Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Re: Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Postby jksander » Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:25 am

Regular Season Week 7
Chicago Bears (0-6-0) @ Denver Broncos (3-3-0)

Denver won the toss and deferred. We opened with a field goal to go up 3-0 with 8:56 to go in the first quarter, though Fields was injured after taking a sack on the very first play of the game, which means we’re relying on Pearson to lead the team until he is cleared to come back in or we find out more about what happened. Denver answered with their own field goal with 3:37 to go, tying it at 3-3. Early in the second quarter A.J. Terrell Jr. got himself another pick, bringing us nicely into their territory with a chance to build some momentum, but we fumbled the ball inside the 15, giving the ball back to Denver and losing the redzone scoring opportunity. They had to punt it almost immediately, however, so the damage was minimal. With 4:41 to go in the half and still tied, Jayson Jones intercepted a Russell Wilson pass with them almost in field goal range, but with Lenny Pearson struggling in what is essentially a last minute spot start, we were reliant on the run and Denver knew it. We’d be forced to punt, and Denver wound up right back in the red zone, and a quick pass from Wilson to Albert Okwuegbunam for 12 yards got them their first touchdown of the game and put the score at 10-3. We had about ninety seconds left on the clock, but were able to time a few solid running plays that got us into Santos’ range. His 48-yarder with 23 seconds left on the clock kept us within four points at least heading into halftime trailing 10-6.

Denver scored a touchdown on their opening drive, a 13-yard completion from Wilson to Javonte Williams that put the Broncos ahead 17-6. Pearson threw an interception with 3:50 to go in the third quarter, and Russell Wilson rushed for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:10 left and this game pretty much out of reach. We did not get a single first down at all in the third quarter, The Broncos scored another touchdown on a two yard pass from Wilson to Melvin Gordon III with 11:35 to go in the game and us traling 31-6. They would add a field goal three minutes later. Pearson finally got us our first first-down of the second half with a 22-yard pass to Darnell Mooney, but it was too late for a rally. We would later intercept another Russell Wilson pass with 2:56 to play, and that time we did get a touchdown on the board thanks to a 20-yard pass from Pearson to Travis Kelce, and we went for a two-point conversion as almost a point of pride. And failed to convert it. Let’s be honest, we never had a shot in this one after losing our quarterback on the first goddamned play. Maybe the bye week is what we need to sort something out of what has turned into a hellscape of a season. Chicago 12, Denver 34.

Justin Fields took a brutal shot to the head in that opening play, and he spent the rest of the game in the concussion protocol, though we suspect it is a serious case of migraine, not a concussion. With the bye week finally here it’s our hope that he’ll be back and ready to play in week nine.

Pearson performed admirably considering he was thrown out there having had no expectation of playing. He ended up completing 22 of 35 passes for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception. David Montgomery got 76 yards on the ground in 18 attempts. Darnell Mooney had five catches for 70 yards, while Travis Kelce had five catches for 44 yards. Cairo Santos now has 12 made field goals this year.

Other Week 7 results:

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, San Francisco 49ers 19
LA Rams 6, Cincinnati Bengals 21
Atlanta Falcons 10, Buffalo Bills 49
Seattle Seahawks 17, Cleveland Browns 31
Miami Dolphins 0, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38
Minnesota Vikings 17, LA Chargers 38
Philadelphia Eagles 13, Indianapolis Colts 20
Houston Texans 23, Washington Commanders 38
Tennessee Titans 20, NY Giants 7
Dallas Cowboys 9, Jacksonville Jaguars 14
New Orleans Saints 24, NY Jets 17
Las Vegas Raiders 10, Green Bay Packers 10

Week 8 results:

San Francisco 49ers 9, Cincinnati Bengals 19
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10, Buffalo Bills 10
Arizona Cardinals 27, Cleveland Browns 24
Green Bay Packers 13, Kansas City Chiefs 44
Houston Texans 29, Dallas Cowboys 17
Tennessee Titans 7, Philadelphia Eagles 27
Washington Commanders 17, Jacksonville Jaguars 27
Carolina Panthers 17, NY Jets 23
Detroit Lions 13, Las Vegas Raiders 45
New England Patriots 6, New Orleans Saints 27
Baltimore Ravens 30, Seattle Seahawks 3
Denver Broncos 32, Minnesota Vikings 27

Ten teams have been involved in a tie game this season to this point, though no one has had it happen twice. There have been four tie games in the AFC compared to just one (the Green Bay / Raiders one last week) in the NFC. The Packers are still by far the best of the NFC Central (4-2-1) with the rest of us below .500 … and with their win this week, Houston left us as the only team in the NFL without a win. And we have to travel to Kansas City next week so that seems unlikely to change, particularly with Fields still remaining ‘Probable’ with migraine. Here’s hoping he can play.
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Re: Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Postby jksander » Fri Feb 10, 2023 5:19 am

Regular Season Week 9
Chicago Bears (0-7-0) @ Kansas City Chiefs (5-1-1)

We won the toss and chose to defer, though at Arrowhead with Mahomes at the helm, it probably doesn’t much matter either way. They would score a touchdown on their opening drive, a six yarder from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman, capping a drive that ate up nearly eight minutes. Thankfully Justin Fields did indeed start, except he threw a huge interception halfway down the field, and Juan Thornhilll ran it 57 yards for the touchdown. Just like that, with 3:30 to go in the first quarter we were in a 14-0 hole. A 46-yard field goal put them up 17-0 just a minute into the second quarter, but we finally got on the board with a 10 yard rush by David Montgomery to make it 17-7 with 9:50 to go in the half. But defensively we’re not up to the standard it takes to get stops against the Chiefs’ offense. Mahomes hit JuJu Smith-Schuster for a two yarder that made it 24-7 with four minutes to play and this one was already getting way out of hand, and they rubbed our noses in it by getting a field goal at the very end of the half to make it 27-7 … as in ‘we dare you to fight back.’

We got into the red zone and fumbled it away to start the second half, and it didn’t get any better from there. The Chiefs ran a ton of time off the clock en route to us holding them to a field goal yet again, making it 30-7. The real gut punch was when we punted early in the fourth quarter, and our 38 yard punt was returned for 61 yards all the way back into the Chiefs’ red zone. At that point even professionals want to break down and weep. Mahomes promptly made a 13-yard completion to Jody Fortson, who put his Chiefs up 37-7 with 14:15 left to play. We struggled to get even a first down, and the Chiefs kept throwing the ball down our throats like they were playing college ball. A Clyde Edwards-Helaire one yard run punched a touchdown in to make it 44-7 with 8:24 to play, and by that point even the degenerate gamblers had tuned out. Justin Fields was trying just about anything, but you could tell he was worn down. An interception deep in Chiefs territory and Mahomes rubbed it in by throwing a 22-yard TD pass to JoJo Smith-Schuster to make it 51-7 rather than running the ball to eat some clock. We’re going to remember this down the road as a humiliation that was made worse by a team deliberately running the score up. Fields kept fighting, and he earned a lot of respect from me … even down 44 points he was trying to marshall us down the field to at least put a few more points on the board. But another interception as we got closer to our goal sealed the deal. In the end it may have been inevitable, but that doesn’t make it sting any less. Chicago 7, Kansas City 51.

Mahomes was a maniac, finishing with 336 yards on 36 of 53 passing, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Fields, coming off his near concussion, was 17 of 31 for 152 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns. On the ground he picked up 61 yards on seven carries. Montgomery was virtually stymied by the Chiefs’ defense, putting up one of the worst games of his career with 19 yards on 13 carries, though he did score our touchdown. Darnell Mooney had five catches for 51 yards, while Travis Kelce had three receptions for 42 yards.

Other Week 9 results:

Cleveland Browns 22, San Francisco 49ers 34
NY Jets 13, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27
Cincinnati Bengals 48, Arizona Cardinals 27
Indianapolis Colts 24, Washington Commanders 31
New Orleans Saints 14, Miami Dolphins 35
Jacksonville Jaguars 28, NY Giants 28 -- Jacksonville picks up their second tie of the year!
Denver Broncos 19, Detroit Lions 20
LA Chargers 16, Green Bay Packers 10
Buffalo Bills 16, Carolina Panthers 27
Atlanta Falcons 13, New England Patriots 33
Minnesota Vikings 14, Las Vegas Raiders 21
LA Rams 27, Baltimore Ravens 38
Seattle Seahawks 23, Pittsburgh Steelers 20
Philadelphia Eagles 42, Houston Texans 10
Dallas Cowboys 30, Tennessee Titans 14

I think after this week’s beatdown we’re all here rooting for the Chiefs to be unseated in the brutal AFC West. They’re currently leading at 6-1-1, but the LA Chargers are 6-2-0, the Las Vegas Raiders are 5-2-1, and Denver has been fighting hard all year at 5-4-0. Crazily enough, if the playoffs happened today the Chiefs would lead the AFC, but the Chargers AND the Raiders would both be in as wild-cards. It’s gonna be a wild ride out west!
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Re: Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Postby jksander » Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:57 am

Whatever mistakes I've made to start this one have compounded and it's just not fun, so I'm going to start over. I think I've gotten better with the play calling, and since I want to coach out the games, I figure a fresh start is in order. Not sure if anyone is around these forums to read this anyway.
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Re: Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Postby jaytuomi » Mon Feb 13, 2023 12:53 pm

I read everyone's Dynasty Report! Keep up the great work.

You are right that there is a steep learning curve with the football games, and how your roster, staff, game-planning and play-calling are all integrated. Morale issues can definitely compound as you are probably experiencing.

Story-telling wise, personally, I think you've got a lot of potential here with a big draft pick coming up. I'm a sucker for a losers-to-winners tale.
Gameplay wise, no doubt a fresh start is going to give you a better experience.

I'll be keeping posted either way!
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Re: Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Postby jksander » Sat Feb 18, 2023 1:37 pm

jaytuomi wrote:I read everyone's Dynasty Report! Keep up the great work.

You are right that there is a steep learning curve with the football games, and how your roster, staff, game-planning and play-calling are all integrated. Morale issues can definitely compound as you are probably experiencing.

Story-telling wise, personally, I think you've got a lot of potential here with a big draft pick coming up. I'm a sucker for a losers-to-winners tale.
Gameplay wise, no doubt a fresh start is going to give you a better experience.

I'll be keeping posted either way!


Lol no draft pick ... one of my first moves was trading it away for Kelce lol
I'm playing around with a few ideas, will definitely start a new one when I get a grip on which way I want to go ... lol
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Re: Reviving The Bears (DDSPF23)

Postby BengalErnst » Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:18 pm

Build this franchise into a winner. Much more rewarding then just starting over at the first sign of difficulty. You got this.
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