Jim O’Donnell: Caleb and the Bears need a Texas quick thaw on ‘SNF’ tonight
NEW QB, EXPECTATIONS OF A NEW ERA, A 1-0 START — but will it be the same old Bears on “Sunday Night Football?”
Set for deep in the heart of Texas, recent history suggests that the burnt orange and blue gets frigid and rigid when the NBC/“SNF” cameras go hot.
Will tonight at Houston be any different (kickoff 7:20 p.m.)?
The Bears have lost their last nine games on NBC. That streak began in the Soldier Field gloamin' of January 2019 when Cody Parkey's double-doink FG try vs. the Eagles sent Cris Collinsworth into the NFL Louvre of phrase artisans.
BY HEAD COACH, THE NINE-COUNT includes Matt Nagy (0-7) and Matt Eberflus — the freshened Toledo Now cover candidate — (0-2).
By starting quarterback, the pain train encompasses Mitch Trubisky (0-5), Andy Dalton (0-1), Justin Fields (0-2) and Tyson Bagent (0-1, last October at Chargers as a replacement for the injured Fields).
In the last seven defeats on “SNF,” the point deficits have ranged from a low of 10 at Rams in November 2019 (17-7) to a high of 23 against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on the Chicago lakefront one month later (26-3).
EBERFLUS HAS BEEN A GEM OF CONSISTENCY with back-to-back 17-point losses: 27-10 at Green Bay in 2022 and 30-13 behind the hard-knocked Bagent at SoFi Stadium last autumn.
That's brutal. But that's also rocked steadiness. It makes it surprising that C.J. Stroud and the Texans entered the weekend as only 6½-point favorites (despite 83% of game-line money; that's normally a sign to bob the other way).
The 23 million or so who will be watching want a shootout at the NRG Stadium fantasy factory between Stroud and Caleb Williams.
They could get it. Especially if those unpredictable striped pixies let both spotty offensive lines hold their blocks for an extrajudicial click or two.
SINCE NBC ACQUIRED the staggeringly successful prime-time TV franchise in 2006, the Bears have the fifth-lowest winning percentage among all 32 NFL teams.
They're .333 (11-22, even after a 5-2 start by Lovie Smith). The only outfits less ready for their Peacock close-ups have been the Titans (.286), the Panthers (.250), the Dolphins (.222) and the Jerry Reinsdorf-worthy Bengals (.176).
So “Sunday Night Football” fever — catch it.
But remember, the frigid heirs of the T-formation have to thaw before they can crawl.
STREET-BEATIN':
Rick Jaffe is settling in as VP/Content at Chicago Sports Network. The regional web will serve as the new TV home of the Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox beginning Oct. 1. Jaffe has carved a solid career in broadcasting since serving as sports editor of the Sun-Times. He set up successor Bill Adee's golden run (1993-2002). …
Also at paint-by-numbers CHSN, Tony Granato, Caley Chelios and Pat Boyle will handle the Blackhawks studio show. Bulls wraparound will feature Jason Goff and Kendall Gill. Hockey play-by-play team is Darren Pang and newcomer Rick Ball. Adam Amin and Stacey King switch over on the Bulls. Will Perdue will not be back, which hints at some petty penny-pinching. …
Yes, Tom Brady flatlined in his debut as a Fox analyst on last Sunday's marauding of the host Browns by Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. But who should feel queasier — Brady or the executive dupes who are contracted to pay him about $1.7 million a game through the end of the 2033 NFL season? …
No-watt options for Bears listeners immediately after the 24-17 win over the Titans: Ed O'Bradovich and Dan Hampton were delayed for an hour on AM-720 by a White Sox snorer. Whatever passes for postgame programming on AM-670 had to wait on a Cubs-Yankees finish. That left only flagship AM-1000, which is like finding that the TV at the dentist's office tunes only to The Modern Hygiene Channel. …
Dull-edged CBS is passing over Chicago today with the late-afternoon game many students of Halas Hall want — Justin Fields and PIT at Denver. KC-CIN will air instead. …
Personal to young Joe Lobue of the Prospect football Knights: The pre-homecoming night people got the wrong address. The poster's still on the porch and the tee-pee is dangling from the trees. …
And great question from Dan Patrick on that fortunate Soldier Field grinder over TEN: “For Bears fans, did it really feel like a win?”
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.