Being a Bears fan is rough, I would not recommend it.
11 weeks into the season and I think I can confidently say four teams have found their franchise quarterbacks (QBs) from the 2024 draft. Bears Caleb Williams looks good; Commanders Jayden Daniels looks amazing; Patriots Drake Maye looks amazing and Broncos Bo Nix looks good. This week will be covering a rookie QB’s toughest battle yet and a Monday Night matchup between two AFC powerhouses of two head coaching brothers.
Note from this week onward, instead of breaking down a third game, I will be throwing up a playoff prediction based on the current standings from that week.
Brian Flores and the Vikings come to town in hopes of scaring young Caleb Williams
Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams is coming off a very impressive game. Now while yes he did not have any touchdowns, he also did not have any turnovers and led his team down the field to score several times. This comes against a very stout Packers secondary that has proven to be one of the better ones in the league so far this season. This time around Williams will face an even harder challenge as he and the Bears host the Vikings and their strong defense.
The Vikings defense has again been one of the better defenses in football this year under defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Flores now has the Vikings defense ranked in the top 10 for the second straight year. This mostly comes into part of them having the best run defense in football (744) and third best points allowed (170).
Now while yes when one looks at the statsheet they may say, “Well look, their pass defense seems weak.” Yes they have allowed 24th most passing yards (2348), they have also intercepted the ball the most in the league at 16. This adds the five forced fumbles they also have, which puts them tied for first in the league in total forced turnovers (21).
Let us discuss their most recent game against the Titans some. One may have thought this Vikings team was wearing a certain red and yellow color scheme as the Titans had a total of 13 penalties accepted against them. Many fans (especially Titans) were outraged at the calls as many seemed as if the refs were in favor of the Vikings or the flag was not even there, yet still called. Not going to dive too deep in the Vikings offense other than all you need to know is wide receivers (WRs) Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison will be looking to continue their strong seasons along with one of the biggest surprises of the season QB Sam Darnold.
Wow. The Bears may have gone through more heartbreak in this year alone than some teams go through in five seasons. Losing off a Hail Mary and a blocked field goal in the same season is just rough. If you know a Bears fan that is close to you, give them a call. Alright enough with the depressing talk, let us break down what went down with the Bears last week (other than the blocked field goal).
As I mentioned earlier, Williams looked sharp and in terms of a pure IQ standpoint, one could argue this was Williams most impressive game. He came out and posted a 83.5 grade via PFF when no other QB had posted a grade above 77 against the Packers this season. This came in interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown’s first time calling plays for the Bears after former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired.
It was not just Williams that looked good though. The receiving group as a whole showed out. WR D.J. Moore looked like he cared again after a few weeks of him showing poor attitude on the sidelines. Veteran WR Keenan Allen looked to have some life again in what has been an awful season so far. Rookie WR Rome Odunze had an amazing game in which he and Williams were on point. Odunze now leads the Bears in receiving yards on the year. The running game got going as well as both D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson found the endzone.
Now let us talk about the bad and why they lost the game versus the Packers. While yes overall the Bears defense played well in the red zone, they let them get there way too much and let several huge plays happen. Packers WR Christian Watson had a four catch, 150 yard game with two catches being well over 30 yards. Packers running back (RB) Josh Jacobs continued his amazing year with another 70+ rushing yard game and a TD. This loss all stemmed back to one issue, head coach Matt Eberflus.
The Bears are set to wear their throwback uniforms this game and I think they will channel the 1985 Bears in them and pull off a massive upset.
Final Score: Vikings 17 – Bears 27
Harbaugh brothers face off in the Harbaugh Bowl Part Two
The battle of the Harbaugh brothers. This the first time the two will be facing off since the “Harbaugh Bowl.” Back in the 2012-13 season, the John Harbaugh led Ravens took on the Jim Harbaugh led 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII (47). The game went back and forth till finally the Ravens took control of the game and won 34 to 31. Since then Jim has not had a chance at revenge as he was fired by the 49ers after the 2014-15 season.
After he led Michigan to win the National College Football Championship, teams started to give him some calls again. He ended up signing with the Chargers and seems to have brought the mojo back for the organization. The Chargers currently sit at seven wins and three losses on the season and will be looking to make their first playoff appearance since their devastating loss to the Chargers in the 2022-23 postseason.
Jim has made QB Justin Herbert smile once again as he is playing as one of the best QBs in football right now and he finally has a good defense to back him up. While yes Herbert is playing amazing, credit has to be given to his playmakers. Rookie WR Ladd McConkey has been one of the better rookie weapons along with one of the best third down options in the league. Former Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins has found life and health as he is on pace for his best career season by wide margin. Second-year WR Quentin Johnston is having a much needed bounce back year at six receiving TDs, already tripling his total from last year.
The Ravens are coming off one of their ugliest games of the season in a crucial game. In a game that they expected to be tough, they lost a team that only scored by kicking field goals. That marked the second time this season where the Steelers won by only scoring field goals. Let us dive into what made that game so disappointing.
As mentioned above, for the most part the defense did their part allowing zero touchdowns and even getting a major interception late in the game that swung the favor to the Ravens. Where this game fell to was the offense. QB and MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson had one of if not his worst game of the season as he completed less than 50 percent of his passes and threw one TD to one INT.
The bright spot of this Ravens offense was ageless-wonder RB Derrick Henry. While yes Henry had a weak game per his standards he still crossed the 60 yard mark in rushing yards and scored on the ground. Not much to say about the Ravens other than they will need to play much better football if they have any hopes of beating a hot Chargers team.
In the end, I have Jim finally beating his older brother John in a game that will be in contention for the top game of the season.
Final Score: Ravens 20 – Chargers 35
Remaining Games and Predictions:
TNF Steelers at Browns: The Browns pull off a massive upset under the lights to get their third win of the season. Final Score: Steelers 20 – Browns 31
Titans at Texans: The Texans start to get momentum back with a second straight blowout win. Final Score: Titans 15 – Texans 38
Cowboys at Commanders: The Commanders get back on track finishing November with a win. Final Score: Cowboys 10 – Commanders 30
Patriots at Dolphins: The Patriots come in swinging but fail to finish the game out. Final Score: Patriots 24 – Dolphins 26
Chiefs at Panthers: The Panthers have the whole NFL world behind them but sadly fall short. Final Score: Chiefs 28 – Panthers 27
Buccaneers at Giants: The Buccaneers spoil Tommy DeVito’s first start of the 2024-25 season. Final Score: Buccaneers 32 – Giants 14
Lions at Colts: The Colts hand the Lions their second loss of the season in a weird but fun game. Final Score: Lions 23 – Colts 29 OT
Broncos at Raiders: The Broncos complete sweep of the Raiders for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Final Score: Broncos 30 – Raiders 22
Cardinals at Seahawks: Kyler Murray runs wild all over the Seahawks in seventh win of the season. Final Score: Cardinals 38 – Seahawks 17
49ers at Packers: 49ers get weird win in battle of playoff rematch. Final Score: 49ers 15 – Packers 14
SNF Eagles at Rams: Rams get much needed win in overtime to stay in the NFC playoff race. Final Score: Eagles 25 – Rams 31 OT
Teams on Bye:
Falcons next versus Chargers | Bills next versus 49ers | Bengals next versus Steelers | Jaguars next versus Texans | Saints next versus Rams | Jets next versus Seahawks
Playoff Predictions:
Wild Card Round:
7 Broncos at 2 Bills | 2 Bills
7 Commanders at 2 Eagles | 2 Eagles
6 Ravens at 3 Steelers | 3 Steelers
6 Packers at 3 Cardinals 3 Cardinals
5 Chargers at 4 Texans | 5 Chargers
5 Vikings at 4 Falcons | 5 Vikings
1 Chiefs on bye
1 Lions on bye
Divisional Round:
5 Chargers at 1 Chiefs | 5 Chargers
5 Vikings at 1 Lions | 1 Lions
3 Steelers at 2 Bills | 2 Bills
3 Cardinals at 2 Eagles | 3 Cardinals
Championship Round:
5 Chargers at 2 Bills | 5 Chargers
3 Cardinals at 1 Lions | 1 Lions
Super Bowl LVIII (58):
5 Chargers versus 1 Lions in New Orleans | 5 Chargers
