Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears Flying Under Cubs Radar

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Chicago Bears dropped to 1-6 on the season following a 26-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers, but many fans didn’t notice as the Bears fly under the Chicago Cubs radar.

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I’ll lead off this post by apologizing to any non-Chicago Cubs fans. I know there are plenty of White Sox fans locally and other Chicago Bears fans from the corners of the globe who could give a hoot about the Cubs. But as I split my time between the Cubs and Bears last night, I knew I wasn’t alone.

If you missed last night’s 26-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers, you’re not alone. A lot of Chicago Bears fans have been distracted with the Chicago Cubs playoff push. The Cubs beat the Las Angeles Dodgers 8-4 to move that series to 3-2 and put the Cubs on the brink of their first National League pennant since 1945.

Oddly enough, the Cleveland Indians await the winner of the NLCS. The Cleveland Browns are the Bears’ toughest competition for the #1 draft pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Only the Bears, New York Jets, Carolina Panther and San Francisco 49ers have one win compared to the Browns goose egg heading into the rest of the Week 7 games. Chicago and Cleveland could be in competition to be the best in baseball and the worst in football.

On to the Bears frustrating 26-10 loss…

The biggest story of the game, as has been for most of the season, was the injuries. Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer suffered a broken left arm that forced him out of the game after just 20 snaps. With starter (or top backup depending on who you ask) Jay Cutler in street clothes nursing a thumb injury on his throwing hand, it was up to Matt Barkley to lead the Bears offense.

As you might imagine, it didn’t go well for Barkley, who didn’t even sign with the Bears until after the preseason. Barkley went 6/15 for 81 yards with zero TD’s and two interceptions on a night when the Bears offense went lifeless. The Bears only possessed the ball for 7:25 in the second half as the Packers pulled away after the Bears took a 10-6 lead.

Perennial Pro Bowl right guard Kyle Long also suffered an arm injury as he didn’t finish the game. With Josh Sitton already in a walking boot, it left the Bears offensive line in pieces. That was reflected in the poor performances of the Bears running backs and the Bears offense as a whole.

If there was a silver lining on a lousy night, it was the performance of rookie #1 draft pick Leonard Floyd. Floyd had two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. In a season where the Bears appear to be headed for a top-5 draft pick, seeing some of their draft choices develop might be the best fans can hope for.

Circling back to the Cubs, they tore the whole thing down and pulled off one of the biggest rebuilding projects I’ve ever seen. They set themselves up with young studs that appear to have the Cubs poised for success for years to come. The Cubs could provide a blueprint for the Bears to follow.

At 1-6 on the season, the Bears should be thanking the Cubs for letting them fly under their radar and giving them the plans to rebuild their stagnant franchise. The next big question is whether you trust John Fox, Ryan Pace, Ted Phillips and the McCaskey family to make the choices to follow through.

The Bears play next on Halloween night against the Minnesota Vikings. Will the Cubs still be playing by then? Don’t worry, if the Cubs make it that far, there is no baseball game on Halloween night. Will it be tricks or treats for Chicago?

BEAR DOWN!!!

FLY THE W!!!!

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