Bears Take Sole Possession Of First Place With 19-17 Win In Minnesota

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Take a deep breath this morning. The Bears aren’t giving us a break with all of their 4th quarter miracles! Whether you love him or hate him, Cairo Santos has been an important piece of the puzzle this season.

Somehow, someway, here on November 17th, the Bears are in first place in the NFC North. This late in the season!!! Go Bears!

CHICAGO BEARS

W - BEARS 19 VIKINGS 17

MINNY REDEMPTIONS

Cardiac Cairo Santos hit the game-winning field goal after missing earlier in the game to give the Bears their first win against the Vikings since 2023 and prevent another choke like in Week 1!

The Bears defense feasted on JJ McCarthy’s mistakes in the 1st half and came away with 2 interceptions. They failed to land the knockout punch, so the Vikings hung around too closely and finally broke through on offense to take a 17-16 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

Devin Duvernay broke off a 56-yard kickoff return to set up the game-winning field goal!

Standouts:

• Cairo made 4/5 field goals. His only miss was a 45-yarder that would have put the Bears up 19-10 with only 8 minutes left. He has now made the most 50+ yard field goals in Bears history!

• Kevin Byard snagged his NFL-leading 5th interception

• Nahshon Wright made an insane leaping interception in the end zone (his 4th of the season)

• D’Andre Swift had another physical day on the ground (21 carries, 90 yards)

• Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland combined for 85 receiving yards and punished defenders every time they had the ball

• Caleb Williams is tied for the most game-winning drives by a QB in the NFL (5)

Quick Hits:

• 7 wins in their last 8 games

• 1st division win for Ben Johnson

• 0 turnovers and 2 takeaways: Bears are 1st in the NFL with a +16 turnover differential (2nd place = +10) and are only 2 away from their 2024 takeaways total of 24

• McCarthy was getting booed at home! He had accumulated only 74 passing yards in the entire game when he had the ball with a chance to go down the field and take the lead in the 4th quarter

• 16-3 Bears lead vanished quickly: Caleb Williams was sacked twice, the Bears gave up a 43-yard punt return, and their run defense vanished as Jordan Mason scored easily

• Kmet was the Bears’ leading receiver…with only 45 yards

• Tyson Bagent decoy plays went 1-for-2. Travis Homer 3rd down play went 0-for-1.

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Cairo Santos

4/5 FG, 1/1 XP, game-winner

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Nahshon Wright interception

Opened the 21-day window for Jaylon Johnson to return from the IR!!!

Brian Daboll was fired as head coach of the New York Giants. The Bears comeback was the final straw…or maybe it was declining that penalty near the goal line.

Bears are 7-3, have won 7 of their last 8 games, AND they may have these upcoming opponents:

Mason Rudolph (Aaron Rodgers has a small fracture in his left wrist)

Eagles (Only scored 26 total points vs. NFC North teams the last 2 weeks)

Jordan Love

Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders

Jordan Love

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY vs. Steelers

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - DEVILS 4 BLACKHAWKS 3 (OT)

SIMON SAYS GOAL FOR A GOAL

• Simon Nemec tied the game at 1-1, 3-3, and scored the OT winner to complete the hat trick

• Sam Lafferty and Landon Slaggert each scored their first goal of the season

• After a high-energy start, the Hawks were outshot 26-8 and thoroughly outplayed in the 2nd and 3rd periods

W - BLACKHAWKS 3 MAPLE LEAFS 2

WHAT’S UP, DACH?

• Colton Dach scored the game-winner to break a 2-2 tie

• Frank Nazar returned from injury and beautifully set up Teuvo Teravainen for an early 3rd period goal

• Hawks went stride for stride and finished with only one less shot on goal than the Leafs (33-32)

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Teuvo Teravainen

1 goal and 1 assist (2 points) on 5 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Sam Lafferty goal

Duncan Keith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame! Watch his speech here

Nick Foligno left Saturday’s game early after blocking a shot and will miss approximately 4 weeks

Called up Landon Slaggert from the AHL

Prospect Mason West will play for a state championship to cap off his football career after throwing 4 TDs in a 42-41 win

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/F/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

L - SPURS 121 BULLS 117

WEMBY WHIRLWIND

• Victor Wembanyama (38p/12r) drilled 2 pull-up 3s at the end of the game and almost outscored the entire Bulls team in the 4th quarter (19-18)

• Tre Jones scored a season-high 20 points with 7 rebounds and 7 assists

L - PISTONS 124 BULLS 113

REED IT AND WEEP

• Paul Reed scored 28 points to lead the shorthanded Pistons’ dominant attack

• Matas Buzelis had his first double-double of the season (21p/14r)

• Bulls relied on small lineups to provide a spark as Nikola Vucevic struggled and the defense couldn’t buy a stop (Pistons shot 56% from the field)

L - JAZZ 150 BULLS 147 (2OT)

JAB, JAB, GEORGE

• Keyonte George hit the game-winning dagger 3 in 2OT

• Coby White returned from injury, played past his minutes restriction, and played his heart out (27p/8a, 14/14 FT)

• Lauri Markkanen scored 47 points in his revenge game against the Bulls

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Matas Buzelis

18.0p/8.3r per game, 46.2% 3PT

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Coby White OT drive on Lauri Markkanen

1st round pick Noa Essengue had an impressive G League debut for the Windy City Bulls! He scored 28 points on 11/21 FG with 8 rebounds.

Bulls play in Denver tonight for a back-to-back. Coby won’t play as he ramps back up to full strength.

SCHEDULE 📅 M/W/F/SAT

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

GM Meetings & Offseason Updates

• Nobody believes Kyle Tucker is returning…

• Shota Imanaga could still return depending on what opportunities he finds on the market

• Cubs focus is ALL on pitching. Tatsuya Imai may be on their radar, and they have to reshape the majority of their bullpen

• Latest report from The Athletic is here

Cade Horton finished 2nd for NL Rookie of the Year. Absolutely robbed. He was the best pitcher in baseball in the second half of the season.

Craig Counsell finished 4th for NL Manager of the Year. His successor in Milwaukee, Pat Murphy, won his 2nd consecutive award. I’m sure the whole “average Joes” shtick will always give him votes…

Pete Crow-Armstrong will play for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic!

Kyle Hendricks is officially retiring. Hopefully he returns to the Cubs organization in some capacity and is around the team for many years to come. What a legend!

Signed RHP Sam Mettert to a minor league contract

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Nahshon Wright

Wright’s college football coach John Beam was shot and killed just a few days ago. Beam was a father figure to him, and Wright was able to come down with a showstopping interception yesterday in his honor. Read more here:

MILD TAKE

The Bears don’t have to be “good”. They just have to win.

How many times have we seen elite quarterbacks and legendary head coaches win championships upon championships despite flawed rosters and rocky seasons?

How many times did Tom Brady dump off the ball to backup running backs in clutch moments in the Super Bowl?

How many times did a good Bears season turn into a quick playoff exit and a losing season the following year?

The NFL is an impossible and confusing league. With so much quality talent, the line between winning and losing is nearly negligible every single week.

We’re seeing firsthand how the 4th quarter, even just the final drives of the 4th quarter, can supersede everything that happened in the rest of the game.

When Matt Eberflus was here, the Bears blew 4 games when they had a late lead in 2023 alone. That 7-10 team could have…had a winning record somehow?

This year’s team has STRUGGLED. Special teams is all over the place. The defense can’t stop anyone from gaining yards. The offense can’t finish drives or piece together whole games. The operation isn’t flawless, and nothing is firing on all cylinders yet early in the Ben Johnson era. So how are they winning so many games?

Ice Man Caleb Williams. And a stone cold head coach.

When you win in clutch time, you don’t have to be good. This is the best possible trend for the Bears!

HITTING THE LINKS

Dan Pompei - Case Keenum, at 37 and on eighth NFL team, is giving Bears exactly what they needed (The Athletic)

Kevin Fishbain - Inside the Chicago Bears’ stout third-down defense: ‘D.A.’s a mastermind’ (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Blackhawks might have to decide between re-signing Jason Dickinson or Ilya Mikheyev (Chicago Sun-Times)

Chicago Bears - Bears' ground game, takeaways fuel late heroics | 1920 Football Drive (YouTube)

NBAT2 - Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah Reunite in Chicago | Nomad (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Have a great week, and let me know what you want to see in next week’s newsletter!