Cubs Clinch Playoff Berth For The First Time Since 2020

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

This is a great time of year in the sports calendar, but we may legitimately get to enjoy it this time?!?! The Bears came back to life yesterday at Soldier Field, and the Cubs will officially be playing baseball in October!

CHICAGO BEARS

W - BEARS 31 COWBOYS 14

AMERICA’S TEAM, CHICAGO’S COACH

Ben Johnson earned his first W as a head coach with a convincing win over former Bears coach Matt Eberflus, now the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

After the game, Johnson gave a game ball to Caleb Williams and Tremaine Edmunds. Caleb gave his right back to Johnson in honor of “boss man’s” first win! Watch the locker room celebration here.

A Tyrique Stevenson peanut punch on the Cowboys’ 2nd play of the game set the tone after the Bears started with an ugly 3 & out that could have derailed their energy.

The 14-14 shootout quickly turned into a beating as Johnson opened up his bag of tricks. The Bears played professional, physical, competent football for once. What a sight to see in Chicago!

Standouts:

• Caleb Williams was LOCKED in - he threw 4 TD passes and wasn’t sacked a single time for the first time in his career

• Tremaine Edmunds had 15 tackles and 2 interceptions - 1 on a tip drill and 1 in the end zone

• Luther Burden arrived with 101 receiving yards and 1 TD

• Tyrique Stevenson forced the early fumble and was sticky in coverage all game

• Noah Sewell still looks fast and powerful on every pursuit

Quick Hits:

• First win at Soldier Field since October 6, 2024 😯

• THE Drive - the Bears manufactured a 19 (!!!) play drive in the 3rd quarter that featured 11 consecutive runs, took 9:54 off the clock, and put the game away

• Bears only managed 87 rushing yards - D’Andre Swift averaged 2.5 yards/carry

• Bears defense was gashed for consecutive 11, 10, and 7 play scoring drives in the 1st half before dominating the 2nd half (Punt, INT, INT, INT) and totaling 4 takeaways

• Jaquan Brisker and Grady Jarrett led a players-only meeting after the defense’s no-show vs. Detroit - the meeting clearly worked!

• It’s almost like Matt Eberflus’ defenses play soft zones, don’t affect the quarterback, and don’t intimidate anyone

• Kyler Gordon and TJ Edwards were out again with injuries

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Caleb Williams

19/28, 298 yards, 4 TD, 142.6 rating

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Caleb Williams to Luther Burden flea flicker!

Jaylon Johnson now may miss a lot of time after leaving the Lions game early. It was assumed to be a reaggravation of his training camp groin injury, but he actually has a new (and worse) groin injury. He will most likely need surgery 😔

Placed Johnson and Kiran Amegadjie on IR

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY @ Raiders

CHICAGO CUBS

W - CUBS 4 PIRATES 0

JAMO IN THE PITT

• Jameson Taillon threw a gem against his former team (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

• Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 with his first HR since August 22nd

W - CUBS 4 PIRATES 1

CADE HORTON VS PAUL SKENES SHOWDOWN

• The Cubs OWN Paul Skenes - he gave up a leadoff HR to Michael Busch to begin a rocky start (3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K)

• Cade Horton now has a 0.93 2nd half ERA after allowing 1 ER in 5.0 IP

W - CUBS 8 PIRATES 4

SWEEPING IN THE PLAYOFFS

• Cubs swept the Pirates to clinch a playoff berth and had their first huge celebration since 2017 (no champagne in 2018 or 2020!)

• A 4-0 1st inning lead quickly turned into a 4-4 game in the 2nd

L - REDS 1 CUBS 0

HANGOVER HUNTING

• Hunter Greene dominated the hungover Cubs lineup with a 1-hit complete game

• Colin Rea wanted in on the filthiness party and struck out 11 hitters!

L - REDS 7 CUBS 4

HODGE’S HOMERS

• Porter Hodge gave up 2 HRs in the 6th to break a 4-4 tie

• Starters Shota Imanaga and Nick Lodolo served up 5 combined HRs in a slugfest

L - REDS 6 CUBS 3

CINCY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

• All 4 Cubs pitchers gave up at least 1 run, and the Reds hit 3 HRs

• Reese McGuire homered, and Busch hit his 30th HR of the year

L - REDS 1 CUBS 0

A SERIES SHUTOUT

• Reds completed the 4-game sweep by limiting the Cubs to 6 hits and a 0-for-7 showing with RISP

• Taillon’s 6th straight start allowing 2 or less ER was wasted (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Jameson Taillon

13.0 IP, 2 quality starts, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Ian Happ diving catch

BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS

It’s been since 2020?!?!?

It HAS been a journey, Cubs. As I’ve written before, if this is the 2011 Theo Epstein rebuild timeline, this season is 2015, right? It’s playoffs time.

Today, I give a ton of credit to Jed Hoyer and the entire organization. They made limited moves in the offseason (thanks, ownership) and banked on “outperforming projections” to make a big move in the standings.

They only had a half season of elite Kyle Tucker, had a half season of elite offensive performances by 4 different players, lost Justin Steele for the year, had numerous pitching injuries, got zero return from approximately 6 bullpen arms, didn’t acquire a big fish at the trade deadline, started a rookie at 3B, lost Miguel Amaya for most of the season, and more.

This team has defied the odds and at times has felt special. Let’s hope the lights are bright at Wrigley in October and this team gives us a run!

Kyle Tucker is the Cubs’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee!

Tucker also travelled to Tampa Bay to get new treatment advice for his calf injury. The Cubs are hopeful he will return to play soon, but the regular season is winding down!

Michael Busch is the 1st Cub to hit 30 HRs in a season since 2019 and 27th Cub in history to reach that mark. As a point of first baseman reference, Anthony Rizzo hit 30 HRs 4 times in his Cubs career (32, 31, 32, 32).

Cade Horton allowed 6 total runs in his last 11 starts. He joins Bob Gibson as the only starters to have 8+ wins and allow 6 or fewer runs over an 11 start stretch in the MLB modern era. (per OptaSTATS)

Activated Mike Soroka from the 15-day IL, recalled Jordan Wicks from AAA, optioned Ben Brown and Porter Hodge to AAA

DIVISION RACE: Brewers clinched the division

WILD CARD RACE: 1st Wild Card spot (3.0 games ahead)

SCHEDULE 📅 T/W/TH/F/SAT/SUN - ONLY 6 GAMES LEFT!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

Training Camp

Jeff Blashill’s first camp is underway, and his main goal is to instill championship habits into this team!

• Conditioning drills look like they’re straight out of the movie “Miracle”

• Lines to start camp: Burakovsky-Bedard-Donato, Teravainen-Nazar-Bertuzzi, Slaggert-Dickinson-Mikheyev, Dach-Foligno-Lafferty

• A future Connor Bedard contract extension is a fait accompli

• G Laurent Brossoit had hip surgery and still has no timeline for his return

• See the entire roster and schedule here

Re-signed D Wyatt Kaiser to a 2-year contract ($1.7M cap hit)

Signed D Matt Grzelcyk to a professional tryout

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Training Camp ➡️ September 29th

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Ian Happ

Happ donated a new baseball facility to his alma mater! Watch below:

MILD TAKE

Ben Johnson and Jeff Blashill WILL change the culture.

Culture is such an overused word in sports.

On one hand, it’s essential. On the other, it’s meaningless. Just win, right?

Well, Ryan Poles misjudged the “culture” of his Bears team last season when he exuded love for them. They ended up having spats in the locker room, losing 10 straight games, and letting go of the rope.

When Kyle Davidson was hired, he honed in on specific skills in the draft: skating and compete level. He wanted players who played hard every single shift whether they had the puck or not. As we saw over the last few seasons with a rotating mix of young players, the work ethic was not in place.

Both the Bears and Blackhawks need more talent and more competent coaching, BUT I do believe culture matters in this case.

Johnson and Blashill both arrived with similar vernacular. They are obsessed with the details, they demand excellence, and they push their players. Johnson orchestrated the most physical practices since the Lovie Smith era, and Blashill had his players falling over on the ice after skating drills.

Some may shrug this off and think it’s just a show. A waste of time. I think Chicago has two real coaches who will actually make changes for the better. Championship habits matter. Being pushed past your limits to prepare for big moments matters. These teams have bright futures, and I’m excited about the new coaches in place.

HITTING THE LINKS

Ted Nguyen - Caleb Williams film review: Why Bears QB gives reason for optimism despite blowout loss (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Grueling drill shows why Blackhawks brought Sam Lafferty back for another stint (Chicago Sun-Times)

Patrick Mooney - ‘You’re going to be a complete animal in the playoffs’: Cubs send message to Pete Crow-Armstrong (The Athletic)

Chicago Bears - Old School, New School: Rome Odunze x Devin Hester, Part 1 (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Ride that wave of a Bears Victory Monday and have a great week!