Richard Sherman had criticized the Bears’ play-calling — and was about to do it again on the Amazon postgame show — when the former Seahawks cornerback sent out a Tweet on Thursday night.

“This is a dissertation in how to NOT fit your play-calling to your personnel,” he wrote. “The fact we just saw a designed run for Carson Wentz and not yet 1 for Justin Fields in asinine.”

It took eight minutes for Sean Payton, the best unemployed play-caller on the planet, to second him. He told Sherman he was “preaching to the choir” about offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s play selection.

“Woof!” Payton wrote.

It helped Payton to have future Hall of Famer Drew Brees as his quarterback for 14 of the coach’s 15 years with the Saints. But Payton was also able to use a run-first quarterback, Taysom Hill, when needed.

The Bears need to figure out if Justin Fields is closer to Brees, a traditional pocket passer, or Hill, a dangerous runner. Through six weeks, he’s stuck in the middle, and the results are ugly. Statistically, he’s the league’s worst quarterback. As Sherman said in the postgame show: “It’s like Luke Getsy is like, ‘I want to challenge [Fields] to overcome my play-calling.'”

The Bears have an extra weekend to try to figure it out. As part of their breakdown of players, lineups and scheme, coaches will spend the next few days determining how to tweak their offense to best fit Fields. Position coaches will look at cutups and then meet up with Getsy and head coach Matt Eberflus on Monday. Players return to Halas Hall the next day.

“I think that’s the whole plan we’re looking at,” head coach Matt Eberflus said Friday. “When you say ‘evaluate scheme, evaluate players,’ that’s part of the whole process. Are we putting our players in the position to succeed?”

The process will take all season long. Regardless of the temptation to judge Fields every week, the Bears know that have 17 games this season in which to determine whether the second-year player in the team’s quarterback of the future.

Fine-tuning the scheme will give the Bears front-office the most honest look at Fields. But it might also be the only chance of getting the quarterback through the season upright.

Fields went from handing the ball off primarily over the first month of the season to running for his life on pass plays in the 12-7 loss to the Commanders on Thursday night. Fields was battered Thursday night, taking 12 quarterback hits, five sacks and running a whopping 12 times. On the season, he’s been sacked 16.7 percent of the time; only one other quarterback is even in double digits.

Fields, who rarely allows himself to admit he’s hurt, injured his left shoulder in the first half, though Eberflus said he was “a little bit sore” and will be fine.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bears change their offensive line before the Oct. 24 game in New England. The Bears have played one extra game heading into the weekend, but their pass-blocking stats are nonetheless alarming: rookie Braxton Jones is second among tackles with 20 pressures allowed, per Pro Football Focus. Lucas Patrick is second among guards with 16 and Sam Mustipher is tied for the most pressures allowed by a center, with 10.

The Bears can try to fix that with scheme — by adding extra blockers, rolling Fields out or just letting him hand the ball off.

After Thursday night, anything would be an improvement.

“The rhythm and timing of the passing game is all predicated on the movement passes, the pocket when you are dropping back, and those are all things that we’re going to keep looking at,” Eberflus said. “In terms of helping guys inside or outside more. Doing more things that can help the offensive line, that can help the receivers, that can help every group.”

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From one 20-yard line to another, the Bears were dynamic Thursday.

Inside the red zone, though, they were a train wreck, coming away with no points despite being at the Commanders’ 5-yard line or closer on three different trips. The Bears became only the second team this season to post at least 390 yards and score less than 10 points, per ESPN Stats and Information.

“The good thing is we can move the ball whenever we want to,” receiver Darnell Mooney said after the Bears’ 12-7 loss to the Commanders.

The bad thing?For the second time in three games, the Bears failed to score a touchdown inside their opponent’s 20. It’s become an alarming trend for quarterback Justin Fields, given that accuracy and proper timing are essential to scoring touchdowns inside the red zone. He and the Bears found neither Thursday night. Here’s how it went down:

Overthrow

Of all the mistakes Fields made Thursday, one stood out.

“The one that’s making me mad is the one to [tight end Ryan Griffin] in the end zone,” Fields said. “He probably could have ran a little bit more, but he’s wide open.

“I got to hit that. I’m an NFL quarterback. I got to hit that.”

On second-and-goal from the 4 about three minutes into the second quarter, Fields faked a handoff to running back Khalil Herbert and then another one to receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who ran an end around from right to left.

Griffin was lined up on the right between right tackle Larry Borom and third-string tight end Trevon Wesco. Wesco pulled left to sell the end-around fake. Griffin blocked, too, then released right and ran into the end zone with only defensive end James Smith-Williams chasing him two steps behind.

He was wide open.

Fields, though, sailed the pass beyond the outstretched Griffin. For a quarterback who has struggled with anticipatory throws this season, it was crushing.

The Bears were eventually stuffed on a fourth-and-inches handoff to Khalil Herbert.

“You don’t have to make it harder than it is,” Fields said. “Pitch and catch.”

The final four

Fields’ ridiculous 39-yard scramble with about a minute to play gave the Bears the ball at the Commanders’ 5, down by five with four chances to win the game.

The next four plays were all called passes — remarkable, considering that the Bears on the season have thrown on only about one-quarter of their red-zone plays.

Eberflus said Friday the Bears could have run, but with no timeouts left they would have been put in an “O-zone” situation, meaning they’d need to hurry to spike the ball or throw into the end zone on the next play.

On first down, Fields dropped back to pass, scrambled right and got out of bounds for a gain of one. On second down, Mooney lined up at running back to Fields’ right and ran into the right flat. He was open at the 5 — but the ball was tipped by Smith-Williams and fell incomplete. Mooney was animated afterward, clapping his hands and screaming.

“I was a little frustrated on that play,” Mooney said, “because I knew it was a touchdown.”

On third down, Fields threw to receiver Dante Pettis in the back right corner of the end zone. Pettis got both hands on the ball but safety Darrick Forest brought him down and the ball squirted away. The Bears wanted pass interference.

“The dude is on my arm,” Pettis said.

On fourth down came Fields’ throw to Mooney, who bobbled the ball and fell inches short of the goal line near the right pylon.

“I guess if he didn’t bobble it, it probably would’ve been a touchdown, for real,” Fields said. “That just goes back to: finish the catch, finish the throw, finish the run, finish the blocks.”

Fields had faked a pitch left to David Montgomery before throwing to Mooney. The running back slipped open in the left flat, but Fields said he was his fifth read on the play.

“There is a 5 percent chance you’re going to get back to him,” he said.

Header

On second-and-goal from the Commanders’ 5 late in the first quarter, the Bears lined up three receivers right and put tight end Cole Kmet wide left. Facing man coverage, Fields knew where he wanted to go –to Kmet on a slant.

Fields looked left, planted his right foot and threw –off the helmet of Commanders defensive lineman Efe Obada, who had stunted from the outside and pushed left guard Lucas Patrick into the backfield.

The sidearm pass bounced off the maroon helmet into the air and was intercepted by lineman Jonathan Allen. It was Fields’ first-ever career red-zone interception.

Eberfus said he had no problem with Fields throwing sidearm. While Fields needs the situational awareness to not throw the ball off an oncoming defender’s head, he didn’t have the option of lobbing the ball to Kmet. The play required a fastball.

“It’s the arm angle, and the lanes are always tough down there when the field shrinks in the red zone,” Eberflus said. “It’s his instincts– you’ve got to be able to have the instincts to do that. They made a nice play. … You’ve just gotta change it around and move your arm angle …

“That’s gotta be a tight ball.”

Jason Lieser contributed.

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Big Ten football shines on center stage with a massive Top 10 matchup that could rock the College Football world.

An undeniably entertaining college football afternoon awaits us with gigantic games across the country this Saturday. At the forefront of that is two Top 10 matchups, Alabama-Tennessee, and in our neck of the woods, Penn State at Michigan. An upset in either of these games could have huge implications on the remainder of the CFB season, and could cause some serious chaos down the road.

If you’re a Big Ten junkie like me, while there is only five games on this week’s slate, two of the meetings are worth watching and could actually prove very significant in the ‘wild west’ that is the Big Ten West division. Cancel your plans and get the gameday recipes rolling, because Saturday’s action could be a contender for best football weekend of the year! Best of luck and let’s get after it.

2022 Big Ten Betting Record: 10-6-1

Minnesota (-7) at Illinois: O/U 39.5 (11:00am CST)

For those of us that have suffered, dreaded and braved the last decade-plus of Illinois football, take a second to rejoice because this team is the best and most likable team that has come through Champaign since 2007.

Now, before we jump off the deep end and take Illinois to pull of the upset, please tread lightly because the starting quarterback status for Illinois is gargantuan in this game. If you watched last week’s win over Iowa, you saw Tommy DeVito leave that game with an ankle injury, setting the stage for Artur Sitkowski. Sitkowski played 5 games for the Illini last year, and while the team itself had some rough outings, Sitkowski was a rough watch for any Illinois fan, or any fan of competent quarterback play in general.

To put this simply, if Artur Sitkowski is the starting QB for Illinois on Saturday, I really am not giving them a puncher’s chance against Minnesota despite how strong the Illini defense has been. Even if we see DeVito suited up and even if by some miracle he is 100% healthy, this would be a tough task to upset the Golden Gophers, but I will at least give them a fighting chance if he can go.

If you haven’t watched Minnesota this year, or maybe you’ve only seen them in their most recent game in a loss to Purdue, I will tell you that when healthy, this team is potentially the best team in the Big Ten West, and zero doubt top five in the Big Ten, maybe even top three. Not only is this team coming off of a bye with extra time to prepare, but they’ve had a bad taste in their mouth for two weeks following their performance at home against Purdue.

I mentioned health for Minnesota, because their stud running back Mohamed Ibrahim unexpectedly missed that loss to Purdue, but is expected to return tomorrow in Champaign. Ibrahim through four games has racked up 567 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, and in my opinion is a dark-horse Heisman contender if he can keep himself healthy.

If DeVito is out, give me Minnesota at just about any number, if DeVito is in, I’ll happily pass and hope the Illini can pull off the upset.

RMags’ Pick: (IF Sitkowski starts) Minnesota -7, (IF DeVito starts) Pass

Penn State at Michigan (-7): O/U 50.5 (11:00am CST)

The game of the day in the Big Ten, and certainly top two on Saturday’s slate, heads to the Big House, for a Top 10 meeting between undefeated Penn State and Michigan. This is a tough one to crack for me, but at the end of the day, this Michigan team feels very similar to last year’s team, and while I’m not saying they are going to upset Ohio State again down the road, it does feel like Michigan has elevated to a tier of their own above the rest of the Big Ten pack, excluding Ohio State.

Of course Penn State rolls in undefeated, but really hasn’t been tested since their opening night win over Purdue, a game in which they caught some great breaks and lucky bounces. In my opinion they should have lost that game, Purdue’s passing offense did just about whatever it wanted to do, and the Nittany Lions really haven’t been tested since.

The lone impressive win stands as the 41-12 beatdown at Auburn, a game that shouldn’t be pushed over completely, but we’ve seen who Auburn is this season, and in contrast to Michigan, really had no passing offense, and this matchup should not be comparable in the slightest.

If Michigan can avoid mistakes, I expect their offense to have a really nice day, and while I lean towards the Wolverines covering the spread, I think the team total is the place to go. Sean Clifford has shown that he is mistake prone in come-from-behind situations, I think this could allow for a short field or two for Michigan.

It would not shock me though if Penn State has a backdoor cover opportunity at the end of this game, and to keep us out of that situation, we’ll go with Michigan’s offense to roll. Give me a 35 spot for the Wolverines.

RMags’ Pick: Michigan Team Total Over 29.5

Maryland (-11.5) at Indiana: O/U 62 (2:30pm CST)

The Maryland hype train has taken a couple of hits over the last few weeks, with gut-wrenching losses to Michigan and Purdue. While wins over either would have brought a great deal of respect to Maryland in Big Ten spaces, this team is still very solid and could very well finish with eight wins, a number they have yet to reach since joining the conference less than a decade ago.

I’m ultimately going to pass on this game because I think the numbers are spot on for this game, but I do expect Maryland to win this game fairly handily. The concern that I do have is that Indiana’s offense can do enough to hang around. Indiana ranks second in the country in pass attempts thrown per game, and while it’s not necessarily an efficient unit, against this Maryland defense, they may be able to find a few spots given a high volume of attempts. I’ll give Maryland the definite win here, but I’ll save my money.

RMags’ Pick: Pass

Wisconsin (-7) at Michigan State: O/U 49.5 (3:00pm CST)

You may be disinterested in this game given the recent showings from each of these teams, but this game and its’ odds are at least interesting to consider and breakdown. On one hand you have a team with an interim coach that despite the 42-7 massacre over Northwestern, probably isn’t getting a ton of national respect, up against a team who’s public perception is almost unanimously through the floor.

To put it simply, this Michigan State defense is brutal. Across their four game losing streak, they’ve allowed a range between 27 and 49 points, and on the season rank 112th in yards per pass attempt allowed. I really don’t think this number is an overreaction to Wisconsin’s win over Northwestern, I think it has everything to do with Michigan State’s struggles. This would lead me to a potential play on Wisconsin, and I think that is the right side, but if you’ve followed Graham Mertz and this Wisconsin team, you may be hesitant to back the Badgers and I can’t blame you.

The success of Wisconsin in my opinion will completely rely on the accuracy of Mertz. If he’s on and playing well, Wisconsin will put up 30-plus, if not, it’s anybody’s ball game. I’ll pass and grab the popcorn.

RMags’ Pick: Pass

Nebraska at Purdue (-14): O/U 56.5 (6:30pm CST)

If you’ve followed along with me during the Big Ten season, you probably know how highly I view this Purdue team. After winning last week, the path is in front of them to win out and represent the Big Ten West in the Big Ten Championship. Following this game their schedule plays out with Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern and finally Indiana. Barring any health issues they should be favored in all five of those games, and really don’t play any dangerous offensive competition after Nebraska.

I do expect them to win this game, but, somehow someway, Nebraska at 2-1 in conference play is not dead yet, and while I’m not saying they will or can do it, I do fear that Purdue could be looking past this game a bit, and that fear is ultimately keeping me away from a play on this game. Having said that, unless Nebraska’s offense reverts back to the early success they had in 2022, and the defense plays it’s best game, Purdue’s offense, on paper, should have zero issues moving the ball up and down the field.

If you have no concerns about a potential trap spot, look ahead spot, whatever you want to call it, then by all means, take Purdue over 35.5 points, but despite how bad they’ve been you have to remember Nebraska’s ability to keep games close. Aside from the Oklahoma beatdown a few weeks ago, they have again managed to lose their games by less than one score.

I’ll keep my belief in Purdue and say that they roll, but I’m keeping my money far away from this one.

RMags’ Pick: Pass

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Quarterback Justin Fields was sore the morning after the Bears’ 12-7 loss to the Commanders, but Bears head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t sound too concerned about his health.

“He’s a little bitsoretoday,” Eberflus said. “But he’ll be OK.”

Fields said Thursday night that he hurt his left shoulder, an injury that he also dealt with earlier during the season. It happened in the first half; he was spotted using resistance bands to stretch coming out of halftime.

Fields was battered Thursday night, taking 12 quarterback hits, five sacks and running a whopping 12 times.

Fields’ recovery is aided by the Bears’ schedule. They don’t play another game until Oct. 24, a “Monday Night Football” contest at the Patriots. Bears players met at Halas Hall on Friday and then left for a three-day weekend, which is allowed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement after a Thursday night game.

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The comedian who once called a special “Never Scared” doesn’t carry himself like someone afraid. Chris Rock still jokes freely and provocatively about such touchy subjects as abortion, race and, in one unfortunate case, Jada Pinkett Smith.

But as he said Thursday in the first of four shows at the Chicago Theatre, “I gotta watch what I say!” Cancellation is an ever-present threat for every comedian, no matter how revered. And that anxiety extends to the lobby, where patrons have to pass through a metal detector and put their phones in pouches in order to see the ostensibly fearless funnyman.

Over the years, there have been Chris Rock sets packing surprises — that the wacky guy from “Saturday Night Live” could be such a deep thinker, or that a complexity could be distilled to such a perfect catchphrase, or that the roaster of relationships could be so humble in assessing the collapse of his own.

This is not such a set. Called “Ego Death,” it’s a collection of effective Chris Rock product touching on his life, some hot-button issues and the state of the country. It’s not a revelation, and there’s never a stretch of prolonged, gut-busting hysterics like he’s achieved before, but it’s still a night spent in the company of an excellent teller of excellent jokes.

When this tour started, Rock had just taken the smack heard ’round the world, a slap from an offended (and later apologetic) Will Smith on the Oscars. At first he avoided discussing the incident on stage, saying he needed to process it.

Now he does, but in the context of one of his broader themes: victimhood. While some race to the E.R. for a paper cut, Rock said, he brushed off the pain and got back to work. “I took that s- – – like Pacquiao,” he bragged.

One of the biggest laughs of the night came when he referenced his vulnerable role in “New Jack City,” noting that while Smith once portrayed the mighty Muhammad Ali, “I played Pookie!”

He could have fought back, he said, but remembered his parents’ rule: “You don’t fight in front of white people.”

Pop culture is still on the mind of the man who tosses around mentions of celebs as varied as Vera Wang, the Tinder Swindler and Migos. Rock’s recent heroes include Lil Nas X (for being utterly himself) as well as Kris Jenner, a model in-law for welcoming all manner of broken Black people into her family (or so her TV show portrays it). Speaking of Caitlyn Jenner’s ex, when Rock talks about trans people, it’s only with admiration, in contrast to his sometime collaborator Dave Chappelle.

On the political side, Rock’s gags about Donald Trump’s flaws and Joe Biden’s age say nothing new about the nation’s most joked-about men. More successful is a bit about Hillary Clinton blowing her presidential chances by ignoring instructions from God.

Later the show takes a turn to the personal, following up on the divorce he recounted in his last Netflix special, “Tamborine.” Without mentioning current love interest Lake Bell, Rock does says he’s single and dating but treading carefully to avoid a #Metoo scandal. As an illustration of what he’s dealing with, he displays on a giant screen some texts from a female acquaintance with a very explicit proposition.

If Kevin Hart’s 2020 special “Zero F- – -s Given” didn’t give you enough insight about how a rich comedian can spoil his children, Rock here offers some of his own confessions about lavishing luxuries on his offspring. An overlong anecdote about his daughter breaking school rules has some interesting thoughts about decisions regarding discipline. But Rock loses some relatability as he goes on and on about the perks of her private school, where a class trip means flying the teens to Portugal.

And when he gushes about his daughter landing in culinary school in Paris, all the exulting comes off as smug but at least allows a callback to one of Rock’s classic punchlines: “I kept her off the pole!”

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The Chicago Bears lost a tough one Thursday night

The Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders continued the streak of dismal offense for the NFL’s Thursday night game. The Bears’ offense moved the ball several times into the red zone before failing to convert on three major opportunities.

It was a disappointing display for quarterback Justin Fields and his wide receivers. Both he and his wide receivers made bad plays, but Fields made enough plays to get a win. His receivers didn’t do their job, especially toward the end of the game when they dropped several game-winners. Special teams continue to be an issue for the Bears as well.

There were a few good things that happened for the Bears. But honestly, there are not many positives for the team to dwell on before the Bears go to New England on October 24th. Here’s a recap of three studs the Bears had Thursday night and three duds.

Studs

Khalil Herbert

Khalil Herbert finished with 75 yards rushing on seven attempts. Most of that came on a remarkable 64-yard run that set up the Bears with a red zone opportunity. Unfortunately, the Chicago Bears offense couldn’t convert the play into an eventual score. That was the theme throughout the night. But his explosive play showed the Bears they need to feed him the ball more.

Chicago Bears fans who stayed through the game

Chicago Bears fans who stayed until the end of the game at Soldier Field deserve a shout-out. They had to watch another frustrating offensive performance in a prime-time game. The game looked more like a joint team practice in training camp than an NFL regular season contest, as both franchises appear to be looking forward to the future. Bears fans made it known they’re unhappy with ownership.

The Chicago Bears’ pass defense

The Bears struggle in the passing game. But at least the Bears’ defense found a way to make their opponent look much worse airing it out. The Bears kept a banged-up Carson Wentz to just 99 yards passing. Four passes were defended by the defense, including one by rookie Kyler Gordon. That was a good showing by the secondary, who got burned in Week 5.

Duds

Velus Jones Jr.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles received a lot of criticism for picking Velus Jones Jr. in the third round this year. Those complaints aren’t going away any time soon. Jones looks like a poor man’s version of Packers bust Amari Rodgers. After missing the first few games of the season with an injury, Jones has managed to fumble the ball twice on returns in three games.

Darnell Mooney

Darnell Mooney has talked about wanting to get respect as a top wide receiver in the NFL. Mooney has received positive headlines for his work ethic–especially how often he hits the jugs machine. That jugs practice didn’t help Thursday as Mooney missed a chance to win the game with a ball that hit his hands. Mooney couldn’t hold on and was ruled short of the end zone when he did come up with a bobbled reception. That’s not what the Bears need out of a number-one wide receiver.

Helmets

Not the orange helmets. Those looked surprisingly better on TV than they did in promotional advertisements.  But the orange helmet did help bring to fruition the apocalypse to the Chicago Bears’ hopes for a postseason.

Jones fumbled a punt return off his helmet, setting up the Commanders with their winning score. The Bears’ defense might have won the game without the miscue. Another helmet caused a turnover for the Bears when Fields’ low throw in the red zone bounced off a Commanders’ helmet and into the waiting arms of defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.

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