CHICAGO — Bears weather, you call this Bears weather?
On Saturday, you could stroll through Millennium Park and see people sunning themselves. OK, they weren't in bikinis — but there was plenty of exposed skin. The temperature hit 68 degrees — in Chicago in November.
Even during most of Sunday afternoon as the winds picked up and whipped across the city, a fair amount of people walked around in shorts. Now, there are Midwesterners who proudly wear shorts in any weather above 40 degrees. But again, this was nothing close to that. Try a recorded high of 70 degrees — even if the 24 mph winds made it seem cooler.
Calling it Bears weather may be a stretch. The rain is hardly freezing.
For most of the Houston Texans time in Chicago, they enjoyed near Houston late fall weather. Then the game approached — and the sideways rain arrived. About two and a half hours before kickoff, real weather rolled in.
But calling it Bears weather may be a stretch. The rain is hardly freezing. It is 64 degrees outside as I type this. The temperature is expected to fall into the 40s later in the night, but this is hardly shaping up as one of those historic Soldier Field storm games.
NBC will surely come up with some great weather shots — picture Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher and Texans defensive end J.J. Watt with rain streaking across their helmets — for maximum Sunday night drama, but it's easy to imagine Chicago coach Lovie Smith hoping for more.
The Texans are not going to lose this game because of this weather. Houston linebacker Connor Barwin went out for the pregame in a sleeveless shirt.
