If you ever see me book the City of New Orleans train without getting a sleeper unit, knock me upside my head. It has taken me until today to find my footing after being out of town for a few days and using a chunk of my Monday as a travel day. The lack of good sleep is kicking me in the behind, but I’ll push through.

I could watch this on loop over and over again:

There is something about the thorough dismantling of the Vikings that makes me want to re-watch a game that featured just 22 total points. Chicago took down Minnesota with a brutal and relentless defense that shut down an offense featuring a Pro Bowl quarterback and two Pro Bowl receivers (plus Dalvin Cook). The Vikings had so much going for them coming into Sunday’s game. They were facing a short-handed team dealing with injury concerns that was coming off a shortened game week after playing on Monday Night Football, who lost their starting quarterback on the first drive of the game. And none of it mattered because the Bears defense was still that damn good.

BOING:

More Khalil Mack erotica. This should have Enigma playing beneath it. pic.twitter.com/MNTvMNLsa3 — Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) September 29, 2019

I’m not sure if that was Kyle Brandt or Emperor Sheev Palpatine laughing in the background at the end. Either way, Khalil Mack is a force awakened since being shut out in the sack department in Week 1 against the Packers. Mack has 4.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hits, and 3 forced fumbles in his last three games. Or to put it in a different light, that is a 24-sack pace with 21 quarterback hits and 16 forced fumbles. Mack is a cheat code.

In the interest of fairness, I tacked on Mack’s Week 1 performance for data-projecting purposes … and he still comes out with 18 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, and 16 forced fumbles over a 16-game pace. That’s pretty good.

This 13-game trend should alarm Vikings fans:

Since 2016, the Vikings are now 0-12-1 outdoors against an opponent with winning record. In these games: • Zimmer's defense allows over 27 ppg (4.3 ppg above expectation). • his offensive scores fewer than 17 ppg (3.9 ppg below expectation) — Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 30, 2019

Alright, so the Vikings don’t travel well. Unfortunately for them, they have road games in outdoor venues remaining against the Chiefs, Seahawks, and Chargers — three teams that made the playoffs last season. I suppose we shouldn’t overlook or discount a road game against a new-look Giants team that will have Golden Tate back in the mix catching passes from Daniel Jones.

Oh, hey, the Vikings head coach has no idea why his quarterback is broken either. When Head Coach Mike Zimmer was asked why Kirk Cousins struggles in rivalry games and against postseason contenders, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports took note of the coach’s answer: “I don’t know. You’d have to ask him.”

This is what Cousins sees in his nightmares:

Two home games for Khalil Mack against the Vikings as a member of the Bears: 2.5 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and pure ownership of Kirk Cousins’ soul.

That’s my WR1:

https://twitter.com/robertkschmitz/status/1178868383992950785

Allen Robinson has 54 catches for 749 yards in 11 games since returning from an injury that caused him to miss time during the 2018 season. If you were to extrapolate those numbers over a full 16-game season, you would see that Robinson is on a 79-catch, 1,089-yard pace. Those are legitimate go-to receiver numbers. Any time the Bears want to get Robinson into the end zone, that would be nice.

Roy Robertson-Harris is steady laying the smackdown on opposing ball-carriers and quarterbacks:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3C_nhzFxRJ/

Some Roquan Smith updates:

Roquan Smith is at Halas Hall today. Briefly saw him, but he did not speak to reporters. #Bears — Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 1, 2019

Danny Trevathan on if he’s concerned about Roquan Smith: "Probably not as concerned as you guys.” #Bears — Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 1, 2019

Report: Roquan Smith Out Indefinitely While Dealing With Personal Issue https://t.co/RGWNPW0vRS — Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) October 1, 2019

Good to see it:

That’s a wrap on #MondayNightLights with the @ChicagoBears at @Maine_East HS! Big thanks to all the alumni and current players for making time for the fans and helping us raise breast cancer awareness! #BearDown 🐻🎀 pic.twitter.com/M6lz34awYo — Advocate Health Care (@advocatehealth) October 1, 2019

Let the bidding begin:

Five classic jerseys from yesterday’s game & one autographed classic helmet are available via auction through our app! All proceeds will go to two local charities chosen by our social justice committee. Bidding is open!

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️: https://t.co/qZUbIBt3Rq pic.twitter.com/r9ctuhlb8D — Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 1, 2019

Big facts:

This is so bad, it’s actually kinda cool:

We hear you, #Bearcats! There were so many great ideas for this week’s field paint, we decided to just combine them all together – and it is something special. Huge thank you to everyone for the input! Can’t wait to see this place rocking for #NippAtNight. pic.twitter.com/RSvHc3WQD7 — Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) October 1, 2019

Cameras and gear are among the Deals of the Day at Amazon today.

The Bulls have some serious postseason dreams: