Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

Recap is up early. Why? Because we all know the Bears aren’t coming back to win this game. I really don’t get it. Everyone was saying the team got “fixed” this offseason. Did every player get snipped? Is that what they meant?

This team is assembled of dumbasses. From management down to the players.

I know this recap sounds like many other recaps I’ve done over the 17 years this website has existed. The defense pisses me off more than the offense. Give up points on the first drive of the game? Check. The gold standard for this franchise the last 15 years. Give up points on the final drive of the first half? Yep. Happens all the time. THE DEFENSE CAN’T STOP ANYBODY EVER. All of these touchdowns today only took a few minutes of the clock. GROW SOME FUCKING BALLS AND STOP PLAYING LIKE STUPID FUCKERS.

We can blame the offense all we want. But the defense never gives this team a chance to win the game because they can never stop anybody. This season, it started in the fourth quarter of the season opener. But let’s go back to Ben Johnson being the genius that he is. In the first half, it’s 2nd and 1. Would you run the ball. WHY NOT? Let’s pass for an incomplete. Next play, quarterback sneak for nothing. 4th down? Quarterback sneak for nothing. GIVE THE BALL TO THE RUNNING BACK YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER. YOU HAD THREE FUCKING CHANCES TO DO THAT AND DIDN’T YOU DUMBFUCK.

Oh, and that offensive line? What did I tell everyone back in the offseason about it? It was that Ryan Poles’ plan of buying free agents and trading for another would backfire. We’ve seen the proof of that last week and today. But again, these two losses to start the season are definitely on the defense first and foremost. All you need to know about this franchise is that they kept Tyrique Stevenson on the team after last year’s humiliation.

Fuck Ryan Poles. Fuck Ben Johnson. Fuck Dennis Allen and his “great defensive schemes.” Yeah, it’s fucking showing.

0-3 coming against the Cowboys next week.

How will the Bears lose this one? Will it be another four quarter collapse by the defense like they are known to do? A blowout? Or how about a Hail Mary with Tyrique Stevenson taunting the crowd right before the ball is thrown?

I just knew it. As soon as Santos missed that field goal to start the fourth quarter, I knew the wheels would come off. And it did.

Earlier in the game, I was screaming “take the points” on that failed fourth down attempt. Then there I was again. The guy barely misses them. This is what the Bears do.

And the defense? As usual, falls apart when it matters the most. ALL. THE. FUCKING. TIME.

Fuck Darnell Wright. How many penalties did he have? And fuck the rest of this offensive line.

I knew I was feeling something the night prior. Sore throat. As I was driving home, it hit me big time. Took off work today for what seems to be a horrible cold. The Bears intensified this. Assholes.

Here we are. Another season is about to begin. Unlike in past years, I’ve been more anxious to get this season going. Just praying that this time, it will be different.

I will be at the game tonight. Recap to follow by the morning.

Zacch Pickens and Tyler Scott: GONE.

It may not be much longer before every draft pick before 2025 (Caleb being the exception) that get cut from this.

This is all on Ryan Poles. The same general manager who was given an extension over the Summer. This is embarrassing.

The season opener is 13 days away.

I worked all day and had to endure this game.

I am happy the Bears won. Again, doesn’t count for the record. But to see a team not quit after the first string team didn’t bother to show up was great.

Yes, there goes the defense again giving up a touchdown on the first drive of the game. So one game removed from finally not doing that, they resort back to their old ways. They are lucky Mahomes left after the first three scores. It would have been four straight touchdowns if it wasn’t for a dropped pass on the would-be second touchdown.

The culture needs to change there. It needs to be consistent where they don’t allow points in that manner. It’s ridiculous that it keeps happening. No wonder the offense looks out of it. When this team’s defense does this over and over again, the mindset for the offense is “fuck, here we go again.” They can’t even take the field the first time without trailing. ENOUGH.

Good work by the $10 million man, Tyson Bagent. Leads the team on three touchdowns in the final quarter to win. The winning drive was with about 1:30 to go and no timeouts.

It starts for real in just over two weeks. Monday Night Football against the Vikings. I will be there.

Well-deserved. Seeing Bagent get emotional talking about it is pretty humbling. He’s worked hard and busted his ass. I felt he should have continued to be the starter two years ago after Fields got hurt. That being said, he was also at the mercy of shitty coaching. He’s here for another two years and will be backing up.

It was confirmed the other day that the starters will be getting reps tonight. I would say at least a quarter or two. This team needs to continue to get live play rather than practices. The real games start about 17 days from now.

It’s unfortunate this game didn’t count. The Bears don’t get to play this well. Like, ever.

Let’s all remind each other that this is the preseason. We’ve seen dominating performances on offense over the years in these games that don’t count. I was completely floored seeing the defense not give up points in their usual parts of every game: First and last drives of the halves. Holy shit. Now, can this please happen in the regular season?

Yes, it may feel a bit different this time around. This coach hadn’t said anything to insult our intelligence just yet. Other coaches who I will not name have said dumb shit the second they were introduced as head coach. So we shall see.

Caleb Williams was dominant on the first drive and utilized the tight ends in Kmet and Loveland. It must have felt good for him to get out there. Yes, I wanted a full half of him. But I’ll take it. Tyson Bagent came in and continued the domination. The touchdown pass he had to Tyler Scott was placed perfectly in the corner of the end zone. Rookie Luther Burden was absolutely terrific both catching and blocking. For a guy that doesn’t look well-built, those blocks he had on those two touchdowns at the goal line were terrific. The team scored on four of the first five drives. How often has that happened in the last 30 years? I also don’t think I saw any player doing anything stupid. That must be a first. Encouraging, but I am staying leveled.

One negative and it’s a big one: Terrell Smith appears to have torn his ACL. It appeared he would be a backup cornerback. Now, this secondary is even more depleted. Praying Smith recovers. Ryan Poles needs to get on the phone and try to trade for some legitimate secondary help. Jaylon Johnson is still out. Tyrique Stevenson is a shitty football player. And now with Smith going out, this is concerning.

The last preseason game is this Friday against the Chiefs. Ben Johnson said last week that while these games don’t count, they do matter. So while I don’t think the starters will play Friday (they should), this game does matter for other players to continue to get better. And there may be some of these players who are playing to stay on the team.

It’s been really difficult for me to fully invest at this moment. Of course, I expect that to change once the season begins. I will be at the first two home games of the season (Vikings and Cowboys). But damn, this team is already making me lose interest and it’s only been one preseason game played as of this writing.

Jaylon Johnson is hurt and not even practicing with whatever is going on.

Darnell Wright apparently is out of shape. And this new draft pick in Ozzy Trapillo is being tried out at left tackle despite not being a tackle. What the fuck is this coaching staff doing? Putting a rookie in a new position? Sounds like being put in a position to fail. This is not good news.

Kyler Gordon is already dealing with a hamstring injury.

Kiran Amegadjie is apparently not very good at football.

Again, I know this is football. But why does it seem like it’s always the Bears who have more injuries than other teams? Apparently, they signed a few defensive backs this week to help.

Need I remind everyone, Ryan Poles was given an extension for apparently no good reason. This is his mess of drafting all of these players who are always hurt or plainly suck at football.

Thoughts in the thread.

I know I’ve said this before after a recap. But this game was ANNOYING. Absolutely annoying.

I know it’s preseason. At the same time, all we heard this offseason was “we are going to change the culture.” Even doing the little things to make that statement true wasn’t done today. It doesn’t matter if it’s a win or loss. It’s what happens in these preseason games that showed me nothing has changed.

You want to change the culture? Stop letting teams drive down the field on the first possession of the game. If this was the regular season, the Dolphins get a field goal. Instead, they went for it and the Bears stopped them at the goal line. Offense? They failed to do anything on the first two drives. The next two drives for the Dolphins on offense? Touchdowns. Including one right before halftime. A Chicago Bears Tradition: Give up points on the opening and last drives of halves.

Anytime the Bears scored, the Dolphins scored on the very next possession.

And here was the most frustrating part: The final two offensive drives of the game in the last two minutes. The Bears were tied and had a chance in Dolphins’ territory to score. Austin Reed is in as the fourth string quarterback. He had some iffy throws. At the same time, some receiver whom I can’t remember failed to catch a pass that would have put them in field goal range. After the first of two drives, they still got the ball back with less than a minute to go. The Bears had three timeouts and couldn’t try running on the final possession in attempt to throw the Dolphins off?

This was Textbook Chicago Bears Football. It’s them having golden chances to win a game and fail miserably.

Alright. Now, there are some encouraging parts of this game. Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum played well. They gave the Bears a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, stupid penalties by other players stalled some momentum. For a team that has 125 different receivers and running backs, they are letting down the rest of the offense  with bad penalties and missed catches.

I am very thankful the Bears only have two Monday Night Football games and one Sunday Night. And the Sunday Night Football game is the second to last game of the season. There is a good chance that game gets moved to the afternoon since the Bears more likely will be out of contention by then and therefore, won’t have to humiliate themselves on a National stage.

Next week, the Bears are at home again taking on the Bills.