NFL Roundup: Are ‘Da Bears’ Back?
The city of Chicago is in the NFL spotlight again, as Windy City fans rejoice over what they hope will be a return to the team’s “Da Bears” glory years.
It has been 40 years since the Bears last won a Super Bowl. In 1986, behind quarterback Jim McMahon, the Mike Ditka-coached Bears defeated the New England Patriots, 46-10, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
The frenzy surrounding the team during that earlier era led to a 1990s Saturday Night Live “Da Bears!” skit, featuring actors playing Ditka-loving fans guzzling beer and eating heart-clogging food like Polish sausages. Chicago sports icons, including the Bulls’ Michael Jordan and Ditka himself, appeared in now-classic skits.
Since then, however, Bears fans have suffered through lackluster seasons and double-doink jokes.
But with a comeback playoff win over longtime rival Green Bay last weekend, Bears fans are optimistic that Caleb Williams, a Heisman Trophy winner at USC, is finally the field general the team has needed.
This week, CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil even interviewed legendary Bear Dick Butkus’s son Matt Butkus, also a former USC Trojan, in Chicago regarding the city’s response to a Bears revival.
But will citywide enthusiasm translate to team success?
That remains to be seen.
Quarterback Comparison
The remaining path to this season’s Super Bowl on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California, will not be easy for the Bears, beginning with this weekend’s matchup in Chicago against the Los Angeles Rams.
At DraftKings Sportsbook, the Bears are a 3.5-point underdog at home. The Rams are loaded with top talent like Matthew Stafford, this season’s Associated Press All-Pro first team quarterback. Stafford landed on the All-Pro team after leading the NFL with 4,707 passing yards and throwing a league-high 46 touchdown passes. No other quarterback threw for more than 34 touchdown passes.
By comparison, Williams was seventh in the league in passing yards, at 3,942, and sixth in touchdown passes with 27.
By most accounts, Stafford and New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye are the favorites to win the league’s MVP award this season.
That’s not to say Williams can’t perform at their level. In a recent post on the Trojan Wire, a USC news site in the USA Today Network, writer Micah Huff noted that Williams “struggled early in his playoff debut” against the Packers last weekend but “looked like a star” later in the game.
“This was the game, especially in the 4th quarter, where Caleb Williams looked like a top 5 quarterback in the league,” Huff wrote.
In another comparison of note, the temperature at kickoff on Sunday in Chicago is expected to be 16 degrees. In Los Angeles on the same day, the high temperature could soar to 76 degrees. Some players, including Stafford, are expected to wear scuba suits to combat the cold weather.
Divisional Round Times, TV Channels
Below are details on this weekend’s games:
Saturday, Jan. 17
- (6) Buffalo Bills at (1) Denver Broncos, 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
- (6) San Francisco 49ers at (1) Seatte Seahawks, 8 p.m. ET (Fox, FoxD)
Sunday, Jan. 18
- (5) Houston Texans at (2) New England Patriots, 3 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN)
- (5) Los Angeles Rams at (2) Chicago Bears, 6:30 p.m. ET (NBC, NBCU)
Betting Resources
