Ben Johnson Era Begins With Familiar Embarrassments

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

I hope you had a great weekend and tuned out the same old pathetic Bears! I’m guessing many of you were excited for the season to start and maybe even grabbed an Urlacher jersey from the closet.

CHICAGO BEARS

L - VIKINGS 27 BEARS 24

A NEW ERA MELTDOWN

• Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and TJ Edwards were all inactive due to injury

• The Bears started fast, which is a goal that has consistently eluded them. They started the game with 2 defensive 3 & outs and an impressive TD drive.

• A 17-6 lead after 3 quarters quickly vanished with 21 unanswered points by the Vikings

• Cairo Santos missed a 50-yard FG and couldn’t place a kickoff out the back of the end zone with only precious seconds remaining

• Caleb Williams (21/35, 210 yards, 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD) was 13/16 in the 1st half, distributing the ball all over and making smart plays with his legs, before a disastrous 2nd half

• The new-look Dennis Allen defense looked fast, aggressive, and suffocating in the 1st half. As usual, an incompetent offensive output ended up wearing down the defense at the end of the game.

• New coaching staff, same penalty plague. There was a huge phantom holding call and other misses by the refs, but the Bears committed 12 penalties for 127 yards.

• 4 false starts, timing issues, poor blocking, missed throws, and more made it abundantly clear - it will take a while for Ben Johnson to mold this new offense

• Standouts: Noah Sewell and Dayo Odeyingbo

L - LIONS 52 BEARS 21

THE LIONS AND THEIR PERSONAL PREY

• Ben Johnson returned to Detroit to the sound of booing, and he left with Bears fans booing him from their couch

• First 50-burger allowed by the Bears since the infamous 55-14 drubbing at Lambeau Field in 2014 that sparked a secret McCaskey family meeting

• 7th time the Bears have allowed 500+ yards of offense since 1995

• Jared Goff threw 5 TDs with a 156.0 passer rating

• An early D’Andre Swift fumble and failed consecutive QB sneak attempts on 3rd and 4th down killed all potential momentum

• Strange refereeing at the end of the half regarding a tackle in or out of bounds led to the Bears’ deficit increasing from 7 to 14 points

• The Lions dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball…what a surprise!

• Edwards and Johnson reaggravated their injuries and left early

• Rome Odunze (7 rec, 128 yards, 2 TD) carried the offense before a couple drops

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Rome Odunze

13 rec, 165 yards, 3 TD

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Nahshon Wright Pick 6

President Kevin Warren wrote a letter officially declaring Arlington Heights as the location of the Bears’ new stadium. Read it here.

Signed K Jake Moody (49ers 2023 3rd round pick) to the Practice Squad

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY vs. Cowboys

CHICAGO CUBS

L - BRAVES 4 CUBS 1

RESPECT YOUR ELDERS

• Bryce Elder owned the Cubs for the 2nd consecutive time (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

• A 3-run 1st inning against Shota Imanaga (6.0 IP, 3 ER) was all the Braves needed

W - CUBS 6 BRAVES 1

PETE AND CADE HAVE A DAY

• Cade Horton (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) lowered his 2nd half ERA to 0.84

• PCA overcame his recent struggles to drive in 2 early runs and steal 2 bases

W - CUBS 3 BRAVES 2

SCRAPPY SERIES WIN

• Jameson Taillon (4.1 IP) and the Cubs bullpen (4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) outdueled Chris Sale

• A Carson Kelly HR and a couple timely RBI were enough despite a 1-for-10 performance with RISP

W - CUBS 6 RAYS 4

MOREL THAN JUST REVENGE

• Christopher Morel hit a 3-R HR in his first Wrigley Field at-bat as an opposing player

• Cubs bullpen threw 4 perfect innings (0 H, 0 BB, 5 K)

L - RAYS 5 CUBS 4

RIZZO FOREVER

• Anthony Rizzo watched the game from the bleachers and dropped Moises’ Ballesteros’ 1st career HR that was hit right to him!

• Cubs blew 3-0 and 4-3 leads, and the bullpen gave up solo HRs in the 8th and 9th

W - CUBS 4 RAYS 3

MR. NICO CLUTCH

• Nico Hoerner had 3 RBI, including the go-ahead 2-R double in the 7th

• Imanaga overcame back-to-back HRs to start the game and struck out 9 in 5 innings

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Nico Hoerner

11-for-23 (.478 AVG), 6 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 3 SB

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Dansby Swanson diving catch

Anthony Rizzo Retires

After not landing a job this season and becoming a dad, the Cubs legend is officially calling it quits. The Cubs honored him at Wrigley Field on Saturday and made him a team ambassador moving forward.

I’m ecstatic that Rizzo will be a Cub for life and represent this city again. Finally, a decision that was a win-win for everyone involved.

Even though the magic fell short in a loss, Wrigley Field was alive and rocking at a level we haven’t experienced in quite some time. Rizzo threw the first pitch to good friend Ian Happ, sat in the left field bleachers, made a hilarious appearance in the TV booth, sang the 7th inning stretch, and soaked in the atmosphere with his family.

A 1:20 game felt like home again.

Andrew Kittredge has taken over as their closer since Palencia’s injury. He already has 3 saves, hasn’t given up a run since August 24th, and is striking out hitters at a much higher clip.

Placed Daniel Palencia on the 15-day IL, placed Kyle Tucker on the 10-day IL, activated Jameson Taillon, called up Moises Ballesteros

GM Carter Hawkins is a candidate for the Nationals’ top baseball operations job

DIVISION RACE: 5.5 GB of the Brewers

WILD CARD RACE: 1st Wild Card spot (3.5 games ahead)

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T/W/TH/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

Signed G Spencer Knight to a 3-year contract extension ($5.83M cap hit)

Another extension a year before free agency!

Knight is the #1 goalie of the present and future. He's an exciting young player with an extremely high ceiling. He’s also a culture setter who has been around winners, expects to win, and demands greatness from his teammates. Good work by the Blackhawks to lock up another member of the core!

The Dark Knight Re-Signs 👀

Prospects Showcase

W - BLACKHAWKS 3 BLUES 2 (OT)

L - WILD 3 BLACKHAWKS 2

• The proven NHLers only played in Game 1: Sam Rinzel wore the C and dominated play, and Oliver Moore scored the OT game-winner

• Ryan Greene wore the C in Game 2

• Rookie minicamp was competitive and physical! AJ Spellacy and Aidan Thompson had one of the many intense scrums

• See the full roster here

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Signed Josh Giddey to a 4-year, $100M contract extension

The stalemate finally ended! This is a great deal for the Bulls for an ascending 22-year old player with sky-high upside. $25M/year is fairly reasonable compared to the rumored asking price and historical deals like Zach LaVine’s $43M/year. ICYMI - I wrote about the possibility of a long-term Giddey and Coby White backcourt here.

Ring of Honor 2025 Class: Johnny Bach, Bill Cartwright, Neil Funk, Horace Grant., John Paxson, Norm Van Lier

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Anthony Rizzo & Moises Ballesteros

Rizzo happened to sit in the bleachers and (almost) catch Ballesteros’ 1st career HR ball. He made sure to throw it back, and Ballesteros showed his appreciation:

MILD TAKE

The Cubs are proving they are a good team.

I know it FEELS like the walls are caving in.

The 2nd half of the season has been underwhelming, and the Cubs have looked like a lifeless team slowly limping their way to a Wild Card Round exit.

Instead of the doom and gloom, look at it this way:

• 21 games over .500 on September 15th

• 4th best record in baseball

• Nearly guaranteed a playoff spot

• Will NOT have 83 wins for the 3rd consecutive season

• 3 games over .500 since the All-Star Break despite a horrible offense

• Won 7 of their last 9 series

The Cubs are in a great spot and can still make noise in October. We’re still waiting for the hitters to find their groove again, but in the meantime, every other part of the team is stepping up to playoff caliber levels. Good teams find ways to win.

Maybe Tucker doesn’t get healthy, Busch and Seiya will continue to struggle, and PCA will still look lost at the plate. Nobody knows. But whether the turnaround occurs or not, we’re seeing enough to prove they can compete with others in the National League.

HITTING THE LINKS

Courtney Cronin - Why Bears coach Ben Johnson seemed destined for this moment (ESPN)

Ben Pope - Blackhawks' Artyom Levshunov feels more comfortable, more prepared for second pro season (Chicago Sun-Times)

Scott Powers - Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill on Connor Bedard’s growth, culture-building: Q&A (The Athletic)

Chicago Bears - Chicago Bears offensive lines of past and present meet (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Anyone willing to suit up for the Bears defense and tackle somebody this Sunday?