Week 11 Preview - Gratitude, Zen, and the Occasional Full-Contact Manifestation

Nov 15

Written By Cicero

The “What If” Zone

Imagine, if you will, a world in which the Bears didn’t blow Week 1 against the Vikings. We would be sitting pretty at 7-2. Calm. Collected. Possibly chanting mantras while sipping Old Style in our forest lairs. Instead, we are 6-3. Still good. Still better than most Bears seasons under the painful Eberflus era. A low bar, yes, but the bar is finally upright instead of buried under years of mediocrity. We can walk under it without ducking. We can stare at it without crying.

More than anything, this is now a watchable team. The slam-the-remote, living-room-storm-out, Sunday lawn-mowing and house-choring has been held at bay. Gratitude is called for. Monastic zen is required. Meditate on it. Appreciate it. The path is uneven, but it is ours.

Remembering the Dominoes

Let us take a moment to pour one out for Shane Waldron, the offensive coordinator who was fired around this same time last year.
Yes. He fell with the inevitability of a construction zone on the Kennedy. And in falling, he set off a chain reaction of dominoes that led us here: the rise of Ben Johnson as head coach, the team finally becoming a unit that can survive and thrive.

Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways. Sometimes it works in football coaching firings.

Vikings vs Packers: A Study in Contrasts

Vikings fans are tolerable. Players are professional. Cute little horn sounds in their stadium. The stadium that Kevin Warren built LOL (Hey, how’s the new Bears stadium coming along? Do we even care anymore?)

Cities exist without needing constant Lombardi-fication of their street corners. A refreshing contrast to Green Bay. EXCEPT for Aaron Jones. That man. The former Packer running back is always finds an extra gear against the Bears. Gliding runs, smooth pass routes blowing past our linebackers, third and forever conversions… ENOUGH!

Someone on the Bears defense, preferably a Bear of considerable mass and anger, needs to hit him so hard he ends up in the Canadian Football League. Maybe Saskatchewan. Maybe a nice igloo on a frozen lake. Just somewhere far, far north.

What to Watch

Caleb Williams continues his masterclass in QB growth and evasive pocket scrambling. Calm, composed, but with flashes of righteous comeback fury.
Bears run game stretching the field and testing the Vikings defensive edges. Watch for explosive bursts on outside runs.
Defensive discipline will be critical. One misstep, and Aaron Jones writes another tragic poem on our ribs.

Final Zen Manifestation

Before kickoff, find your inner Cicero. Breathe in through your snout. Exhale through your claws.
Visualize: Victory. Old Style in hand. Gene & Jude’s at your side.

Bears 28. Vikings 17

Watchable. Controllable. Zen-achievable. Bear Down.

Cicero

Literally a bear. Raised in the densely wooded forest preserves of Cook County along the mighty Des Plaines river. Consumes a healthy diet of Gene & Jude’s hot dogs, Old Style beer, and lost Packer fans. Possibly related to Staley and Clark. Speaks fluent English and is able to use a keyboard.