Winners and losers from the Chicago Bears’ playoff loss, including Nickelodeon’s wonderfully goofy telecast and Mitch Trubisky’s NVP honors

There were only two things viewers wanted from Nickelodeon at the end of its largely endearing Chicago Bears-New Orleans Saints playoff telecast Sunday — and the kids channel didn’t show either of them.

One of them was Saints coach Sean Payton getting slathered in Nick’s signature slime, which occurred after the network had moved on from the Bears’ 21-9 loss to its rerun of “Young Sheldon.”

The other was Mitch Trubisky’s reaction to receiving the Nickelodeon Valuable Player award in an unregulated online vote of viewers despite a decidedly mediocre performance buoyed by a largely meaningless touchdown drive at the end of the game.

Payton, who had promised he would allow himself to be slimed if the Saints advanced in the playoffs, kept his word and the Saints posted a video of his off-field baptism of goo on social media.

Nickelodeon sideline reporter Lex Lumpkin, 14, announced Trubisky had been voted the NVP winner. (Actually, Lumpkin initially referred to Mitch as “Mick,” but quickly corrected himself.)

Yet it’s not clear Trubisky if received the sharp-looking trophy, which featured a model of the Nick blimp and some slime on it, before leaving New Orleans or if it will be shipped to him.

As the losing quarterback, he might have been puzzled as to what the NVP award was, along with why and how he won.

The meaning of the prize was not clearly defined beyond including Nickelodeon in its name and sounding like “MVP.” As there was no limit to how many times any viewer could vote, there may have been mischief reflected in the outcome.

It doesn’t matter.

Like everything else in Nickelodeon’s handing of the game, it was a source of amusement.

Let’s take a look at some of Sunday’s other TV winners and losers in the last Bears game to count until September.

Winner: Nickelodeon

You wouldn’t want it to be the only version of NFL game coverage. As an alternative to CBS’ standard coverage, however, Nickelodeon did a nice job helping educate youngsters about pro football and brighten a not-so-exciting playoff game.

Nickelodeon stars Lex Lumpkin and Gabrielle Nevaeh Green were good company despite their scripted material being hit or miss. (Green’s early awe at how high punts sailed seemed sweetly genuine.)

Announcer Noah Eagle and analyst Nate Burleson did a terrific job with the heavy lifting but still kept things light, explaining what was happening in the game and what it meant.

To see replays being reviewed by officials (or prescription drug ads), viewers had to turn to CBS, and the novelty of Nick’s animation and special effects, which included turning the end zones into “slime zones,” faded but never vanished as the game wore on. Overall it was wonderfully goofy.

Going forward — and this is definitely worth doing again — maybe they’ll use the phrase “It’s a little like…” a bit less and share more insights along the lines of Burleson comparing the feeling of being tackled to falling down wooden stairs.

Loser: Jim Nantz

While CBS analyst Tony Romo was stuck working from home because of COVID-19 protocols, his play-by-play partner Jim Nantz was supposed to surprise the one-time Eastern Illinois QB with news of his selection to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, a package letting Romo know about the honor arrived a day early, so the news from Nantz was anticlimactic.

Winner: Young Sheldon

The kid version of “The Big Bang Theory” lead character Sheldon Cooper at the center of the surviving spinoff “Young Sheldon” was a helpful addition to Nickelodeon’s telecast, explaining rules.

The best, though it didn’t need to be repeated twice, was part of his description of a false start, which actor Iain Armitage said was “like when my dad starts shoveling in dinner before my mom says Grace.”

Loser: Mitch Trubisky

Yes, he won the NVP, which already is reflected in his Wikipedia and Pro Football Reference pages, and he was robbed of a touchdown pass when Javon Wims dropped a gimme. But one almost can hear the “SpongeBob SquarePants” theme.

Are you ready, kids?

Who played only so-so, but won a trophy?

Mitch Trubisky!

Losing a game to the Saints and Drew Brees.

Mitch Trubisky!

He’s sure not the best, yet he isn’t the worst.

Mitch Trubisky!

So Bears fans believe there’s a quarterback curse.

Mitch Trubisky!

Winner: SpongeBob SquarePants

Not only did SpongeBob SquarePants get a ton of NFL screentime between the pregame show, the halftime “Kamp Koral” preview and in-game appearances between the uprights during kicks, but America’s best known sea sponge was added to the Madden NFL 21 video game.

A Nickelodeon-themed, Bikini Bottom-inspired SpongeBob Reef-Top field is available in Madden’s The Yard arcade mode with additional gear tied to other characters available in time.

Loser: Cordarelle Patterson

Receiver Cordarelle Patterson dropped an expletive in response to a penalty against the Bears — and it was picked up over the referee’s open microphone.

Not cool in front of the kids, although if their parents are Bears fans, there’s a good chance the youngsters are familiar with the word already. They may even think it’s a first name that pairs with Trubisky, Nagy, Pace, Phillips and/or McCaskey.

“All right, let’s uhh,” Burleson said, momentarily speechless before the Nick crew moved on.

Winner: Networks

The NFL gave its TV partners an additional two minutes in ad slots in each playoff game through the conference championships. Fans have no choice but to go with the Flo on this.

Loser: Coors Light

We’d like to see former Raiders coach Tom Flores in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and, heaven knows, we’re glad we’re not seeing any more plugs for “The Official Beer of Golfers You Never Want to Play Behind.” But the Coors Light commercial pushing for Flores’ Hall induction is concerning.

Campaign ads for any sport’s Hall injects populism into a conversation that should be above it. You’ve seen what they do in politics. Do you really want to see them unleashed on Hall of Fame voting? Didn’t think so.

Winner: Jimmy Graham

Bears tight end Jimmy Graham showed how it’s done, catching a touchdown pass as time expired and continuing to run through a tunnel into the offseason.

Loser: Underdog investors

The Saints closed as consensus 11-point favorites. Imagine if you had taken the Bears and points. Trubisky and company go 99 yards and score on the last play to cut the lead to 12. But thanks to a 2018 rule change, that’s it — there’s no attempt of an extra-point kick or two-point conversation because it was irrelevant to the outcome of the game, as opposed to your bet. Ouch.

Of course, some people no doubt were pleased by this.