Cubs Offense Vanishes As The Clock Ticks

Good morning Chicago fans! Wake up to new beginnings!

We might have a legitimate quarterback for the first time ever.

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RESULTS

L - Guardians 9, Cubs 8: Defense and pitching let the team down in a wild loss.

• Shota Imanaga would have escaped a scoreless 4th inning if Isaac Paredes made a clean play at 3B OR the umpire called an obvious strike 3

  • The Guardians ended up scoring 4 runs in the inning and put up 7 total runs against Imanaga

• Ian Happ hit a HR and had 2 OF assists on his 30th birthday 🥳

• Julian Merryweather was left in the game for a 2nd inning (why??) and promptly gave up the winning run

L - Guardians 2, Cubs 1: As expected, the offense faded as the run prevention returned.

• Jhonkensy Noel hit the game-winning HR in the 6th inning off of Drew Smyly - his 3rd HR in the series already!

• The Cubs stranded a runner in scoring position in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings and only had 5 hits on the night

  • Matthew Boyd made his FIRST start of the season for the Guardians 😬

L - Guardians 6, Cubs 1: Ugly sweep in Cleveland.

• Alex Cobb made his SECOND start of the season for the Guardians, and the Cubs only had 5 total hits again

• The Cubs were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position

W - Cubs 6, Blue Jays 5 (F/10): A blown save actually ended with a W!

• Hector Neris came on for the save with a 5-2 lead and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits

• Seiya Suzuki was the hero with a walk-off single in the 10th inning

• 4 Cubs hit HRs: Bellinger, PCA, Amaya, Happ

W - Cubs 3, Blue Jays 2: Double rain delay day!

• Justin Steele (0 R, 3 K) only threw 2 innings because of 2 early rain delays. Not sure who did the forecasting for MLB…

• Jorge Lopez got the save - struck out the side but gave up a solo HR

• Happ led off the game with a 1st pitch HR

L - Blue Jays 1, Cubs 0: Brutal day at the plate stops a potential sweep.

• Shota Imanaga had a really good outing with a solo HR as his only blemish (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

• Only 4 hits and 1 walk for the Cubs…just nothing happening with the bats again

WEEK RECORD: 2-4

SEASON RECORD: 61-64 (3rd place, 11.5 GB)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Ian Happ

The older and wiser Happ is on another hot streak!

6-for-21 (.286), 7 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB

His birthday WAS pretty special:

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Seiya Suzuki Walk-Off Single

ROSTER MOVES

None - no IL movement is kind of scary!

NEWS & NOTES

The Cubs have 6 players on the latest Top 100 Prospects list by MLB Pipeline. All 6 of them are currently in AAA. The organization is #1 in the rankings system for all prospects! 🥇

The Guardians series was the first time the Cubs got swept in a 3+ game series all season

Jed Hoyer was on 670 The Score and shared that the Cubs will most likely go over the luxury tax this season. The tax line felt like their “budget” for this season with the goal of staying under until they truly compete for a championship. I’m curious how they ended up going over, if it was intentional, and if that complicates any plans for the future. They better not limit spending next season!

Last 5 games: 11 runs, 26 hits

Now 5.5 games back of the final Wild Card Spot 😑

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS (PRESEASON)

W - Bears 27, Bengals 3

• The Bengals did not play their starters, and the Bears couldn’t get much going until the second half.

• Caleb Williams (6/13, 75 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 1 rushing TD) played the entire first half. The first team offense was not clicking as a unit, but they put together a scoring drive at the end of the half that ended with a Caleb TD run.

• Caleb made an insane throw to Rome Odunze down the left sideline while running to his left AND had a near TD to Rome on a scramble play in the red zone. If only Rome knew where the back line of the end zone was located and got both feet in…

• Tyson Bagent connected on 2 perfect TD passes to Dante Pettis

• Terell Smith and Amen Ogbongbemiga each had an INT

• Kyler Gordon was a lightning rod out there ⚡ he got an easy sack on a nickel blitz and was flying around the field

• Daniel Hardy had a sack, 2 TFLs, and kept making plays in the backfield

• Tory Taylor…may already be the best punter in the league 🤷‍♂️

• During the TV broadcast, Ryan Poles said the coaches kept the first team offense on the field longer than planned. It’s great to hear they adapted to the flow of the game and let the offense gain a bit of momentum before pulling them out.

HARD KNOCKS

Episode 2 is in the books! It was entertaining despite the lack of depth that I hope will change in future episodes.

They are still hanging onto Olympics storylines, which is only fun because Caleb Williams said he wants to play Flag Football in the 2028 Olympics 😎

🏈 Xs and Os: Caleb Williams had a meeting with Bears Director of Research and Analysis Harrison Freid about the referees scheduled for the preseason game vs. the Bills. Caleb asked about how often he will see each crew during the regular season. I love that Caleb is getting prepped on those guys’ backgrounds and informed on how important it is to build relationships with them.

😎 Favorite Scene: RB Coach Chad Morton gave the players a hard time during practice. They say it’s tough love one moment, and then Morton ends up sprinting to the end zone with them on the next play. He even called Ian Wheeler Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh!

🤢 Disturbing Scene: DJ Moore and his daughter tried hot dog flavored ice cream at the Museum of Ice Cream…no thanks!

😂 Funny Scene: After running through a couple defenders and being thrown to the ground in a PRESEASON game, DJ Moore yelled out “I LIKE FOOTBALL”.

💲 Showoff: Jaylon Johnson did not appreciate the NFL Top 100 list omission and shut down every WR in camp. Every scene they showed from practice was Johnson swatting a pass away or grabbing a crazy interception while covering Keenan Allen.

❌ I’m Done: The whole episode used a rhythm and blues analogy to discuss the team finding its groove. This narrative on top of a practice montage in the background did not work at all.

NEWS & NOTES

The Bears reportedly tried to trade for Patriots DE Matthew Judon who ended up getting traded to the Falcons for a 3rd round pick

• I’ve been skeptical of rumors that the Bears are trying hard to find a veteran DE, but Judon would have fit the bill. This confirms that Ryan Poles is actually looking for external options…who is next?

• Judon is 32 and will most likely want an extension - I doubt the Bears want to pay an older DE big money after spending on Montez Sweat

The Bears and Bengals held a joint practice in the rain on Thursday! It sounds like the Bears defense shut down Joe Burrow, including a diving INT from Kevin Byard. Bengals reporters were notably concerned with their team’s performance in practice 😂

Love seeing Bears leadership on the ground with fans:

Activated rookie OL Kiran Amegadjie from the NFI list - he can start practicing now after recovering from his long-term quad injury

Vikings 1st round rookie QB JJ McCarthy is out for the season due to a torn meniscus. Veteran QB Sam Darnold will now be their starter (and easily the 4th best QB in the division!).

Velus Jones Jr. talking about how he decided to get a pet ferret in college 😂 is the funniest thing you’ll hear this week:

Final preseason game ➡ Thursday vs. Chiefs

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

No news this week!

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Signed F/C Kenneth Lofton Jr. to a one-year contract

• He bounced around in his 2 NBA seasons and was most recently with the Jazz

• He scored 42 points in his first career NBA start with the Grizzlies in 2023

• If he ever goes by Kenny, the Cubs are adding speed to the top of their lineup and are about to have a crazy end of season run like it’s 2003

2024-2025 schedule was released! Check it out here.

• Season opener: October 23rd at New Orleans

• Home opener: October 26th vs. old friend Alex Caruso and the Oklahoma City Thunder

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

Patrick Williams

PW hosted his first annual basketball camp at his high school in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Williams sounded truly grateful for the people in his hometown who believed in him and helped him get to where he is today. This is his way of giving back to his community and helping kids believe in their own dreams.

He talks a lot about appreciating humble beginnings and has a new energy in the video below:

The Bears offensive line will be good this season.

Last season, the line struggled at times but generally took more heat from fans than they deserved.

They were OK. Not great, not terrible.

They were banged up: Braxton Jones and Nate Davis missed 6 games and Teven Jenkins missed 5 games. Cody Whitehair was the starting center until he was replaced due to poor performance.

Lucas Patrick had to start 15 games.

It was a revolving carousel with a vacuum in the middle at the center position, and they still got the job done more often than not. Sacks are usually on the quarterback anyways, and the last Bears quarterback took more sacks than anyone else I’ve seen.

Jones has been good at LT and continues to develop. Darnell Wright has a full NFL season under his belt at RT. Teven Jenkins is an unstoppable force when he stays on the field.

Did I mention the Bears will have a new center? Honestly, Ryan Bates or Coleman Shelton could end up starting more games. Bates may slide in at guard because of injuries. But it doesn’t matter which one plays. They are both MASSIVE upgrades over the previous centers on this team.

Add a rookie quarterback with impressive pocket presence and a promising ability to make the right pre-snap calls, and this line should perform well.

Kevin Fishbain - WR Coach Chris Beatty (The Athletic)

Sahadev Sharma - Seiya Suzuki and incorrectly called strikes (The Athletic)

Jordan Bastian - Cade Horton will compete for a 2025 rotation spot (MLB)

Adam Jahns - Behind the Scenes with Hard Knocks (The Athletic)

Patrick Mooney - Q&A with Dansby Swanson (The Athletic)

The Eighty Five Podcast (Cole Kmet’s new podcast) - Episode 1 with DJ Moore (YouTube)

Chicago Cubs - All Access: Shota Imanaga at the All-Star Game (YouTube)

Chicago Bears - Rookie Diaries: Austin Booker & Tory Taylor - Week 4 (chicagobears.com)

Thanks for reading! If the Bears’ backups beat the Chiefs’ backups on Thursday night, it’s definitely the Bears’ turn for a dynasty 🏆

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