The Term Must-Win is Overused… But Tonight is a Must-Win
Trevor Moore
Opinion Piece
November 11th, 2023
The sun is shining on Thursday morning, and the weekend is right around the corner. What person in their right mind couldn’t find a reason to head into their morning gushing with optimism and a smile? Well, as I stated before, it is Thursday, so I’m sure Chicagoans opened their eyes, sat up out of bed, and immediately hobbled their way to the toilet to rid their stomach of the agonizing knot stemming from the anticipation for tonight's 7:15 pm (CT) contest between Chicagos Bad-News Bears and the Piss-Poor Carolina Panthers. Pending an unlikely turnaround for the Bears' back half of the season, this game matters most to Chicago fans as the franchise's future lies in the hands of Luke Getsy and the Divison-2 Cinderella story Quarterback Tyson Bagent.
Papa Bear… Please give us the strength to carry on.
If you have any knowledge of the 2023 NFL season, you’ll understand my presumption of stomach ulcers plaguing the bellies of Chicago’s fanbase.
Call me a broken record, but to have faith in the Eberflus/Getsy system at this point in their time leading the Bears is cause for a psychiatric evaluation. They’ve demonstrated as little flexibility in developing a game plan that plays to the strengths of their personnel as anyone in the league. Getsy has even doubled down on the fact that the offensive scheme will be built around neither Fields nor Bagent for their matchup with Carolina. They have no interest in developing a quarterback, refuse to utilize their highly talented offensive backfield to compliment whoever is under center, and have yet to adequately address the issue of the center not being capable of generating a pro-level shotgun/pistol-style snap without being flagged for a holding penalty. For these reasons, I consider them to be one of, if not the most, incompetent leaders in the history of this franchise and in the NFL today.
On the opposite side of the ball, things have been trending upward. Chicago has addressed the issue of providing pressure off the edge in the form of trading for, and extending Montez Sweat for the next four years.
I won’t get into the debate of whether or not Poles jumped the gun and overpaid Sweat because when an organization has the funds and the desperation for success as they do, then you make the moves that give you the most prominent window for success.
While Montez didn’t make Derek Carr sweat as many fans anticipated, his presence did provide a positive impact by limiting space for Carr and the Saints' backfield to operate and forcing the ball to be moved side to side as opposed to the usual north and south nature that we are used to seeing. Give Sweat some time to get more familiar with the defensive calls and the men playing beside him. I have no doubt that we will have a true Monster of the Midway on our hands in no time.
Let’s dig deep and find the enthusiasm to get into tonight's game. Whether you find yourself to be more fond of Fields or Bagent, the offensive scheme doesn’t complement either style of play well.
The one aspect of the playcalling that both find the most success in is running out of play-action. Last week, out of a play-action setup, Bagent went 7/7 for 120 yards and two touchdowns to tight end Cole Kmet. In the six games Fields has played this season, he has seen the most accuracy and poise taking snaps running out of play-action, connecting on 76% of pass attempts versus hitting just 59% of attempts on non-play action calls.
I cannot begin to express the level of confusion that my brain is working through this season watching the Bears execute drives with runs and play-action calls successfully and scoring consistently just to have their Offensive Coordinator sabotage them in the second half of almost every game by steering the offense away from what’s been working.
To have success in play-action, you must find success on the ground, and to find success on the ground, you must have faith in your ground attack, and the only way you can develop faith in your ground attack is to run the damn ball with authority. D’onta Foreman and Darrynton Evans have run with authority in Khalil Herberts' absence, and Roschon Johnson has demonstrated the ability more often than not that if you put the ball in his hands, he’ll run through a brick wall to get to where he wants to be.
Personnel-wise, the system should work to scheme for a play-action attack with significant upside regardless of who is taking the snaps, but it all circles back to the two guys in the cockpit flying us straight into the side of a mountain… Eberflus and Getsy.
Excuse me for being so hostile towards these two coaches, but when your head coach has a more challenging time figuring out who the starting quarterback is during a press conference than the media, then it’s time to cut ties with the entire staff and start fresh. That’s why tonight's game is so important. The Eberflus/Getsy era seems to be coming to a close, and while the days wind down for the pair of failed Bear coaches, the need for a win has never been higher. For the Bears to secure two of the top three slots in the upcoming draft, they must find a way to defeat the Panthers at Soldier Field as they hold Carolina’s first-round pick. To be able to celebrate a Bears victory and also add security to another potential number-one pick in the draft would be huge for the morale of this fanbase and precisely what Bears fans need to find any silver lining in what could be described as one of the most overall disappointing seasons in their history.
Chicago and Carolina take the field at 7:15 pm (CT) on Thursday Night in the Windy City in a game that could set the Bears up for major success in the 2024 Season. Everyone have your lucky charms in hand. Whether that be the double-fist Beer/Braut combo or a middle finger locked and loaded for the random guy in a Brett Farve jersey who stumbles his way off the South Shore and into Soldier Field for every game. We need all the luck we can get heading into week 10!
One last thing! If anyone at the game finds themselves in a situation where they hear someone utter the forbidden phrase, please contact your nearest member of Soldier Field security to have them escorted out of the stadium. For those who don’t know what I’m referencing but want to protect their community, the phrase I’m referring to rhymes with “Bubble Boink.” If you know you know…
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