Week 17 Official Game Thread - CHI @ SF, 7:20pm, SNF, 12/28, NBC, CHI +3, O/U 50.5

[adam]

1 hour ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

Yeah, he was too worried about leaving too much time left than he was scoring. They had 3 timeouts left at midfield with 1:10 left to play and still ran out of time. That can't happen.

Not only that, but Ben Johnson said he got the final play call off late, which caused the offense to not have enough time to get set properly. Perfect example of why having that final timeout could have helped. Instead, you get a busted play before the snap where Caleb has to improvise in a helter skelter fashion, but comes up short.

Yeah, the final drive was kind of hectic. From 2:15 to 0:40 secs, there were no CHI timeouts used.  They used 51 seconds to gain 16 yards, then 39 seconds to gain another 18 yards. They also had to waste one on 3rd Down after an incompletion, which may have allowed them to get the 4th Down call right, but then it required another timeout after that play.

It sucks because they got one play from 1st and goal at the 2 instead of 2 or 3. The odds of scoring from the 2 (like a 2-pt conversion is like 50%), so even a 2nd play, and they probably score. 

[adam]

If the Bears played that game at home, they probably win by a TD.

[Bears4Ever_34]

33 minutes ago, adam said:

If the Bears played that game at home, they probably win by a TD.

George Kittle and Trent Williams being out were huge losses for SF, and they still dominated. I don't know about that. Odunze's absence is big, too, but I don't think nearly as impactful as those two players.

The caveat, for me, is what kind of weather there'd be at Soldier Field for a playoff game? Purdy is notoriously bad in wet conditions, because his hands are small. An ugly weather game would give the Bears a better chance, but SF would still probably just run it down their throats and score anyways.

As I said before the game, for the Bears to beat SF (or any team with an elite offense), they have to dominate time of possession and win the redzone matchup on offense and defense. They didn't do either of those things last night.

[AZ54]

If that game was a glimpse of our future offense in 2026 Caleb it’s going to be lights out good.  I’m also convinced more than ever that we really need a good interior pass rusher.  Much more than an edge rusher.