Live From Soldier Field

This past week I journeyed out to Chicago to attend my first ever Patriots road game. I had never been to Chicago before, and given the rumors of a Bears move to Gary, Indiana, I felt like it might be a good time to go. I was largely correct. The weather was beautiful, the food was great, Pats fans were abound, and of course, the Pats lost the game. 

Starting with the city, I found Chicago to be very pleasant. Growing up on the East Coast, I feel that we typically hear that negative things dominate other cities. I wasn’t concerned about any malfeasants (outside of the home crowd) but wasn’t sure what to expect from the build of the city itself. In my mind, it’s like a dead split of Boston and New York. The size and grid layout dominate the city blocks, but I found some old world charm present in the buildings themselves. Admittedly, I did not find much time on Friday to partake in the Riverwalk, nor the museums or other things Ferris Bueller had time for, but that just leaves a good reason to go back. It being 70 degrees and sunny also helped.

I hate to admit that I missed out on local Chicago Deep Dish (and a Chicago dog) this trip, but I did find several orders of the best ribs I’ve ever had. Shout out to the Twin Anchors (and the great Pats fans there too). I think that cheese curds are also primarily a Wisconsin item, but they were out in force in the Windy City too. The bars were entertaining, and for beer maybe even cheaper than in Boston. There was a great Americana vibe about town, which I wish Boston could find the space to tap into.

Across town too the native Chicagoans were fantastic. My party of six wore our Pats gear out all Thursday and engaged in plenty of banter, but not a shred of hostility. Well, except for one guy who had to be told off by an Illinois statie with the biggest AR I have ever seen. I sometimes feel that the Boston home crowd is overly hostile to visiting fans, and was a little concerned about what the Mike Ditka game at Soldier Field would then entail. Deep in the heart of a home section, I found very passionate Bears fans who were happy to have us. Outside of the play-by-play jeering, we talked team successes, sleeper talent, how the season might shake out, if Justin Herbet will ever win a playoff game, and about moving the team out of the city.

I liked Soldier Field very much, it’s worth going to see a game there if you can swing it. Coming into the stadium, and inside the concourse, it definitely feels small. Comparing seating however, Chicago and Foxboro are not hugely far off at 61,500 to 64,000. The concessions were just as, if not slightly more accessible than at Gillette, and the rows and sections were easy to get to. Really the only glaring flaw my party ran into was that there were too few bathrooms in the upper levels. Overall, there wouldn’t be much reason to start a major renovation or expansion like with the Lighthouse at home. From the fans, I heard mixed things about a potential move. The primary motivator is money, the City of Chicago Parks Service actually owns the stadium, which makes the Bears tenants like the Celtics at TD Garden. The ownership group has purchased a considerable plot of land in Arlington Heights, which is north of O’Hare International Airport, but it is unclear if the intent is to develop a new home for the Bears there. If that is the case, the new site would put the team about 27 miles / an hour north of the city, which is identical to the distance between downtown Boston and Gillette. The fans don’t seem to think a move is likely to happen in the immediate future, maybe okay with Arlington Heights if they do go, and under no circumstances wanting to go to Gary. 

About the game itself, walking into Soldier Field I was pretty certain the Bears would edge out the Pats by one score. My reasoning being how beat up the team is. Granted the Bears are absolutely a very talented and well coached team, so even at full health it would always have been a close contest. Watching the game live was great, but football really is built for TV. Case and point, I did not realise that 48 yard TD to end the half was from Rhamondre and not Kyle Williams until like 2 pm the next day. So some quick hits: not that Christian Gonzalez cost us the game, but he was sick enough Thursday morning to end up on the injury list, and subsequently played his worst game yet. I think part of being good talent is to know when to be available, and I have my thoughts about if letting our CB depth come in may have been better. It was also Marcus Jones’ birthday, and he got torched so, some blame to go around. I thought the D-line actually did a good job handling D’Andre Swift, given the caliber of RB he is. The rest of the Bears offense looked and played composed, probably after being rattled by the Falcons in a close contest the Sunday before. On our offense, I’ll give AJ Brown the Dolphins game this Sunday to show up. He needs to, ‘cause we battle the Lions and Packers back to back after that. Our TEs Raridon and Henry looked great and I feel good about leaning on them some more while Doubs and Hollins are on the IR. Drake also played well, outside of a pick thrown into triple coverage in the endzone. Not sure if that was a bad decision on his part, or a play-call mismatch. Threw for 2 TDs and ran one in though, so I’m not really upset. Shoutout here to my cousin Christian who is Rhamondre’s #1 defender, because Henderson looked awful. We may need to investigate where his pass blocking went, because even on his birthday, he was of no help. Kyle Williams needs to be involved more with some deep ball schemes, maybe we test that out against the ‘Phins.

And a special shoutout to all the Pats fans who made the trip out as well. If you are reading this because you let me evangelize the site to you, you have my deepest gratitude. I fill this place with nonsense because I love it, not because it’s my best time filler. I just wish I brought some business cards along.