This You Gotta See: Bears get to dump on the Vikings again; Bulls seek a ‘W’ on draft night

Up or down. Boom or bust. Relevant or buried in a mound of hot garbage.

We’re talking about the Bears. Also, the Bulls.

It’s a mighty big week on the homefront, in part because the 5-4 Bears, losers of three in a row, find themselves at the crossroads of win-a-football-game and don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you. Maybe it’s where they belong. Maybe they’re lucky to be there, when you really think about it. You saw their close shaves in season-opening victories against the Lions, Giants and Falcons. It could have been a lot worse than this.

Ah, but here come the Vikings to Soldier Field on Monday. They’re 0-4 against Matt Nagy’s Bears. They routinely have such a foul experience in our fair city — they’ve dropped 16 of their last 19 games here — it’s a wonder they haven’t found themselves floating under a Dave Matthews Band tour bus. It’s an old reference, but it almost works.

So, yeah, the Bears might win a football game. Will the Bulls get a victory Wednesday on draft night?

The Bulls own the No. 4 pick. That might leave them a notch away from Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman. Perhaps Israel’s Deni Avdija will be their man? Or Dayton’s Obi Toppin? Or a trade instead? Big boss Arturas Karnisovas is on the clock.

All the Bulls really need is a player who will transform the franchise. Is that so much to ask for? A player who will make the ball move, make it dance, make it sing, make it — here’s the key to the whole operation, folks — go into the basket. Did we mention free agency starts rocking Friday?

Here’s what’s happening:

SUN 15

The Masters, final round (9 a.m., Ch. 2)

Dustin Johnson, come on down. A year after losing by a single stroke to Tiger Woods at Augusta, the world’s No. 1-ranked player has one of those “he can’t blow this, can he?” leads. He can’t blow this, can he?

Jaguars at Packers (noon, Fox-32)

You don’t want to miss one of the great quarterbacks of his time, a man with such rare and exquisite talent that everyone else just kind of disappears in his midst. But enough about Jacksonville rookie Jake Luton.

Bills at Cardinals (3 p.m., Ch. 2)

The Bills have outscored opponents by a total of nine points, yet they’re 7-2. Are they good-bad or bad-good?

49ers at Saints (3:25 p.m., Fox-2)

The Saints have won five in a row and are coming off a 38-3 romp in Tampa, merely the best game any NFL team has played all season. Then again, it’s 2020. Bet the house on the Niners.

Ravens at Patriots (7:20 p.m., Ch. 5)

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson complained last week that defenses have been calling out Ravens plays before he runs them. At least he can take comfort in the knowledge that Bill Belichick’s teams always operate on the up-and-up.

MON 16

Vikings at Bears (7:15 p.m., ESPN)

In an overdue development, Nagy has turned over the offensive play-calling duties to coordinator Bill Lazor. Isn’t that a little bit like turning over the choreography to the choreographer? And does this mean our role of complaining about everything the Bears do or don’t do with the football changes in any way?

WED 18

NBA draft (6 p.m., ESPN)

Who goes No. 1? But we don’t care about that. Who goes No. 4? Bulls fans can be excused for reflexively dying to know who goes No. 7, too.

Northern Illinois at Ball State (6 p.m., ESPNU)

The Huskies are 0-2 after back-to-back shellackings at home. Sometimes it’s good to get the heck away from it all.

THU 19

Cardinals at Seahawks (7:20 p.m., Fox-32)

The last time these division rivals met, back on Oct. 25, Arizona made out with a 37-34 overtime victory. Come on, guys, can we get a better game this time?

FRI 20

Purdue at Minnesota (6:30 p.m., BTN)

Man, what happened to the Gophers? They’re 1-3, their only win coming at Illinois. Otherwise known as 0-3 against major-college competition.

SAT 21

Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

Indiana at Ohio State (11 a.m., Fox-32)

These are the top two teams in the Big Ten, and that’s no joke. How ’bout crazy coach Tom Allen, rocket-armed QB Michael Penix Jr. and the 4-0 Hoosiers?

Illinois at Nebraska (11 a.m., BTN)

The Illini finally got off the schneid Saturday with a three-point win at Rutgers. Wait, does that count as getting off the schneid?

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (6:30 p.m., Ch. 7)

Is there a better rivalry name than “Bedlam”? We’ll take this one: No, there is not. The Cowboys haven’t beaten the Sooners since 2014.

Wisconsin at Northwestern (TBD)

If the Wildcats are serious about winning a division title, they’re going to have to go through the Badgers to get there. That’s just the way things work in the wild West.