The Fever

Nothing like two wins in a row to start spreading Bears’ playoff fever. Never mind the six straight losses previous; the fact those two wins came against a bad Houston team and an overrated Minnesota outfit; or the near impossibility of having to beat Green Bay up there in the final game of the season to have a chance to keep playing. The Bears are back, baby, and most everyone in the Chicago media says so, never mind the eye winks. Why? Well, Mitch Trubisky suddenly looks like an NFL-competent quarterback, though that endzone interception late in the fourth quarter sure revived doubts, didn’t it? There’s also a reshuffled offensive line that actually seems to be working. (Sorry, guys, I don’t know who you all are, but I do remember Jim Cadile and Bob Wetoska from the ’67 squad.) Holy Ryan Pace. Can this team play past January 3rd? This is where it gets to be deliciously ironic. The Bears need Trubisky to keep performing; the better he does, the further they go, and the greater the pressure to sign him for 2021 and maybe beyond. The Munsters also need kicker Cairo Santos to keep doing his Robbie Gould imitation. Santos is at 22 straight field goals, the second-longest string in team history, behind Gould’s 26 in a row. The new Santos, same as the old Gould. You gotta love it. And this—guess who Coach Visor and company are chasing for the last playoff sport? Why none other than the Arizona—nee Chicago, nee St. Louis—Cardinals, led by that baseball turncoat, quarterback Kyler Murray. The Bidwells against the McCaskeys, less the Hatfields and McCoys than Curley and Moe. May the best Stooge win.