Pregame

• Younghoe Koo looking pfetty cold out in the snow trying to kick in warmups. Hit the right upright from 35 and bounced down. The wind doesn't look like much judging by the flags on the upright but the ball is dying fast kicking at the south end zone.
• It looked like Bear weather early as light snow fell at Soldier Field but by 10:15 it had dissipated to a few sporadic flakes and will clear up by game time. On second thought, it's been getting worse as things go on.

• Cole Kmet out in warmups was doing sprints on the field to test his knee. 

• Wide receiver Collin Johnson was elevated to the Bears 53-man roster, giving them another big wide receiver. Darnell Mooney's injury and the ankle injury DJ Moore is playing through made it a wise move even though Equanimeous St. Brown will be available today. Johnson actually got into last week's game for 13 offensive plays and for the 10 runs he was in he was graded  as their best blocker regardless of position by Pro Football Focus. 
• The Bears can clinch first pick in the draft because Carolina owns a huge tiebreaker edge over Arizona. All it takes is a Panthers loss  against the Jaguars, who have lost four straight and are way overdue to beat the snot out of someone.

Many Bears fans have blinders on when it comes to Drake Maye, thanks to the last North Carolina QB the team drafted, but Maybe brings a different skill set to the table.

One pundit even has him as QB1 over Caleb Williams.

MORE:

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) December 30, 2023

By 11 a.m. it was actually snowing much harder even though the prediction was for it to clear up for the game and be sunny. Lake-effect snow?

Silvy's tweet shows it best.

Happy New Year. 🎆🎈🎊
I love snow. 😂

— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) December 31, 2023

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven