It’s Almost Over
It’s Almost Over
The Jolly and the Damned
December 22, 2019
Chiefs 26, Bears 3
Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Grave
The Chicago Bears insulted Santa Claus, spat on decency and farted on freedom against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
And that was just in the first half.
The Bears played their worst game of a discouraging season and got eye-gouged by the playoff-bound Chiefs, 26-3 in Chicago's final home game of the season at Soldier Field. It was a warm night so at least Bears fans' tears did not freeze on their faces. As far as we know.
What went wrong in this game that dropped the Bears to 7-8? Here's what went wrong: The Bears showed up and so did the Chiefs.
This game was not exactly expected to be the final say on the 2017 draft in which Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky was taken well ahead of Chiefs signal caller Patrick Mahomes because that final say seems to have been happening for the last two seasons.
Mahomes was great, again, 23/33 for 251 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and one rushing TD for a rating of 112.1. Trubisky, after looking darn good for a few weeks was, frustratingly, back to the old Trubisky, 18/34, 157 yards, no scores, a rating of 65.4 and a lump of coal in his throat as well as his stocking.
This loss was not all Trubisky's fault. Several Bears players said after the game that the team's effort was "embarrassing.” And it was. This was the first game in Matt Nagy's nearly two years as head coach that was completely without true meaning as the Bears were not fighting for playoff position or preparing for an already-clinched postseason berth. So what does it mean to play without effort in a game without meaning?
Maybe it means the Bears don't exist and the whole thing never happened.
Philosophy is for losers.
Some of us held onto hope even after the Bears were knocked out of the playoff race by Green Bay last week because Trubisky was playing well and the team was not giving up and we felt quite rational in thinking that despite this ugly campaign the Bears were simply a better tight end and a healthier offensive line away from a serious playoff challenge in 2020.
But this game, this one game, makes us think the Bears need all kinds of things that Santa Claus and a second-round pick don’t have in their bag.
So, we're off to Minnesota to end the season, ring in the New Year and seek answers in the approaching winter cold. --TK
Sunday, December 22, 2019