Revenge for Some Bears Is Dish Best Served Cold
A player is released or allowed to leave in free agency due to cap reasons, then they get a chance to come back to haunt a team.
Chicago sports history is dotted with these and they're usually working against the home team.
The Bears know all about how this works after Leonard Floyd held his own victory parade at their expense and it ran right over Nick Foles last year. They could have this happen again this year in the opener but it might look different now that Floyd no longer has former Bears assistant Brandon Staley as his defensive coordinator.
The all-time Bears how-do-you-like-me-now game was probably Cedric Benson sticking it back in the Bears' faces with 189 yards rushing against them in a 2009 rout.
It hasn't always worked out for the castoff Bears. Eccentric former Bears punter/kickoff man Todd Sauerbrun would have liked a strong day against his former team at Soldier Field in 2007 but he resembled Wile E. Coyote as "Roadrunner" Devin Hester made him look foolish on poor tackle attempts both on a punt return TD and kick return TD in a 37-34 Bears win over Denver
Many Bears have chances for payback this season and here they are.
Week 2: Bengals at Bears
Andy Dalton actually got his revenge last year with a rout of the Cincinnati Bengals while he was starting for injured Dak Prescott with Dallas, but this time he'll get to do it at Soldier Field with former Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor involved. Dalton and Lazor were close after they'd worked together three years with Cincinnati. The organization fired Lazor and the old coaching staff when they brought in current head coach Zac Taylor, who owns a 6-25-1 record in two seasons and could be on the hot seat this year. This might be more of a "how do you like US now" moment.
Week 4: Lions at Bears
For Bears cornerback Desmond Trufant this could be big, provided he's able to take advantage of the opportunity to start provided to him by the Bears. He played only six games for the Lions so no one could blame them for not wanting him back. Still, when you're Trufant and you've taken a deal with $13 million guaranteed from someone, and they discard you after only six games without giving you the chance to prove what you can do when you're not bothered by a hamstring injury, and you have to sign for just over $1 million a year in Chicago, there could be a bit more emotion involved. This game might also apply to Bears linebacker Christian Jones, a former Bear, and now a former Lion as well. Back with the Bears now, he wasn't wanted in Detroit with a team that had one of the league's worst defenses. He'd have to get his revenge on special teams, though, because now he's a reserve. Being reduced to a reserve role after being a starter in Detroit is another reason to be upset with the Lions' decision to let him leave.
Week 5: Bears at Raiders
For Khalil Mack, the last matchup against his old team didn't go the way he wanted. The Bears lost Akiem Hicks in the game to an elbow injury, the Raiders ran on them and the Bears fell behind before rallying and then blowing the lead. They lost that one in London in 2019. In postgame, Mack had a little reunion with good friend Derek Carr but it would be sweeter to do it this year after a win.
One more possible moment like this exists in this game for the Bears with Teven Jenkins. He's not happy with anyone for being a second-round pick. There's a big chip on his shoulder. But the Raiders actually passed on both him and Christian Darrisaw to draft Alabama's Alex Leatherwood. Many draft analysts had Leatherwood as a third-rounder, a second-rounder at best.
Week 6: Packers at Bears
Can an entire team say "how do you like us now?"
At least the Bears defense might be able to if Aaron Rodgers is gone. It's kind of the football equivalent to the aliens losing their force field at the end of the movie "Independence Day." The Aaron Rodgers force field is gone and the Bears defense should be ready to launch.
If Rodgers is still there, well, same old-same old. Head for shelter.
Week 8: 49ers at Bears
It's Halloween and the guy wearing the Michael Myers mask in this one could be none other than Justin Fields.
The 49ers didn't make him the third pick in the draft. They wanted Trey Lance. Then Fields fell out of the top 10, but many thought he'd be an ideal fit for San Francisco's offense just like the 49ers feel Lance is. If Fields has been put on the field at this point, this one could have plenty of intrigue.
One added fun thought is wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. He's going to have a difficult battle just to make the Bears roster, but if he does then what better way to face the 49ers than to catch a deep ball or TD against them? San Francisco not only traded him in 2020, but when he opted out in Philadelphia the trade reverted back to the 49ers and he was simply cut. So he's been told by the Niners he isn't wanted twice since he last played for them.
Week 16: Bears at Seahawks
Germain Ifedi has to like the thought of going back to where his career started and being a right tackle starter for an effective offense. Whether it can actually happen is the real question.
This would be difficult to pull off for a few reasons. The main one is the 12th-man noise in Seattle. Offensive lines and quarterbacks didn't have to worry about this last season during the pandemic with an empty stadium. It would not be hard to see Ifedi reverting back to his old penalty problems if he couldn't hear the signal calls due to all the noise from hooting Seahawks fans.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
