Steven Cheah calls Bears-Bucs an NFC title game preview

It started with Jon Gruden in the Smoky Mountains, coffee in hand, watching out for bears in both senses.

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

Coach Gruden’s got a gut feeling that Caleb Williams and the Bears are running wild tonight @DKSports #DKPartner

The first leg looked great right away. Chicago went 10 plays on the opening drive and finished it on 3rd-and-7, with Williams rolling out and finding Rome Odunze in the end zone. It mattered more than one touchdown usually does, because Odunze had already dropped a ball he should have caught.

Barstool Chicago

@barstoolchicago

Way to make up for the drop Rome

From there it got ugly. The Bucs went for it on 4th down from their own 35 in the 2nd quarter and didn't convert, and Williams gave the ball right back with a sideline interception. More picks followed. Tampa blitzed him on 66% of his dropbacks, according to ESPN, which is about as high as any defense has ever come after him, and the blitz produced 3 of his 4 interceptions. The Bears still went into the locker room up 11, and Eddie came out of the half sounding more confused than worried.

Eddie

@EddieBarstool

Bears/Bucs Halftime Report Weird half. Whatever. Go win the football game

On the other side of the Barstool Chicago desk, Steven Cheah had been calling Bucky Irving's touchdown all week. In the 3rd quarter Irving punched in a short score that capped a 6-play, 74-yard drive and pulled Tampa within 4, so Cheah got to take his lap.

Steven Cheah

@StevenCheah

I told y’all Bucky was scoring tonight

Then the defense bailed Chicago out, which became the theme of the night. Jaylon Johnson read Baker Mayfield, jumped the route and went 67 yards the other way. It was the second pick-six of his career and the only touchdown the Bears scored in the second half. With both quarterbacks handing the ball to the wrong team, the Barstool timeline gave up pretending this was a normal football game.

Barstool Gambling

@stoolgambling

NOBODY CAN THROW TO THEIR OWN TEAM TONIGHT BEARS PICK SIX

The 11-point cushion didn't last. Chicago fumbled for its 5th turnover of the night, and Irving scored again before the Bucs converted the 2-point try to tie it at 24. Williams, who had been bad for most of the night, then found Colston Loveland for 38 yards on the last drive. That set up Cairo Santos from 38 as time ran out.

Chicago heads into the bye 7-2 and leading the division. Gruden's Bears leg came in, even if nobody in Chicago enjoyed watching it. Williams finished 22-of-37 for 279 yards, 2 touchdowns and a career-high 4 interceptions. On Monday morning Gruden praised him on Wake Up Barstool for overcoming adversity, and Dave Portnoy didn't buy it.

Dave Portnoy

@stoolpresidente

The Bears defense kept them in the game, but Caleb didn’t overcome anything last night

By Monday afternoon, The Stretch was trying to catch its breath. The Bears hosts were relieved and drained, but Cheah, the Bucs fan in the room, made the bold call. He had already been clowned for saying the week before that this matchup could preview the NFC Championship, and a 3-point loss only made him more sure. His reasoning was about style more than the scoreboard.

Barstool Chicago

@barstoolchicago

“The style of football they play, which is running the football really well and forcing turnovers and stuff on defense, that wins in the playoffs.” – Steven Cheah

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The Bears side of the desk thought a wild-card rematch was more likely, and that's a fair argument when Chicago won a game it lost the turnover battle 5 times. Still, Tampa's blitz plan exposed Williams, and Irving gave Chicago's defense trouble all night. If the Bears offense comes out of the bye looking like this, Cheah's prediction will look a lot less funny in January.