The ChicagoBears would be getting what they deserve if Deshaun Watson plays very well.
The Chicago Bears are a bad football franchise. They deserve everything that comes to them negatively from the media. They make poor decision after poor decision year after year and it shows with their play on the field. They started this season 5-1 but have lost every game since so now they are 5-7. They went from having a chance at the number one seed to being a team that might draft in the top ten. It is hard to admit but it is in their best interest to just keep losing.
We all know already how poor their decision was in 2017 when they traded up to select Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick. He isn’t good at all and they left Patrick Mahomes on the board. Mahomes is on track to be one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL and the Bears let him slip away. It becomes more and more apparent how awful their organization is with each passing week.
Even though Mahomes wasn’t projected to be quite this good, he wasn’t projected to be any worse than Trubisky. With that said, there was a quarterback available that was clearly going to advance to the NFL and be good. Deshaun Watson was coming off of some major success at the University of Clemson, including a National Championship defeat over Alabama who is loaded with pro talent on defense.
Watson isn’t quite as good as Mahomes but he is still in the conversation for the second-best quarterback in the NFL. Nobody would argue with the Bears if they currently had Watson but they decided he wasn’t worth it. It is a swing and a miss that is going to cost Ryan Pace his job but it would be funny to see Watson come to Soldier Field and absolutely embarrass them.
It would show the world (more than it is already known) that the Bears are a joke. It would also be a sign of how the Bears don’t do their due diligence properly because Watson is so awesome and Trubisky is bad. A big loss would also make them one step closer to the Bears losing enough games to get a good draft pick.
Getting in the top ten would be good for them and losing as many games as possible is the biggest key to that. There is a good chance that they would be able to draft a good player with a high enough draft pick but Ryan Pace doesn’t deserve to be the guy making that pick. It would be very fitting for one of his biggest mistakes to come in and get the Bears one step closer to change.
A shot was fired into the window of a hotel room Dec. 13 in the Loop. | Adobe Stock Photo
No injuries were reported according to Chicago police.
A bullet was shot through the window of an occupied fifth-floor hotel room Sunday morning in the South Loop.
About 1:30 a.m. a guest at a hotel in the first block of East Harrison Street heard gunshots as a bullet fired from a parking lot came through their window, Chicago police said.
At the same time, a Gray Cadillac left the hotel parking lot with what appeared to be bullet holes in their vehicle, police said.
Officers attempted to stop that vehicle but it got away, according to police.
A big buck spotted along the Des Plaines River. | Provided
A big suburban buck, a sign Illinois’ reputation for big bucks is slipping, harvest totals from Illinois firearm deer seasons and a question on a rogue fish stocking are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors.
Notes come from all around Chicago outdoors.
BUCK OF THE WEEK: UNPLUGGED
Paul Yambrovich photographed this big buck on one of his long walks along the Des Plaines River. “He was hot on a doe and couldn’t care less that I was there,” Yambrovich emailed. “The picture doesn’t do him justice. Heavy-bodied and a really large bushel basket rack! Saw him again on my return and he was munching on white acorns. Maybe building up his stamina!”
BOTW Unplugged, the celebration of live big bucks around Chicago outdoors, runs as apt in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email [email protected] or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).
WILD TIMES
ILLINOIS SEASONS
Today, Dec. 13: Final day. muzzleloader deer season
Tuesday, Dec. 15: Final day, duck season, north zone
DALE’S MAILBAG
“Dale, want to ask you your opinion. I fish Palmisano Park frequently. I have throughout the years dumped in the following species over the years: Rock bass (about hand size), perch (6 inches or up) and a couple of pumpkinseeds (hand size). What other fish would you recommend for the pond?” A faithful reader
A: None is my recommendation. Biologists/managers carefully calculate what species and how many to put in. Rogue stockings knock such planning askew.
BIG NUMBER
76,579: Deer harvested during Illinois’ two firearm deer season, up slightly from 75,417 in 2019. Click here for a more complete breakdown.
Running back Kyren Williams and Notre Dame will try to take down Clemson for the second time this season. | Photo by Matt Cashore-Pool/Getty Images
It’s all about playoff positioning now. Move on. Move in. Move whatever your mamas gave you to make it happen.
It’s moving week in football, pro and college.
Move on. Move in. Move whatever your mamas gave you to make it happen.
While many of us sit and stew over Sunday’s Bears-Texans happenings at Soldier Field — hey, isn’t that Deshaun Watson? — another local station will be offering Vikings at Buccaneers. To the rest of the country, the Bears and Texans are falling in a forest with no one around to hear them. The Vikings and Bucs, on the other hand, are knees-deep in wild-card relevance.
Also Sunday: Packers at Lions and Steelers at Bills. Our friends in Green Bay still have a shot — and a good one — at home-field advantage in the NFC. So do the one-loss Steelers in the AFC. The Bills, no slouches, are 9-3 division leaders.
Monday brings Ravens at Browns — the first team desperate for a win at 7-5, the latter one maneuvering at 9-3 for a playoff game at home. The 7-5 Raiders, not dead yet, host the Chargers on Thursday. Saturday brings another Packers game, and don’t we just love to watch them bask in Super Bowl possibility?
The stakes are even higher at the college level. Next up: conference title games, with the order of the four-team playoff in the balance. In the Big Ten, Ohio State needs a win — a convincing one — against Northwestern. In the ACC, Notre Dame will try to beat Clemson for a second time — what a feat that would be — with both teams still very much alive for the final four. Same goes for Alabama (of course) and Florida (don’t sleep on the Gators) in the SEC.
Grab your popcorn, people. Here’s what’s happening:
SUN 13
Gonzaga vs. Iowa (11 a.m., Ch. 2)
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesLuka Garza has Iowa rolling.
The No. 1 Zags and No. 3 Hawkeyes move the ball so well, it’s beautiful to watch. Is it crazy to think Hawkeyes big man Luke Garza might lock up national player of the year honors in December?
Texans at Bears (noon, Ch. 2)
Will we make it to 12:01 before the complaining about Mitch Trubisky, Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace starts?
Vikings at Buccaneers (noon, Fox-32)
Both these teams would be in if the playoffs started today. The 6-6 Vikes might want to not lose, though.
U.S. Women’s Open, final round (1 p.m., Ch. 5)
A South Korean has won this event in eight of the last 12 years. This time, a cavalcade of Americans are in the hunt.
Packers at Lions (3:25 p.m., Fox-32)
Maybe, just maybe, the Lions will party like it’s 2017 or 2018. They swept the Packers both those years, if you can believe it.
The teams’ first preseason meeting was ugly for the Bulls — but not for rookie Patrick Williams, who shined. We’ll take more of that, please.
Steelers at Bills (7:20 p.m., Ch. 5)
Is Pittsburgh really the team to beat in the NFL? We hear those snickers, Kansas City.
MON 14
Ravens at Browns (7:15 p.m., ESPN)
Man, the Browns sure have come a long way since being routed 38-6 in Baltimore in the season opener. Pretty soon, stadium security might even start recognizing Baker Mayfield when he shows up at the gates.
TUE 15
Minnesota at Illinois (6 p.m., ESPN2)
It’s the Big Ten opener at State Farm Center in Champaign. Close your eyes and you’ll almost hear the Orange Krush.
WED 16
Bulls at Thunder (7 p.m., NBCSCH)
Will Coby White begin to look more comfortable running the point? Will Lauri Markkanen be aggressive at the offensive end? Will ex-OKC coach Billy Donovan mistakenly pop into the wrong team’s huddle during a timeout?
THU 17
Chargers at Raiders (7:20 p.m., Fox-32, NFLN)
There’s no love lost whenever San Diego and Oakland — sorry, Los Angeles and Las Vegas — clash on the ol’ gridiron.
FRI 18
Nets at Celtics (7 p.m., ESPN2)
What a thrill to have Kevin Durant back in action. Get used to it, sports fans: The Nets totally are a thing again.
Lakers at Suns (9:30 p.m., ESPN)
It has been almost 10 weeks since the Lakers hoisted the championship trophy. How did we survive that long without hearing LeBron James’ name 800 times a day?
SAT 19
Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty ImagesOhio State’s Fields is one of the greats.
Big Ten championship: Northwestern vs. Ohio State (11 a.m., Fox-32)
All the Wildcats have to do is bottle up Justin Fields — the Big Ten’s best quarterback since Drew Brees — and the rest of the Buckeyes’ blue-chip brigade. Easy-peasy, right?
ACC championship: Clemson vs. Notre Dame (3 p.m., Ch. 7)
Beat a team the caliber of Clemson twice — this time with superstar QB Trevor Lawrence playing — and the Irish will lock into a top-two playoff seed. Lose a close one? Fingers crossed for that fourth and final spot.
SEC championship: Alabama vs. Florida (7 p.m., Ch. 2)
To the winner goes a playoff spot. To the loser — if it’s Alabama — goes a playoff spot. Roll Tide.
Panthers at Packers (7:15 p.m., NFLN)
Just give Aaron Rodgers the MVP award already. We hear those snickers again, Kansas City.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Callum Smith (10 p.m., DAZN)
Come on, you know you haven’t had your fill of guys beating the hell out of each other. Stream this super-middleweight title unification fight and appreciate the greatness of 53-1-2 Alvarez, the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
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