I’ll admit it: I have been hurt by Bears optimism before, and I still let it back in the house on Monday night. Chicago walked into Lumen Field and beat the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks 34-17 without trailing once, and the Bears Seahawks memes and victory-lap tweets started before the clock even hit zero.
The short version, per the NFL’s breakdown of what we learned from Chicago’s 34-17 win: D’Andre Swift ran for three touchdowns, Caleb Williams threw for 247 yards, and Jeffery Simmons, traded from the Titans on Thursday, picked up a sack in his Bears debut. Chicago is 6-2. Seattle is 4-4 and would like everyone to stop asking about it.
Is It Safe to Say They’re Good?
The first wave was the polite stuff, the kind analysts post while still pretending to be neutral. Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) called Chicago better in all three phases. Benjamin Solak listed every way this team can win, which is a long list for a franchise I mostly associate with punting.
Simmons got a lot of the love. Dane Brugler went straight to the history books for comparisons, and NFL Memes went with Thanos collecting a stone, which is exactly what a Thursday trade looks like when it actually works.
Are We Really Saying Super Bowl Out Loud?
Then somebody said Super Bowl and nobody could put it back in the bottle. The back-to-back stat did most of the damage: Chicago beat the reigning AFC champions last week and the reigning Super Bowl champs this week, and Silvy pointed out they never trailed in either one. Every Bears fan I know has now texted me that fact twice.
Caleb Williams made the biggest jump in public opinion. Skip Bayless is on board, Ari Wasserman would build a franchise around him, and Peter Appel called him scary, which in football means a compliment and in my house means a spider.
Did Bears vs Seahawks Just Break Chicago’s Brain?
By the fourth quarter the takes stopped pretending to be analysis. Brendan Sugrue time-traveled to 2006 and the Super Bears chant, Erik Duerrwaechter declared the Bears for real, and MayeIsKing crowned them the best team in the league with the confidence of a guy four beers deep.
And then the cussing tier, which is where Bears fans naturally live. I won’t repeat the language, but VP of Wu Tang Financial and Greg Gabriel both had colorful ways of saying this fan base has suffered long enough. GhettoGronk closed the night with LeBron, which felt right.
Why Does This One Feel Different?
Look, I’m not from Chicago, but I get it. There is nothing sweeter in sports than a fan base that has heard next year for decades finally getting a Monday night like this. Seattle will be fine; they still have the ring from February. Chicago just wants one November where nobody braces for the floor to give out.
Still need somewhere to put all this emotion? Broncos Seahawks Memes After Denver Won a Game Nobody Enjoyed Watching proves Seattle has had a strange month, Fair Warning: NFL Week 7 Memes Contain Graphic Footage of Your Team’s Second Half covers everybody else, and 35 Chicago Memes That Taste Like Malort (Sorry) is waiting for the celebration hangover.
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