Chicago Bears vs. the 49ers 12/28, 5:20 - Pre-game Thread

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by paulk205:

Originally posted by DrEll:
I was watching football before many of you were even a thought in your parents minds. Those of us that have lived through the glory years stick with the Super Bowl or bust mantra. You newbies just care about regular season wins because it gives you something to look forward to next week…

You can speak for yourself. I'm no spring chicken either, but I like being in the mix every year or thereabouts even if it doesn't lead to a title. Did those 3 lost SBs hurt? Sure they did, though actually in my case not as much as some of the NFCCG losses ('90 and '11 were worse than any of the 3 lost SBs, as the first ruined the 3-peat and the second a beautiful Cinderella season. I hated '92 too, as I can't stand Dallas and that holding call was one of the biggest b******t calls ever.). But the lost decade before '11 hurt more, and so did the lost half decade between the last Harbaugh tilt at the title and the '19 run. Irrelevance and pointless Sundays, sloppily coached teams committing tons of penalties and blow coverages, ruined parts of careers of greats like Gore or Justin Smith, and the tedious hoping for FA and the draft leading to a reset. That's what I really hate. Winning a title is HARD, and a lot of it falls on luck. We've had some dreadful luck in most of these losses.

This season's been a blast. The team is horribly flawed and has little chance of doing damage in the playoffs... on paper. It's also beautifully coached, makes very few mistakes, and maximises their chance for winning every week. Sometimes it doesn't work, especially against good teams like the Jaguars, the Texans, and the Rams. But they're always in the mix. Now they have a chance for a most unlikely #1 seed, and once you're home in the playoffs who knows what may happen? I still think there are too many holes to go all the way, but I'm going to enjoy the ride regardless.

What's funny about the take that you are responding to is that for those of us who were around, we should remember that it was the Super Bowl or bust mindset that in part killed the team in the 90s. If it's really Super Bowl or bust, does it mean that the poster and other thinking like that were unhappy until the final Sunday in January? So basically, they only got to enjoy football during the offseason because nothing was to be celebrated since a team couldn't win a Super Bowl until that final Sunday back then.

They also like to criticize the draft record of this regime. I'd say our drafting in the 90s was probably at it's worst. 1994 I think was the only truly good draft class we had in an entire decade.

The Super Bowl or bust mindset had us going in on past their prime big name free agents that did not work out after 1994. Internally, it had us firing Walsh and lead to him becoming so stressed by the pressure that he prematurely retired. Maybe our drafting in the 90s doesn't take a nosedive if he still is with the team. Maybe we can a better handle on Charles Haley (though I do think Ronnie Lott's leaving hurt matters) and we don't trade him to the Cowboys. If the so-called newbie fans like the regular season success because it gives them something to look forward to, what exactly did the Super Bowl or bust crowd look forward to, because even during the glory years, more often than not, the team did not win the Super Bowl. That doesn't sound very enjoyable.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:

Originally posted by tankle104:
They've done a great job with turnover differential. They lead the league - their defense has 31 takeaways (interception + fumble recovery's)

total turnovers: 31
Interceptions: 21 (1st in the nfl)
fumble recoveries: 9
toral differential: +21

We need to protect the ball. It'll be critical - their defense won't be hard to score on, IMO, but we can't burn opportunities by turning it over and giving their offense great field position or extra opportunities.

Yea I saw they've forced more TOs than anyone but we've been very good all year not turning it over with the exception of a game or two. I think the offensive juggernaut that we are they're gonna be hard pressed to keep up with Caleb at QB and we've shown when we commit to stopping the run we can just this past week with our guys healthy

Originally posted by tankle104:
I think we will win this game convincingly, for sure. We just can't fall into their trap of turning the ball over. Usually (not always), defenses that get a lot of turnovers - take a bunch of risks, which gives up big plays but can also generate a bunch of turnovers. So as long as Brock doesn't make bad throws or KB slap the ball around - I don't see them keeping up with us.

Carolina is going to dominate Slingin Sammy too muhahaha

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
At any rate we know our guys are locked into playoff mode. One game at a time with elimination mode kicked in

Originally posted by Crown:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by paulk205:

Originally posted by DrEll:
I was watching football before many of you were even a thought in your parents minds. Those of us that have lived through the glory years stick with the Super Bowl or bust mantra. You newbies just care about regular season wins because it gives you something to look forward to next week…

You can speak for yourself. I'm no spring chicken either, but I like being in the mix every year or thereabouts even if it doesn't lead to a title. Did those 3 lost SBs hurt? Sure they did, though actually in my case not as much as some of the NFCCG losses ('90 and '11 were worse than any of the 3 lost SBs, as the first ruined the 3-peat and the second a beautiful Cinderella season. I hated '92 too, as I can't stand Dallas and that holding call was one of the biggest b******t calls ever.). But the lost decade before '11 hurt more, and so did the lost half decade between the last Harbaugh tilt at the title and the '19 run. Irrelevance and pointless Sundays, sloppily coached teams committing tons of penalties and blow coverages, ruined parts of careers of greats like Gore or Justin Smith, and the tedious hoping for FA and the draft leading to a reset. That's what I really hate. Winning a title is HARD, and a lot of it falls on luck. We've had some dreadful luck in most of these losses.

This season's been a blast. The team is horribly flawed and has little chance of doing damage in the playoffs... on paper. It's also beautifully coached, makes very few mistakes, and maximises their chance for winning every week. Sometimes it doesn't work, especially against good teams like the Jaguars, the Texans, and the Rams. But they're always in the mix. Now they have a chance for a most unlikely #1 seed, and once you're home in the playoffs who knows what may happen? I still think there are too many holes to go all the way, but I'm going to enjoy the ride regardless.

What's funny about the take that you are responding to is that for those of us who were around, we should remember that it was the Super Bowl or bust mindset that in part killed the team in the 90s. If it's really Super Bowl or bust, does it mean that the poster and other thinking like that were unhappy until the final Sunday in January? So basically, they only got to enjoy football during the offseason because nothing was to be celebrated since a team couldn't win a Super Bowl until that final Sunday back then.

They also like to criticize the draft record of this regime. I'd say our drafting in the 90s was probably at it's worst. 1994 I think was the only truly good draft class we had in an entire decade.

The Super Bowl or bust mindset had us going in on past their prime big name free agents that did not work out after 1994. Internally, it had us firing Walsh and lead to him becoming so stressed by the pressure that he prematurely retired. Maybe our drafting in the 90s doesn't take a nosedive if he still is with the team. Maybe we can a better handle on Charles Haley (though I do think Ronnie Lott's leaving hurt matters) and we don't trade him to the Cowboys. If the so-called newbie fans like the regular season success because it gives them something to look forward to, what exactly did the Super Bowl or bust crowd look forward to, because even during the glory years, more often than not, the team did not win the Super Bowl. That doesn't sound very enjoyable.

Excellent post.

I am having a blast this year. It has been an awesome season to watch regardless of how it turns out.

Originally posted by tankle104:
I think we will win this game convincingly, for sure. We just can't fall into their trap of turning the ball over. Usually (not always), defenses that get a lot of turnovers - take a bunch of risks, which gives up big plays but can also generate a bunch of turnovers. So as long as Brock doesn't make bad throws or KB slap the ball around - I don't see them keeping up with us.

Carolina is going to dominate Slingin Sammy too muhahaha

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
To put some numbers on the Bears' defense:

22nd in sacks (31)
25th in passing yards/attempt (7.5)
28th in rush yards/carry (5.0)

1st in interceptions (21)
2nd in fumble recoveries (10)

Originally posted by SlipAndSlideBosa:

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
To put some numbers on the Bears' defense:

22nd in sacks (31)
25th in passing yards/attempt (7.5)
28th in rush yards/carry (5.0)

1st in interceptions (21)
2nd in fumble recoveries (10)

Which means if we take care of the ball and limit Turnovers, we should be able to put up big offensive numbers against the bears defense.