By Daisy Barringer

Call me crazy, but I kind of miss waking up on Sunday excited to watch my boys play ball. Yesterday I was adamant that (for once) I not waste my entire day in the bar (instead I wasted it at home in my PJs), and was subjected to Cleveland at Dallas and New Orleans at Oakland. What kind of life is that, I ask? (Hint: No life at all.) Maybe it's just me, but not having Niners' football on four of the last five Sundays? It's probably a lot like what poor people who can't afford food feel like.

That being said, you know what's better than Sunday football? That's right: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. The energy. The intensity. The lights (assuming they work). The eyes of the entire nation upon you. And let me tell y'all (I'm southern today), when the Niners face off against the Chicago Bear tonight: IT'S ON.

Listen, I don't have any personal beef against the Bears. In fact, they';re a pretty likable team. I mean, that whole Super Bowl Shuffle thing they did back in the olden days? Adorable! But we're 6-2 and… ugh: 1. So we need this win and we need it badly. Mostly, we need to come out when the world is watching and prove that we are the team we claim we are. That we're worthy of the playoffs. We need to make everyone forget that we tied the Saint Louis Rams who then lost to the Jets, the same team we shut out at home earlier this season. I have no idea how we're going to do this with Kaepernick at the helm, but I'm going to put on my lucky red undies, my magic Niners’ bracelet and drink so much vodka that I'll hallucinate the win, even if it doesn't happen.

Of course, on any given Monday or whatever. So let’s take a look.

The Good:

• I'm like a broken record with this, but obviously I do not like it when players are injured. Nonetheless, it is obviously huge that Jay Cutler is out with a concussion. Former Raiders QB Jason Campbell will make his first NFL start in more than a year and sure, the guy is a decent QB, but clearly Cutler being out is a huge advantage.

• And, no it's not the same since the Bears didn't have a decent backup QB last year, but it's worth noting that after Jay Cutler got hurt last year, the Bears went from 7-3 with playoff aspirations to finishing 8-8 and with no postseason berth.

• Ultimately, I think having Jason Campbell at QB means the Bears are going to call a pretty conservative game. Too bad the Bears running game has completely faltered this year (blame offensive coordinator Mike Tice) and trying to get it going against the Niners is a laughable idea. Expect to see a lot more of Matt Forte, but don't expect to see him going too far with the ball.

• The Bears are ranked 28th in offense which will make for a very interesting match-up against our number three ranked defense. Again, they're going to try to establish the run, but… well let's just say I’ll try not to laugh too loudly when they fail.

• Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman vs. Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher. No disrespect to the elderly Bears, but I'l take Willis and Bowman over those guys any day of the week.

• In a weird and totally screwed up way, I think Harbaugh's heart procedure this week for his irregular heartbeat could be a good thing for the Niners. Even though the procedure was minor, I think the players love Coach Harbaugh so much that they'll play with extra heart so that Coach doesn't have to get his all worked up.

The Bad:

• Alex Smith is out. I don't know HOW this happened or what jerkface neurologist wouldn't clear him after everyone and his mother thought Smith was starting, but whatever: there's nothing we can do about it now and so Kaepernick will start. This is not good. First of all, the Bears have a pretty good defense. Fine. They're ranked second in points allowed (14.8) and have the league-high for takeaways (30). Smith could have handled this. Kaepernick? With all of his MNF jitters and nerves? All I can say is that we just have to run run run run run run run. (Also, obviously I care more about Alex Smith’s health than a win, except only by like a very small hare of a
fraction.)

• The Bears have intercepted a pass in every game this season. (Conversely, the Niners haven't turned the ball over in the last two games.) Look for Kaepernick to keep their streak alive.

• Brandon Marshall is ranked No. 3 in receiving yards and second in receptions (67 catches for 904 yards and 7 TDs). This worries me less since I really do believe the Bears are going to also going to run the ball and then run it some more, but one or two deep passes to Marshall could totally screw with our secondary.

• There's only a 10% chance of rain, but Bill Walsh Field is notorious for getting rather swamp-like when it pours like it has been for the past couple of days, which just gives the Niners even more reason to run the ball besides (UGH) Kaepernick. The Bears are pretty good at stopping the run, so Gore's gotta figure out a way to find the holes and get the yards.

• Our Special Teams. Everyone knows by now that letting Blake Costanza go to Chicago was a huge mistake. HUGE. Look for him to rub that in our faces during kickoff and punt return coverage.

• Devin Hester. Is Hester the same guy he used to be? No. Has his time at WR been disappointing? Yes. Is he still capable of returning a punt for a touchdown? Absolutely. Let’s hope the field is too slippery for this to happen.

The Rest of It:

There’s a high chance of a super sloppy football game tonight. No one wants to turn into a national MNF game where neither starting quarterback is on the field, but this one could actually be fun to watch. It’s going to be a defensive battle out there and that’s when our boys can really shine. It’s all going to come down to which team wants it more. And trust me: it had BETTER be us.

Watch Chicago at San Francisco tonight at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN/CBS5.