Well, well, well.
That’s an awfully deep subject.
The Chicago Bears host the Carolina Panthers tonight in a matchup of – at least on paper – two of the National Football League’s worst teams.
Few fans watching tonight in Chili’s and Applebee’s and living rooms around the U.S. are worried about what happens in the NFL Draft in April, but the front offices of those franchises sure are. And the Bears will get the Panthers’ top draft choice, no matter what happens on the field tonight. That’s because of a trade that sent wide receiver D.J. Moore to Carolina for the Panthers’ No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft.
Beat ‘em and make the pick higher!
That’s the advice, the incentive, given by Associated Press writer Andrew Seligman in his preview (Bears facing win-win scenario: Beat Carolina and boost odds at No. 1 overall draft pick) for the game, which airs on Amazon Prime’s “Thursday Night Football,” and kicks off at Soldier Field at roughly 7:15 p.m., with legendary Al Michaels and the still fish-out-of-water-on-a-pro-football-broadcast Kirk Herbstreit on the call (and we mean that in a kind way: we love Herbstreit, how can you not; it just still feels weird with Herbie on a pro call).
At any rate, with the pace they’re both setting, neither team is in contention for this year’s Super Bowl. Carolina is currently 1-7. The only team in the NFL with a worse record right now are the Arizona Cardinals, who will bring starting quarterback Kyler Murray back this weekend, a home game against Atlanta. One figures Murray gives the Cardinals at least a better chance to win more of their remaining eight games than the Panthers will to win their remaining eight.
The Bears are 2-7, and as offensive lineman Teven Jenkins said…
“I’m just trying to get to 3-7,” Jenkins said.
Count Carolina coach Frank Reich among the people who haven’t considered any draft possibilities just yet.
“Interesting question,” he said. “I guess this is good, but I hadn’t even thought about that. This is just about tryin’ to win the next football game. One of the things I said to the guys today — sometimes when you get in this position, you look back and you wanna change some things that have happened. You wish, somehow, that you can double down.
“‘Hey, let’s put it all in this one game. Let’s double down on everything. Get it all back!’ But that’s not real life. That’s not real life in the NFL. That’s not real life, period. You gotta take ’em one at a time.”
In the immediate: the Bears won’t have starting quarterback Justin Fields, out with a dislocated right thumb. Rookie Tyson Bagent will have a fourth straight start. The Bears are 1-2 with Bagent, the former Shepherd University QB, as a starter. They lost last week on the road in New Orleans.
Carolina lost to Indianapolis last week, and rookie starter Bryce Young threw three interceptions (two of them to Kenny Moore), his worst outing so far this season.
We’ll have our staff picks and previews of the rest of this weekend’s games up on TFB on Saturday.
