What’s behind Fields’ magic? Line growth, Lovie’s Cowardly Punt and other bear balls

Good bump day! I’m going to fight the urge to eat out today and instead make something at home for lunch. Maybe I will be open to do al fresco dining for dinner. I just know there won’t be too many of those sunny days in store for too long.

• I’m still in awe of Justin Fields Houdini’s act that preceded his 51-yard touchdown throw to Dante Pettis. And Dave Wannstedt’s look behind the magic that found an open Pettis is a real treat:

• Listen… Wannstedt was not a good Bears coach. Except for making the playoffs in 1994 with a 9-7 mark, the years 1993-98 were pretty lean. But hey, this breakdown follows what Darnell Mooney told us during training camp about this coaching staff’s emphasis on practicing scrambling drills (something the previous staff didn’t have on). apparently not worked). And it also represents another example of something that makes Fields special. Games like this allow us to dream about the huge upside and potential.

• For so many other quarterbacks in the league, this game is an out-of-bounds play and field trip by the punt team. For some, it’s a check for that open player underneath. But for someone with Fields’ athletic gifts and football instincts, this game is quite the game-changer. Last year, Fields probably checks, dumps him — or worse, gets fired, risks a fumble, and all hell breaks loose. But this could have been our first data point showing growth from year 1 to year 2 from QB1. Don’t you like to see it?

• The Bears were surprisingly good in the trenches on Sunday. And they will need to continue on this path to be more successful in Week 2. Both on the attacking side of the ball, where the right side of the line exceeded expectations with their play:

• The most important aspect of growth is self-assessment. That’s why I find this quote from left tackle Braxton Jones breaking down what it was like to give up an early sack to Nick Bosa and then explaining what he did to bounce back is so encouraging. Via Brad Biggs of the Tribune:

“It was a very normal rush for Nick Bosa, I would say,” Jones said. “It was a really bad rap on my part. I felt like I was a bit late, when he was right on time. It was a bad set. I let him in in my west and it was kind of over from there. The most important thing about it, the thing that I took to heart, was to not let one turn into two or three. Just come back and keep grinding. … It was just bad technique. It’s not on me. Coach told me to go out there and trust your training. That’s what I said. I started doing. There’s still a lot to clean up, but I was starting to get a good idea.

• My favorite anecdote in this Biggs play is that Jones actually watched the video board after the play to confirm his feelings about what was wrong with the play. Another win for instant replay technology!

• The offensive line is still under construction. But the youth along the line offers plenty of room for growth. Not all of them will look great, but the potential remains.

• On the defensive side of things. I love rookie pass-rusher Dominique Robinson SO MUCH:

• The hours of the sun (Jason Liser) and NBC Sports Bay Area (Angelina Martin) share the messy rants of former Bears and Niners coach Mike Martz who has some take on the two Justin Fields and Trey Lance. I don’t want to regurgitate them here, though I did want to bring them up for conversation – if only to acknowledge that, yes, I saw Martz’s whacky comment. But at the end of the day, I’m at a point where we should probably stop giving Martz the attention he desperately needs. Martz was a great player for his day, but he was unaware of the direction of football when he was OC for the Bears. And he’s not much better now. I will always find a superficial interest in what old faces have to say. But when they break out like Martz did, it does nothing to move the football conversation forward.

• Winning week 1 is better than the alternative. Plus, it means history is on our side:

• Maybe it’s just our appreciation for nature, but I’m glad I’m not the only one enjoying the footage of a Bears victory in the rain. From Cam Ellis’ column to 670 The Score: “It was fun. And about 95% of the pristine post-game vibes were just because the Bears, you know, won — but still, the Sunday bath was fun. There will be a moment in a not too distant future where every Bears game will be played in wonderful, air-conditioned environments, and that’s fine. (I mean personally, I don’t think that’s fine, but whatever. I fought. J (I lost. Now I’m resting.) Soon all those people who wear shorts too late in the year to prove a point will finally have a home. That’s life. It’s a jackass, but it’s my jackass: I’m going to miss games in bad weather.

• Because you care: Sunday’s forecast for Green Bay calls for a 40% chance of rain. Someone reminds me to buy a poncho before leaving the city limits on Sunday morning!

• A major grass update:

• I’ll let you decide which is worse – the punt…

“There is still a lot of football to be played in the season. It’s kind of as simple as that,” Smith said of her decision, via the Houston Chronicle. “I felt a tie was better than a potential loss. Defensively, we didn’t really stop them that much at the end.

• Either way, Lovie Smith had one of the loosest punts of all time. At home. In week 1. Overtime. Imagine that you tremble at the thought of losing a game that you decide to draw rather than win. It wouldn’t be me. Don’t twist it. I have nothing but love for what Lovie Smith did when he was head coach of the Bears. At this point, he was the franchise’s best head coach since Mike Ditka. However, I’m glad he’s no longer coaching the Bears.

• I can’t wait to listen to this:

• The Browns are dropping a midfield logo, it’s pretty neat:

• And some Bears fans think:

• The old school bear on a football logo is one of my favorites. And while I’m not entirely sure it will vibrate in midfield, the Bears should find more ways to incorporate it into hats, gear, and anywhere else.

• Phew! It’s not going to go well for Brett Favre:

• Ayo Dosunmu is constructed differently:

• Aaron Judge’s dinger watch gets fun:

• Hello … what do we have here?