Caleb Williams Takes A Beating On Sunday Night Football

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you woke up feeling better than Caleb Williams did this morning. We’re all disappointed after a loss, but our bruises are nothing compared to QB1 after a brutal night in Houston.

RESULTS

L - Texans 19, Bears 13: A repeat of every past primetime Bears game

• The offense was a DISASTER. Second straight week of no rhythm, no big plays, and sloppiness from the entire unit. Way too many false starts and delays.

• Caleb Williams (23/37, 174 yards, 2 INT) threw 2 unwarranted interceptions but overall looked poised and competent on a night where the protection was nowhere to be found

• Caleb was sacked 7 times, hit 11 times on pass plays, pressured on 23 pass plays, hit late on multiple occasions, and took hits on QB runs. He was blitzed on 41.7% of his dropbacks.

• Bears running backs combined for 27 yards on 17 carries 🤢

• The defense managed only 1 takeaway (forced fumble by Andrew Billings’ helmet) but played great again and kept the Bears in the game

• Texans WR Nico Collins was unstoppable (8 rec, 135 yards, 1 TD)

• Kyler Gordon was SO CLOSE to a pick 6, but the ball touched the ground

• Matt Eberflus lost both of his challenges on plays that had no chance of getting overturned. Those timeouts would have been useful at the end of the game…

• Tense, physical game between the two sides. The Texans toed the line a few times and definitely crossed it when Azeez Al-Shaair punched Roschon Johnson on the sideline and wasn’t penalized. 🙄

• Tremaine Edmunds and Kevin Byard each had 11 tackles

• Cairo Santos nailed 53-yard and 54-yard field goals

• Ugly football overall: 9 Bears penalties, 12 Texans penalties

• The Bears actually had the ball at the end of the game, down by 6, with a chance to win. Of course, the offense mostly went backwards.

• 8th straight loss for the Bears on Sunday Night Football

SEASON RECORD: 1-1 (T/2nd place)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Cairo Santos

You never want the kicker to be the star of the week…

But when Cairo hits two 50+ yard field goals and accounts for 6 of their 13 points, he gets the nod.

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Andrew Billings forced fumble

NEWS & NOTES

Rome Odunze sprained his MCL during the Titans game and miraculously ended up playing against the Texans last night. Shoutout to Rome who played the entire game with the injured knee and logged a lot of snaps in Keenan Allen’s absence (inactive due to a heel injury).

Tyrique Stevenson won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 1 thanks to his game-winning pick 6

OL Ryan Bates was placed on IR and is eligible to return in 4 weeks

Kyler Gordon almost had an interception to add to the defense’s season totals as they pursue 20 and 20:

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Cubs 10, Dodgers 4: Michael Busch & Cody Bellinger revenge game ™

• Busch (4-for-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI) & Bellinger (2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI) led a 16-hit attack against their former team

• The offense woke up again!! Every Cubs starter recorded a hit, and they went 5-for-7 with RISP

W - Cubs 6, Dodgers 3: The Shota Imanaga vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto duel

• Yamamoto (4 IP, 1 ER, 8 K) was more dominant in a short outing coming off the IL, but Imanaga (7 IP, 3 ER, 4 K) got the quality start

• Pete Crow-Armstrong put on a defensive CLINIC in CF in the 8th and 9th innings, including a home run robbery to end the game!

• Dodgers gifted the Cubs a 5-run 8th inning thanks to 2 brutal errors

L - Dodgers 10, Cubs 8: A wild home run derby to end the series

• Dodgers hit 4 home runs off Jordan Wicks in the 1st inning alone!

• A 4-run 5th inning for the Cubs tied the game at 7-7, but the Dodgers scored 3 late runs to take the lead

• Cubs scored 8 runs on only 6 hits…and 10 walks!

L - Rockies 9, Cubs 5: Rough night for the pitching staff at Coors Field

• Rockies C Hunter Goodman went 3-for-4 with 2 HR and 7 RBI

  • Hit the game-winning grand slam in the 8th inning

  • Came into the game hitting .179/.220/.369 on the season

• Busch tied the game at 5-5 with a 453 ft. 3-R HR

L - Rockies 6, Cubs 5 (F/10): Brace yourselves…ANOTHER blown save this season

• Porter Hodge gave up a 2-out walk before pinch-hitter Sam Hilliard took him deep to send the game to extras

• The top 5 hitters in the Cubs lineup combined for 9 hits

• Jameson Taillon was great again (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

W - Cubs 6, Rockies 2: A vintage Kyle Hendricks performance

• Hendricks (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) is the first Cubs pitcher in history to throw 6+ innings and allow no more than 2 hits and 1 run at Coors Field

• Busch went 3-for-5 with 2 HR and 3 RBI

• Cubs had 11 hits and drew 12 walks!

WEEK RECORD: 3-3

SEASON RECORD: 76-73 (2nd place, 10 GB, 5 GB Wild Card)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Michael Busch

What a road trip for Busch!

11-for-23 (.478), 7 R, 4 HR, 11 RBI

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

PCA Walk-Off Home Run Robbery

ROSTER MOVES

Friday: Placed Brennen Davis on the 60-day IL with a fractured ankle, claimed RHP Jimmy Herget off waivers from the Atlanta Braves

NEWS & NOTES

Patrick Wisdom is the Cubs’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee!

Porter Hodge needed a trainer visit during the 9th inning on Tuesday due to an accelerated heartbeat. He was able to calm down and finish the inning (thanks to PCA’s defense!) and was medically cleared after the game.

1st round pick Cam Smith was promoted to AA!

Prospect Brennen Davis suffered another DEVASTATING injury. He fractured his ankle during Tuesday’s game in AAA. He has dealt with constant injuries, and this is another brutal hiccup in his pro baseball career. I’m afraid we won’t ever see him in the big leagues 😢

Bob Nightengale reported that the Cubs fired 4 scouts to “slash their budget” AND there is “internal friction” in the front office 😬

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

PROSPECT SHOWCASE

Young Blackhawks showed off their skills in St. Louis this week!

L - Blues 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)

W - Blackhawks 4, Wild 2

Many skaters had a rough first game against the Blues as they shook off rust from the summer. Frank Nazar said only Auston Matthews has his legs under him in his first game of the year 😂

The top line of Colton Dach - Nazar - Landon Slaggert looked very good, especially in the second game.

AJ Spellacy showed off his speed and athletic traits this week, and he scored an impressive goal in the first game.

The Wild played an aggressively physical style of hockey, and the Hawks took too many hits. Nazar took advantage of this by taking a huge hit that opened up Ryder Rolston for a breakaway goal.

Rockford head coach Anders Sorensen had to step away for personal reasons, so Rockford assistant coach Rob Klinkhammer coached the prospects this week.

Here’s a bonus play of the week:

NEWS & NOTES

1st round pick D Artyom Levshunov injured his foot in a prospect practice and is out for a few weeks. He missed the Prospect Showcase.

Old friend D Jarred Tinordi signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Calgary Flames

The new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) announced their broadcast teams for pre- and post- game shows: Pat Boyle, Tony Granato, Caley Chelios. IL native Granato is the only wild card, but he brings a lot of NHL experience as a former head coach for the Avalanche!

Training camp begins on Thursday!

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

The new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) announced their broadcast teams for pre- and post- game shows: Jason Goff, Kendall Gill, and K.C. Johnson. Three familiar faces for Bulls fans!

Unfortunately, we won’t get anymore epic Will Perdue moments. His words held weight, and his serious moments of calling out the team were so entertaining.

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

Christopher Morel

We can still keep tabs on him even though he’s no longer in Chicago.

Morel graduated high school! The Rays agreed to let him go home to the Dominican Republic for graduation.

He originally signed with the Cubs as an international free agent as a 16-year old. This is a great story about family and commitment from someone who sacrificed a lot to pursue his dream of playing baseball.

Hear more of the story:

The Bears will be fine.

The offense was worse than we could have imagined on Sunday Night Football. Caleb Williams didn’t have a chance to make plays. The flags were flying. The offensive line was just a bunch of turnstiles with orange paint.

On the other hand…

They went on the road in Week 2 against a very good team and only lost by 6.

Since the offseason, I expected the offense to take time to gel. They have a rookie quarterback, a new offensive coordinator, a new scheme, and some new players. Offenses don’t fire on all cylinders overnight.

Even though it has been uglier than I hoped through two games, the Bears are 1-1.

The defense has played very well.

They had the ball with a chance to win the game after an abysmal performance for 58 minutes. That was a hard fought battle between two good teams early in the season.

This roster is talented enough to carry the offense for many more weeks. It can’t last for the entire season, and some development has to occur every week for the franchise quarterback. But with an appetizing schedule coming up, I’m not concerned about the state of this team after two games.

Sahadev Sharma - Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole friendship (The Athletic)

Gabby Hajduk - Fast Facts: Darrell Taylor (chicagobears.com)

Sam Amick - DeMar DeRozan interview on new book (The Athletic)

Scott Powers - CHSN updates and Blackhawks staff changes (The Athletic)

Patrick Mooney - Ian Happ interview on this season (The Athletic)

Jayson Stark - White Sox putting up mind-blowing numbers (The Athletic)

Corey Pronman - Ranking NHL rebuilds (The Athletic)

Patrick Mooney - Scott Boras on his client Cody Bellinger (The Athletic)

NFL Spotlight - TJ Edwards interview (X)

Chicago Bears - Jaylon Johnson mic’d up during Titans game (YouTube)

David Kaplan - Intercepted with Kevin Byard: Jonathan Owens interview (YouTube)

Thanks for reading! After a Bears loss, enjoy the week cheering for the record 121st loss for the White Sox on Sunday if they lose 6 straight!

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a friend! If you are the friend, you can subscribe here: