10 Quick Thoughts: Feeling just OK after the Chicago Bears finally win a NFC North game

Good morning, Chicago Bears fans.

Patrick Kane is a Detroit Red Wing, so if you were planning on extracting some joy out of this Victory Tuesday, the 2023 Chicago sports scene has other plans.

Because of course it does.

And no, last night’s Bears triumph over the Vikings wasn’t suitable for framing either. Far from it, in fact, as all 12 points came from Cairo Santos field goals and not a single touchdown from Justin Fields and the rest of the offense.

But the fact is that the Bears can’t be choosy with the first NFC North win in their last 13 tries. Almost two years after Ryan Poles’ vow to take the north and never give it back, both Poles and Matt Eberflus finally have a division victory to call their own.

As always, we’ll take what we can get. The Bears are now 4-8 as they head into their bye weekend with five games left in the season and Detroit coming into Soldier Field on December 10.

Let’s get to the thoughts …

1. I went out on a limb during yesterday’s predictions and picked a 20-point blowout by the Bears, who I thought were due for a primetime bounceback surprise like the one in Washington. And I might have gotten away with it, too, had the Bears offense managed to turn those four Josh Dobbs interceptions into more than just three points.
   
   
2. Was that an NFL game plan we saw from Luke Getsy or a demented version of the Cha Cha Slide? To the left … to the right … take it back now … freeze!
   
   
3. It’s so hard not to fall into the trap of running a referendum on Justin Fields’ play each week, but these 12 days before the next game really gives Bears fans a lot of time to stake out their respective positions on QB1 and wage the usual war. It feels like the “he’s not the guy” camp would’ve hit max capacity had Fields not managed the game-winning drive after those two big fourth-quarter fumbles but credit to him for coming through when it mattered most.
   
   
4. I still don’t know where I’m at with Fields. I felt pretty good about his future after the Detroit loss and even said so on last Tuesday’s The Chicago Sports Podcast. Then those two fumbles happened — the first when the Bears were on the verge of icing the game — and my angry Bears fan side came out. In the end, it’s important to remember there are still five games left of evaluation … as well as an evaluation of this year’s quarterback prospects.
   
   
5. Credit to Cairo Santos for doing the impossible … putting an end to Bears fans mentioning Robbie Gould every other sentence.
   
   
6. Playing Josh Dobbs this week and last week’s collapse aside, can we be excited about this defense? Montez Sweat has been the gamechanger he was advertised to be and his paycheck demands. Gervon Dexter Sr. is standing out. The secondary has been a UNIT these past two weeks. T.J. Edwards is playing like he grew up wanting to be the next great Bears linebacker. The possible departure of Jaylon Johnson this offseason could complicate things, but the Bears defense seems to be on the right track.
   
   
7. Speaking of an as-advertised gamechanger, DJ Moore had 11 catches for 114 yards and the biggest play of the game-winning drive. He’s now at 1,003 receiving yards for the season, trailing just Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen, CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown. Eclipsing Brandon Marshall’s club record of 1,508 yards in a season is in play.
   
   
8. I didn’t know Kyler Gordon’s helmet could do that.
   
   
9. The Bears went into Monday night’s game owning the fourth pick in the draft and left Minnesota … with the fourth pick in the draft. There are, however, six additional teams at either 4-8 or 4-7 so the Bears could find their pick at the bottom half of the top 10 or farther with a couple of wins in a soft December schedule.
   
   
10. Don’t look now, but the Green Bay Packers are now just a half-game out of a playoff spot. My nightmare of beating the Packers in Week 18 to give them a shot at Caleb Williams has now changed to a fantasy of beating them in Week 18 to keep them out of the playoffs.
    
    
    As I said before, we’ll take what we can get.
    
    Enjoy your Tuesday and thanks for your support of CHGO!

Kevin Kaduk

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