BEARS’ SURVIVAL, BULLS’ARRIVAL
Some of us are old enough to remember a time when Matt Nagy’s Bears had never been bested by the rival
Vikings, not even once. It all came crashing down in a spectacular heap, of course, five weeks ago in a 19- 13 debacle at Soldier Field.
How bad was it? The Bears’ offense mustered all of 32 yards in the second half. Quarterback Nick Foles was carted off the field late. With a fourth straight loss, the team’s season was up in flames.
“Eventually,” Nagy said, not at all convincingly, “something here will hopefully change.”
Well, it kind of has. The Bears actually won a game last week, leaving them at 6- 7 heading into Sunday’s rematch at 6- 7 Minnesota. Each team trails the Cardinals by one game in the race for the last NFC wild- card spot.
In other news, the Bulls’ season — one of major transition — launches this week. With Arturas Karnisovas now pulling the strings and Billy Donovan in the coach’s chair, palpable improvement is expected. This, even though no players of real note were added to the mix aside from enticing rookie Patrick Williams.
Think of the Bears and Bulls as having arrived at the same intersection, only facing in different directions. One team is hoping it has enough gas in the tank to reach a destination beyond Game 16; the other is hoping it has the wiring and juice to speed ahead to newfound relevance.
Bring on the kickoff. And the tipoff. Here’s what’s happening:
Buccaneers at Lions ( noon, NFL)
What has Tom Brady really ever accomplished, anyway? Ford Field surely shall be the site of his inglorious fall.
Indiana at Illinois ( 3 p. m., FS1)
The Hoosiers have won seven of the last nine in the head- to- head series, but the tables have turned. At least we think they’ve turned.
49ers at Cardinals ( 3: 30 p. m., Amazon Prime) Find this strangely not- on- regular- TV game and root for the visitors like nobody’s watching. And, let’s face it, nobody who has to ask what Amazon Prime is will be watching.