Bears Upset Packers In Season Finale At Lambeau Field

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope your new year is off to a great start! Beating the Packers is a pretty nice start if you ask me. Here’s to brighter days ahead for our favorite teams. In the meantime, try to match Connor Bedard’s coolness this year:

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RESULTS

W - Bears 24, Packers 22: Cairo Santos redemption in an unexpected win!!!

• First win vs. the Packers since the 2018 division clincher AND first win at Lambeau Field since Thanksgiving 2015!

• Best birthday present for Virginia McCaskey on her 102nd birthday! 🎂

• The Bears actually took an early lead!! Thanks to some old-school special teams and defense, they went up 14-3. Josh Blackwell returned a punt for a TD, and Jaylon Johnson punched out the ball in Packers territory to set up the offense for an easy TD.

• Outside of a nice TD drive in the 3rd quarter, the Bears offense struggled to get anything going again and finished with 224 total yards. Screens were the most frequent call since the downfield pass game is nowhere to be found. The gameplans and execution all season long have been atrocious.

• Caleb Williams (21/29, 148 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) found nothing down the field but made big plays on 3rd down (7/14 as a team) and at the end of the game. He was only sacked ONE TIME - on their first offensive play of the game.

• Bears running backs combined for 68 yards on 22 carries 🤢

• Jordan Love left the game in the 2nd quarter after injuring his hand. Backup Malik Willis came in mid-drive and finished a TD drive…

• Shoutout again to the Bears defense!!! Two straight solid performances to end the season after completely collapsing after the bye week. They couldn’t stop the run (183 yards allowed) but had 2 takeaways and only allowed 3/10 3rd down conversions.

• Kevin Byard was a man possessed. What a season for the veteran free agent acquisition!

• Keenan Allen threw an interception on an awful trick play decision 🙄

• DJ Moore had an impressive game and continues to be a weapon on screens. He fumbled when the Bears were trying to run out the clock in the 4th quarter but otherwise played well and had a 32-yard TD catch.

• Either the Bears wanted to pull out all the stops or they didn’t trust the rest of their team to make any plays…because the Blackwell punt return TD was a fake-out like we saw with Knox and Hester back in the day, and they tried a reverse play on the final kickoff return of the game

SEASON RECORD: 5-12 (End of Season)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Kevin Byard

14 tackles and a strip sack: he LEVELED Willis as a free blitzer

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Josh Blackwell punt return TD

He ran a total of 138.3 yards on this play 😮

NEWS & NOTES

Jaylon Johnson was the only Bears player named to the Pro Bowl 🏅

Not a single Bear finished in the fan vote Top 10 by position…

Cole Kmet named the Jeff Dickerson Good Guy award winner 🏅

Finally, the insane losing streaks are in the rearview mirror:

Well, we made it. The pain is (temporarily) over.

Yes, I predicted 11 wins this season. I did not anticipate this 5 win nightmare.

It’s time for a coaching search. I’m guessing Ryan Poles will address the media early this week and give the typical non-answers: we stuck together, we lost close games, we have to hire the right coach, we almost won 4 division games, Caleb is a confident guy with good instincts, etc. It will be meaningless. As long as he hires the right coach and turns this around, nothing else matters.

Plus, I still believe in Caleb Williams. He should be the first franchise QB in Chicago Bears history.

More analysis on this season in future weeks 🕑

TROPHY TRACKER (4/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

L - Blues 6, Blackhawks 2 (Winter Classic): Embarrassing showing at Wrigley Field

• The outdoor game energy did NOT translate for the Hawks: 3rd straight blowout and 5th straight loss

• Blues got pucks to the net early and often and owned the game from puck drop

• Each team scored 2 power play goals: Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi scored

W - Blackhawks 4, Canadiens 2: Finally showed up for a hockey game!

• Colton Dach was a force and won his NHL debut against his brother and former Blackhawk Kirby Dach

• The Canadiens ran up their shot total (40-26), but the Hawks were able to close them out in the 3rd period

• Nick Foligno scored 2 goals, Arvid Soderblom had an impressive game (38 saves on 40 shots)

L - Rangers 6, Blackhawks 2: Quick fall back into blowout mode

• Rangers had won 2 of their last 10 games and looked like Stanley Cup champions against the Hawks

• This was a copy/paste of the Winter Classic. Every puck thrown at the net got by the goalie (Soderblom in this one), and the Hawks looked completely lifeless

• Wyatt Kaiser scored his first NHL goal

SEASON RECORD: 13-25-2 (28 points)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Tyler Bertuzzi

3 goals in 3 games!

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Taylor Hall Winter Classic goal

NEWS & NOTES

Activated Craig Smith from IR, called up Colton Dach from the AHL, assigned Joey Anderson to the AHL

Lost 3 consecutive games by 4+ goals each for the first time since 1987

Jonathan Toews might make an NHL comeback! He reportedly feels healthier than he has in years, and certain NHL teams have shown interest if he decides to return.

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Bulls 115, Hornets 108 (OT): Narrow escape over the lowly Hornets

• Nikola Vucevic missed 2 free throws with 6.1 seconds left, which opened the door for Miles Bridges to hit a game-tying 3

• Another awful 1st quarter for the Bulls: only 15 points (lowest in a quarter this season)

• Coby White led the Bulls in scoring (23p) despite shooting 1-11 from 3PT with Zach LaVine out due to injury

L - Wizards 125, Bulls 107: Horrific shooting night against the league-worst Wizards

• Bulls shot 29.8% from 3PT, Wizards shot 47.2% from 3PT

• LaVine returned and was the only real contributor: 32p on 12-20 FG shooting

W - Bulls 139, Knicks 126: Crazy comeback on Derrick Rose night!!!

• The halftime D-Rose ceremony must have been the special sauce as the Bulls flew out of the break with a 41-17 3rd quarter

• Bulls shot 54.1% from 3PT and held the Knicks to 26.7% from 3PT

• Coby White dominated with 33p on 9-11 3PT, and LaVine matched with 33p

SEASON RECORD: 16-19 (10th place in East)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Zach LaVine

Even though he missed 1 game, he DOMINATED play: 32.5p/5a/2.5r per game

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Josh Giddey backwards pass and Zach LaVine dunk

NEWS & NOTES

🚨 Derrick Rose’s jersey will be retired next season!!!! 🚨

#1 will hang in the rafters at the United Center next to Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen

Here’s D-Rose hearing the news:

I wrote about D-Rose’s impact on me and the city in the 9/30/24 newsletter (D'Andre Swift Stars In Bears 24-18 Win Against The Rams). I also came to the conclusion that his number should be retired. Nobody should wear #1 for the Bulls ever again. Rose is too significant of a person and player in Chicago.

🌹 Derrick Rose night at the United Center 🌹

A night that was in the works for months turned into a few emotional days in Chicago.

Rose wanted to honor the fans and those who helped him achieve greatness, so the festivities expanded beyond a halftime ceremony at the UC.

Fans went to his pop-up flower shop in the city to meet him. His former teammates flew in from around the world to show their appreciation, spend time with him, and produce videos for the Bulls. Rose returned to Simeon to honor the 1984 state champions, play in a pickup game with his son, and visit the students.

Mayor Brandon Johnson proclaimed January 4, 2025 as Derrick Rose Day in Chicago.

All of this culminated with a Bulls/Knicks game and a packed UC chanting “MVP” over and over. It was sentimental, it was powerful, and it was nostalgic. Neil Funk, Stacey King, and Joakim Noah spoke eloquently during the halftime ceremony:

Other videos from the week:

Derrick Rose & Joakim Noah relive their best moments (YouTube)

From Chicago: A Tribute to Derrick Rose (YouTube)

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Signed LHP Caleb Thielbar to a 1-year contract

• Spent his entire career with the Twins and struggled in 2024 (5.32 ERA)

• Extremely effective reliever prior to 2024: 3.23/3.49/3.23 ERAs in 2021-2023 and a career 9.8 K/9

• Cubs need lefties who can get lefties out, and Thielbar fits the bill with a career .593 OPS allowed to left-handed hitters

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

Derrick Rose

The legend who gave everything to Chicago during his playing days continues to give back.

The Rose Garden will open in Englewood to support the Growing Home organization, which provides food and offers skill development training. The garden will also be a rejuvenated outdoor area in Rose’s hometown neighborhood.

This week was about him, and he made it about everyone else.

Hire Mike Vrabel to coach the Bears.

Each head coach candidate during hiring cycles has clear pros and cons. I’m pretty sure I’ve been wrong about every possible Bears hire over the years. Nobody knows who the next Bill Belichick or Sean McVay will be before they actually win. Do you want experience? An offensive mastermind? A virtual nobody?

There are plenty of options for a large number of teams. The Bears always get it wrong, but any hire could be the end of this decades long spiral.

(Maybe the Bears can convince the Rams to trade McVay to them?!?)

What have the Bears lacked at head coach? Competency. Nobody has been able to do the job. Since Lovie Smith, every coach besides John Fox has been new at the job and failed.

What does Mike Vrabel have to offer? He’s a good NFL head coach.

His in-game management is heralded, his players love him, he’s tough, he holds players accountable, and he can clearly run a football program.

Everyone else is a shot in the dark. Ben Johnson could become an all-time great. He could also get fired after one season.

Since the Patriots job is now open and Vrabel could quickly get hired there as a beloved former player, I’m worried that the Bears will miss out. Fly him out to Chicago now. There is a successful head coach available who can extinguish the fire at Halas Hall and build a winner.

Emily Kaplan - Sophomore setbacks: Should Chicago speed up its rebuild for Bedard? (ESPN)

Kevin Fishbain - How Bears receiver Rome Odunze has shown his potential (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Looking back at Blackhawks’ three huge 2022 trades (Chicago Sun-Times)

The Athletic NHL Staff - Wrigley Field the star of the show…on eve of Winter Classic (The Athletic)

Thanks for reading! Take a deep breath now that the Bears season is over. Enjoy the NFL playoffs stress free!!!