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Bears Continue To Own The Carolina Panthers

Bears Continue To Own The Carolina Panthers

Bears win 36-10, Blackhawks season prediction, Bulls training camp begins, and more

Kyle Baum
October 07, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 17 minutes

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Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you had a great weekend. I enjoyed time with my family as my 1-year old daughter discovered her love for sprinting around outside 😂

It was a family event at Soldier Field yesterday, too. DJ Moore brought his kids to the post-game press conference. Derrick Rose brought his son to the game. Shota Imanaga, Angel Reese, Anthony Mackie, and other notable guests also watched the Bears win!

DJ Moore brings both of his kids to the podium for his postgame news conference.
— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane)
8:56 PM • Oct 6, 2024

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RESULTS

W - Bears 36, Panthers 10: Ryan Poles, Carolina Panthers Owner *since March 2023

In a dominant display in front of the home fans, the Bears showed off one of the two vastly opposite organizational directions that branched off from the #1 draft pick trade a year and a half ago
That #1 pick, Bryce Young, was benched earlier this year. He got into the game in garbage time and actually threw a few decent passes for 58 yards. Otherwise, the Bears saw old friend Andy Dalton (18/28, 136 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT) and locked up any semblance of a passing attack.
ANOTHER slow start for the Bears 5 weeks into the season! After a 3-and-out by both teams, the defense gave up a 38 yard TD run by Chuba Hubbard. I feared the worst since this has been a trend…fortunately, they turned it around much quicker in this game! 27 unanswered points later, and the Bears went into the half winning 27-7.
Caleb Williams (20/29, 304 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT, 1 sack) legitimately looks like a good quarterback and continues to improve. His pocket movement was impressive, his control of the offense was obvious, and his accuracy was sharp. A rushing TD was sadly called back due to a penalty. He actually made me think the Bears have a functioning NFL offense!?! Am I dreaming???
D’Andre Swift had another good outing with 120 total yards and 1 TD
Even though the offense moved the ball effectively, Bears running backs combined for 98 yards on 31 carries 🤢 the passing game is still carrying the team
DJ Moore got his revenge 💪 he had 5 rec, 105 yds, 2 TD against his former team, including an impressive 30 yard touchdown catch over a defender. He only accumulated 58 yards and 0 TD against the Panthers last season with Tyson Bagent at QB.
Outside of the early run defense and a few tackling miscues, the Bears defense had a great game! They held the Panthers to 3-12 on 3rd down, only 172 passing yards, and they forced 3 turnovers.
Kevin Byard had the catch of the game with a CRAZY interception on a deep throw. Kyler Gordon and Gervon Dexter recovered fumbles!
Only 5 penalties for the Bears 😁

SEASON RECORD: 3-2 (T/3rd place, 2 GB)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Caleb Williams

He almost accounted for 3 TD and had a 126.2 passer rating!

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Caleb Williams to DJ Moore touchdown (yes, again)

The throw 🤩
The catch 🤩
📺: #CARvsCHI on FOX
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears)
6:27 PM • Oct 6, 2024

NEWS & NOTES

Tory Taylor was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his dominant game vs. the Rams - the only other Bears punter to win this award was Brad Maynard in 2007

Marcedes Lewis has now played the most games in NFL history at tight end, passing Jason Witten with 272 games (after the Rams game)

Teven Jenkins left the game early due to an ankle injury. With Matt Pryor already starting at RG, Bill Murray entered the game at LG. The o-line has looked markedly better over the last 2 weeks, but I’m definitely concerned about their durability and stability moving forward.

Next up ➡ 1-4 Jaguars in London! Make sure you wake up early next Sunday 😮 They just pulled off a 3-point win against the Joe Flacco-led Colts and have really struggled to start the year. The Bears SHOULD move to 4-2 heading into their bye!

3 more takeaways for the meter!! Jonathan Owens dropped another possible INT…

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS (PRESEASON)

L - Wild 7, Blackhawks 2

L - Wild 6, Blackhawks 1

W - Blackhawks 6, Blues 2

The two Wild games were UGLY. Preseason results do not matter and are not indicative of the upcoming season. But when it’s that bad…it’s hard to keep that perspective.

The Hawks looked sloppy and overmatched. It's definitely not what we wanted to see from a team hoping to create an identity of toughness, effort, and skating ability.

To be fair, 6 forwards and 3 defensemen expected to see the ice on Opening Day did not play with the team last season. Just like the Bears offense, chemistry will take time. Buying into Luke Richardson’s system and working together as a unit is not an instantaneous process. It’s better to work through the issues now.

Connor Bedard skated with a lot of AHL players in the Blues game, and they played a complete 60 minutes! Nice way to conclude the preseason. Bedard got involved in a major scrum, and Luke Richardson wasn’t too happy…but hey, Bedard’s competitive attitude has been infectious in the preseason.

Connor Bedard says enough is enough and tussles with Zack Bolduc. #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis)
5:53 AM • Oct 6, 2024

NEWS & NOTES

Regular Season Opener ➡ Tuesday night at Utah

Frank Nazar and Kevin Korchinski will officially begin the season at Rockford

Placed D Wyatt Kaiser on injured reserve

Placed D Isaak Phillips on waivers - they want him to clear and remain with the team

D Alec Martinez didn’t play in the first Wild preseason game and said he couldn’t watch the game since he doesn’t get CHSN. He’s just like us!!!

Luke Richardson said they tried to get Connor Bedard off the ice after practices last year by pranking him. He spends so much extra time practicing on his own that the Blackhawks took his sticks away and hid the steel from his skates. It sounded like Luke was somewhat serious about Bedard learning the benefits of rest during a grueling stretch of games.

The top line for Opening Night is expected to be:

Tyler Bertuzzi - Connor Bedard - Teuvo Teravainen

Prediction for this season? 76 points, a bunch of overtime losses, and last in the division (24 more points than last season!!!)

The recklessly optimistic fan in me thinks a big jump is possible because:

Bedard has a talented line
The forward group is much more talented and experienced
Young players who struggled last year won’t be forced into the lineup

But I don’t think that’s realistic. As associate GM Norm Maciver said in the latest Every Shift video, “Where are the goals gonna come from?”

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Training camp began with Media Day on Monday and practices on Tuesday!

Andddddddddd we back.
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls)
5:46 PM • Sep 30, 2024

Takeaways from Media Day:

Winning games is the organization’s #1 priority this season

This is the “start of reshaping the roster” with young players. Arturas Karnisovas wanted to change the overall outlook of the team and adapt a faster play style. I’m assuming this will be ANOTHER evaluation-type season where they see a new set of teammates play together for the first time and decide who should be in the core moving forward.

Josh Giddey ruptured a ligament in his ankle at the Olympics but should be fully healthy soon. Lonzo Ball is cleared for contact and will be monitored closely as he returns to basketball.

Billy Donovan has not set a starting lineup or rotation. Since they haven’t seen Giddey, Patrick Williams, and the rest of the team all play together yet, roles are up in the air. He mentioned being comfortable with 3-guard lineups, and I still believe Giddey (PG)/Coby (SG)/LaVine (SF) is their best option.

Zach LaVine made a self-initiated statement about still being a Bull despite all of the recent trade rumors. It sounded professional and made it seem like he’s ready for a fresh start with new faces around. But…I don’t know how all of the conflict and disagreements from the last few years could be buried at this point. Trade rumors will pop up again, and the whole thing could spiral.

The Bulls will honor Derrick Rose when the Knicks come to Chicago on January 4th! My high hope would be a jersey retirement. My low hope is they at least scheduled the event for when Rose is available to attend…unlike MJ at the Ring of Honor ceremony (1/15).

Waived G Marcus Domask

Signed G Josh Primo to an Exhibit-10 contract, and he’s expected to play for the Windy City Bulls to rehab an injury. He joins Josh Giddey as recent Joshes who avoided legal consequences due to insufficient evidence…and the Bulls brought both of them to Chicago.

Preseason Opener ➡ Tuesday

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Coaching staff changes: 1B coach Mike Napoli, bullpen coach Darren Holmes, assistant hitting coach Jim Adduci, and strength and conditioning coaches Keegan Knoll and Ryan Clausen were let go

Napoli was the most surprising since the players openly praised him and his contributions to their base-stealing efficiency during the season
Craig Counsell promised changes to build a playoff team AND didn’t have time to build an entire staff around him before this season. I’m sure this is the start of a multitude of changes spanning every level of the organization.

Takeaways from Jed Hoyer’s end-of-season press conference:

Jed was disappointed with this season but wholeheartedly believes the organization is in a good place and is set up well for the future

He admitted that not adding enough to the bullpen last offseason hurt them when the injuries started piling up

Craig Counsell received a full stamp of approval and will be involved in every aspect of the organization’s baseball operations. His 5-year deal was specifically mentioned multiple times to point out that his impact will extend beyond his first season. I think he helped the team this season, but it feels like his evaluation of the state of the Cubs just ended. His reach will be felt way more in the coming months.

All 12 playoff teams had a 5-win (by WAR) player, but only 5 of those players were projected to achieve that number. Jed was adamant that teams have successful seasons when their players exceed their projected production. So the questions are…who becomes that 5 win player (PCA?)? And why did the entire team finish at or below their projections this season?

Their offseason plan and 2025 budget will be discussed through October

Matt Shaw and Moises Ballesteros were named to the All-MiLB Prospect 2nd Team!

I love this graphic showing how this year’s playoff teams were built:

How do you build a playoff roster?
The 12 clubs in the 2024 postseason proved there are many ways to go about it: atmlb.com/4eJcfLg
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline)
2:37 AM • Oct 2, 2024

Basically…there are many paths to winning. Watching the playoffs makes me think you have to throw a bunch of guys together and hope they find magic. And we now know that getting rid of Juan Soto is one way to win a playoff series (looking at you, Padres!).

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

“Definitely need my hands ready because he can pass that thing.”

Zach LaVine on playing with Josh Giddey

“He’s a superstar in this league.”

Josh Giddey on Zach LaVine

“Am I going slow or is he going fast?”

DJ Moore on Rome Odunze’s speed in the last few games

“We skated hard, but it was more like chaos, not much chemistry.”

Lukas Reichel on the Blackhawks’ first game vs. the Wild

“I pretty much have a brand new knee.”

Lonzo Ball on changing his play style after numerous knee surgeries

“He’s the most athletic guy on our team.”

Ayo Dosunmu on Matas Buzelis

“We haven’t been good enough.”

Jaylon Johnson on the Bears’ secondary after 4 games

“I’m like playing basketball trying to get to the rim.”

Rome Odunze on scramble drills while Caleb Williams moves around the pocket

Caleb Williams

Caleb and his foundation purchased 600+ tickets to send Chicago area kids to Bears games this season!

Caleb Cares held its inaugural Chicago-based event in July after Caleb Williams was drafted by the Bears. After the event, Caleb made plans to send those kids to Soldier Field so they could experience the environment and make memories.

I’m looking forward to hearing stories from those kids during the year!