Defense And Depth Spark The Bulls As They Start The Season 2-0

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

There’s something about mowing the lawn in the fall. It’s refreshing after a long, humid summer. The changing of the seasons is exciting, and the changing of the guard in sports gives us even more new seasons. As the Bears laid down for a Baltimore nap, let’s say the Cubs handed the baton over to the Bulls 💪

CHICAGO BEARS

L - RAVENS 30 BEARS 16

SOMEONE CALL FOR A SNOOP?

After a shady mislabeling of Lamar Jackson’s Friday practice status, he was ruled out of Sunday’s game vs. the Bears. Tyler “Snoop” Huntley got the start after being passed on for Cooper Rush in the Ravens’ previous 2 games.

Bending the rules was unnecessary against this lifeless version of the Bears.

Huntley outplayed Caleb Williams. The penalties kept stacking. Trench battles were immediately lost. And the red zone was a nightmare. What an embarrassing display of football to end a 4-game winning streak. I guess the 1-5 Ravens were a sleeping giant waiting to pounce on a flawed 4-2 Bears team.

Standouts:

• Rome Odunze bounced back from a couple disappointing games to be Caleb’s main target (7 rec, 114 yards)

• D’Andre Swift ran hard again (45 yards, 1 TD) and set up his own TD with a slick 25-yard screen play

• Gervon Dexter and Montez Sweat combined for 14 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 TFLs

• Devin Duvernay had a 49-yard kickoff return

Quick Hits:

• Bears stalled out on their first 2 drives and had to settle for field goals. In the 1st quarter, they had 9 first downs, the Ravens ran 3 total plays, and they only came away with a 6-0 lead.

• Caleb Williams threw an ugly 4th quarter interception, was called for 2 intentional groundings that set the offense back, and had a really rocky day (25/38, 285 yards, 1 INT)

• Bears committed 11 penalties for 79 yards 🤮 The annoying false starts were still an issue, but they even had an illegal formation to cancel out a coffin corner punt to the 1-yard line! When will the Ben Johnson Bears play disciplined football???

• After dominating on the ground in recent weeks, the Bears rushed for 96 yards and allowed 177 yards!

• Cairo Santos missed a rushed 58-yard field goal as time expired in the 1st half in his return to game action

• Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson were out due to injury as the depleted secondary got even thinner. Nahshon Wright was CB1!

• Cole Kmet missed the first game of his career (since being drafted in 2020!) due to injury

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Rome Odunze

7 receptions, 114 yards

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 DJ Moore 1-handed catch

Placed Kyle Gordon and Braxton Jones on IR, signed DT Jonathan Ford to the 53-man roster

The 2024 Bears were 6 seconds away from 5-2 before the infamous Hail Mary against the Commanders. The 2025 Bears were about 45 minutes away from 5-2 before getting stomped by the Ravens. Let’s hope a 10-game losing streak isn’t ahead of us this time around?

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY @ Bengals

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

W - BLACKHAWKS 3 LIGHTNING 2

BLOODIED BLASHILL RETURN

• Connor Bedard was bleeding all over the ice in Jeff Blashill’s return to Tampa thanks to a cut lip and a physical showing by the Hawks

• Ryan Donato scored a go-ahead goal AND the game-winner with 54 seconds left after a strong effort from Frank Nazar

L - KINGS 3 BLACKHAWKS 1

SECOND PERIOD CHECKMATE

• Blackhawks were losing after 2 periods for the first time all season thanks to a brutal 2nd period

• Even strength provided the Hawks a better chance as the power play looked completely lost in 5 tries

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Ryan Donato

2 goals (2 points) on 5 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Ryan Donato game winner

🚨 Traded Lukas Reichel to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2027 4th round pick 🚨

Say adios to another Stan Bowman 1st round pick!

Reichel had some good moments as a Blackhawk and has a ton of skill on the offensive side of the ice. Hopefully, he puts it all together in Vancouver and has a nice career.

After an unsteady development track, not earning minutes despite being a young player in the midst of a full rebuild, and being demoted to a 4th line role that didn’t fit his skillset, Reichel was out of opportunities and requested a trade out of Chicago. He actually got the news at a Portillo’s!

This move was almost certain, and it makes a ton of sense for the Hawks. Reichel was born to be a Top 6 winger if he figures out the motor and physicality needed to survive against top lines, but the Hawks won’t have a spot for him when more of their prospects make it to the league.

Nick Foligno returned to the team early last week. His daughter had a successful surgery and is back home! 🙏

Andre Burakovsky had his 2nd child and missed Thursday’s game vs. the Lightning

Prospect Nick Lardis was named AHL Player of the Week for his 8 points in the first week of the season

Prospect Paul Ludwinski will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/SAT

CHICAGO BULLS

W - BULLS 115 PISTONS 111

BURST OUT OF THE GATE

• Bulls nearly let a 23-point lead slip away after a big 35-19 1st quarter to start the season

• Bulls shot 26/32 (81.3%) from the free throw line but turned it over 18 times

• Nikola Vucevic turned back the clock with a 28p/14r opener

W - BULLS 110 MAGIC 98

VANISHING ACT

• Matas Buzelis fouled out in only 12 minutes, scored 3 points, and shot 1/5 from the field

• Bulls held the Magic to 3/24 (12.5%) shooting from 3PT

• Tre Jones had a career-high 5 steals against his brother’s team (13p/8a/5r/5s)

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Nikola Vucevic

21.5p/11.0r, 64.0% FG, 71.4% 3PT

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Matas Buzelis dunk

Coby White’s calf strain did not improve as expected, so he was out for the start of the season. He will be reevaluated next week.

Opening Night Starters:

Josh Giddey / Tre Jones / Isaac Okoro / Matas Buzelis / Nikola Vucevic

In a VERY small sample size, the Bulls are:

3rd in points allowed per game (104.5)

T/2nd in FG% against (41.8%)

6th in PACE (106.50)

SCHEDULE 📅 M/W/F/SUN

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

Silver Slugger Finalists: Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Dalen Terry

Terry spoke with youth in Chicago about mental health! See here:

MILD TAKE

I’m the most confident in the Blackhawks.

Chicago sports looked pretty rosy before Sunday, didn’t they?

The Bears were riding a 4-game winning streak to a 4-2 record and a matchup with a 1-loss team featuring a backup QB. The Bulls showcased never-before-seen defense and won 2 straight conference matchups to start the season. The Blackhawks had collected 9 of 10 possible points and were sitting in (early) playoff position at 4-2-2.

Everything came crumbling down when the Hawks were shut down against the Kings and the Bears reverted back to the Bears we all know and love.

So where does that leave our 3 teams?

Well, the Bulls’ start is promising but unsustainable. Making strides on defense would make a difference this season, but they still lack starpower and a clear direction for the future.

The Bears have unlimited potential with the Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams pairing. I only believed in this year’s Bears because of the legitimacy of Johnson as a head coach. But we’ve seen enough cycles to know nothing is guaranteed. We’re 7 games in, and the penalties, lack of a passing game, and fluky last-minute wins are not great signs.

Why am I confident in the Blackhawks’ future more than the others? Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard are already point-per-game players with a ton of room to grow. Spencer Knight is already turning into a franchise goalie. The defensive pipeline is probably the best in the NHL. The system is loaded for the future.

Oh, and Jeff Blashill’s culture reset seems to have shifted players’ mentalities immediately. They have the stars, the role players, and maybe even a play style already penciled in. The other teams in town? They’re still banking on hope.

HITTING THE LINKS

Courtney Cronin - Bears WR Rome Odunze breaking out in Year 2 (ESPN)

Scott Powers - The Blackhawks’ unexpected winning recipe: 11 forwards, 7 defensemen (The Athletic)

Brad Biggs - Column: Kevin Byard — off to one of the best starts of his career — ‘exemplifies all of it’ for Chicago Bears (Chicago Tribune)

Ben Pope - Spencer Knight's terrific October aided by Blackhawks' defensive system, which plays to his strengths (Chicago Sun-Times)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your Halloween! Bulls vs. Knicks should provide all of the scary entertainment you need!