the Chicago White Sox. Cowles was acquired by the Cubs in the 2024 Mark Leiter Jr. trade.

Claimed OF Justin Dean off of waivers from the San Francisco Giants

Nolan Arenado was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Cardinals will pick up the majority of his remaining salary

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Alex Bregman

In his few days as a Cub, Bregman has already displayed the winning intangibles the front office bet on with his new contract.

He asked for reports on every player on the team so he could facilitate conversations and help support his teammates and their goals. He set up meetings with staff members to discuss hitting philosophies and started meeting people in the organization.

He even had a great talk with PCA. Watch here:

MILD TAKE

The Bears’ offensive issues will heal over time.

Even though the offense dragged them to 11 wins and 2 playoff games, that unit struggled in many areas this season.

The run game was awful before the bye week and disappeared again at the end of the year. The passing game was non-existent when the run game was clicking, and it was only helpful in the 4th quarter for a handful of games.

When you watch the offense, you can tell something is off. The offensive line is the engine that was rebuilt last offseason, and if they’re so talented, why isn’t the offense scoring? I still go back to chemistry and timing. It was year 1 in a new scheme, and Caleb Williams was on his 3rd head coach and 4th (technically) offensive coordinator in his 2 NFL seasons.

Moore, Odunze, Burden, Loveland, Kmet, and more is a very talented group of weapons. Unfortunately, the group let Caleb down too frequently. The amount of drops was disheartening, and a majority of Caleb’s interceptions were due to miscommunication between him and a receiver. Those guys aren’t bad or mailing it in, they just need to get on the same page as their quarterback.

Give this group a full offseason, and watch the offense explode next season.

HITTING THE LINKS

Dan Wiederer - Grady Jarrett’s wisdom and work helping fuel Bears’ playoff run: ‘Pain makes a man’ (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier evolving into 'complete player' with sudden offensive growth (Chicago Sun-Times)

Sahadev Sharma - Why the model-heavy Cubs are betting big on the human side of Alex Bregman (The Athletic)

Mark Lazerus - Blackhawks stalwart Connor Murphy has become a true Chicagoan – but for how much longer? (The Athletic)

Chicago Bears - Bears' historic playoff comeback vs. Packers | 1920 Football Drive (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Take a deep breath and relax for once. The Bears season is over, so now you can enjoy…the Hawks?