The Bald Truth
Wow! The clutch passing of Jay Cutler! The fantastic catches by skilled receivers! The bold play-calling of Ron Turner! The big stops by Lovie Smith's defense with the game on the line! And a thrilling overtime victory over the Vikings!
You know, if we didn't know any better, we might think these Bears were good.
But we do. And they're not.
There's no fool like a fool who's fooled by these Bears
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The Quote I
"I feel for that guy." - Jon Gruden, talking about Lovie as ESPN cameras caught Cutler yukking it up on the sidelines following a brutal interception.
Gruden spent much of the night telling the audience what a great coach Smith is and, even more often, what a wonderful offensive coordinator Turner is.
It was as if the previous three months - make that the previous three years - had never happened.
And it made me realize the Bears shouldn't go after Gruden if and when they start shopping for a new coach.
The Baldest Truth
In the end, folks, this was a classic case of Fool's Gold.
This was Kevin Orie batting .305 in September 1997 for the stumblebum Cubs. This was Jamal Crawford putting up big numbers in April 2003 for the laughingstock Bulls. This was James Allen running for 163 yards against the Ravens in December 1998 for Wanny's last-place Bears.
Smart general managers and coaches - and fans - never get overly excited about what takes place in meaningless, late-season games. And while the game mattered for the Vikings, it certainly had no meaning for the Bears, whose season has been over since before Thanksgiving.
All Monday night's victory probably did was help the McCaskeys justify hanging on to their money by hanging on to Lovie for another season.
So congratulations, Bears. You can't even get the coach canned properly.
The Quote II
"It's hard and it's slippery. We were grabbing some balls, and they were slipping out of our hands." - Ron Jaworski
You know ... I think I'll just leave that one alone.
THE BALDEST TRUTH
More stuff on the Bears' Meaningless Victory of The Century:
1. If I'm Brad Childress - and we do go to the same barber - I pretty much let Brett Favre do whatever he wants whenever he wants however he wants. Favre still can take the Vikings to the Super Bowl - especially if the team gains the No. 2 seed with a home win over the Giants next week and an Eagles loss at Dallas. All Childress can do is get in Favre's way.
2. It is so obvious that Cutler is more comfortable when he's rolling out of the pocket. It was obvious Monday, it was obvious last month and it was obvious in October. So why hasn't Turner let Cutler do it more often? Oh, and Cutler needs to tuck the ball away and run more, too.
3. Well, how about that? Tommie Harris lives! If he and Brian Urlacher are healthy next year and if both play even 85 percent as well as they used to, it could mean a TD-a-game difference in 2010. Pretty big ifs, though.
4. I swear we had a couple of Mark Anderson sightings. Really.
5. The Bears came to hit. Unfortunately for them, some of their hardest hits came against each other.
6. You don't have to be Joe Namath to realize that Suzy Kolber is one of the only sideline reporters in all of televised sports who's worth a damn.
7. If Adrian Peterson doesn't fumble in OT, the Vikings win that game. The kid is fun to watch but he can't be ranked among the all-time greats until he learns how to take care of the football.
8. While channel-surfing during a timeout, I stopped at ESPN2 just long enough to hear Tim Legler talk up Vinny Del Negro as if the NBA's lamest duck is the next Phil Jackson. Yo, Tim ... have you watched any of the Bulls' games this season?
9. Jaworski said that after closely reviewing film from each game, 22 of Cutler's first 25 interceptions were the QB's fault. Jaws also blamed Cutler for No. 26 on Monday. And this is from an ex-quarterback who usually defends these guys.
10. Game balls go to Chris Williams for his fine work blocking Jared Allen and to Devin Aromashodu for catching just about every pass thrown his way. Even those positives, however, make one wonder ...
If Williams is for real, why wasn't he at left tackle all season in place of Orlando "The Human Statue" Pace? If Aromashodu is for real, why hadn't he been in the lineup for a team that spent most of the season begging for a skilled receiver?
Or are they not for real, making them two big lumps of Fool's Gold?
"I feel for that guy." - Jon Gruden, talking about Lovie as ESPN cameras caught Cutler yukking it up on the sidelines following a brutal interception.
Gruden spent much of the night telling the audience what a great coach Smith is and, even more often, what a wonderful offensive coordinator Turner is.
It was as if the previous three months - make that the previous three years - had never happened.
And it made me realize the Bears shouldn't go after Gruden if and when they start shopping for a new coach.
The Baldest Truth
In the end, folks, this was a classic case of Fool's Gold.
This was Kevin Orie batting .305 in September 1997 for the stumblebum Cubs. This was Jamal Crawford putting up big numbers in April 2003 for the laughingstock Bulls. This was James Allen running for 163 yards against the Ravens in December 1998 for Wanny's last-place Bears.
Smart general managers and coaches - and fans - never get overly excited about what takes place in meaningless, late-season games. And while the game mattered for the Vikings, it certainly had no meaning for the Bears, whose season has been over since before Thanksgiving.
All Monday night's victory probably did was help the McCaskeys justify hanging on to their money by hanging on to Lovie for another season.
So congratulations, Bears. You can't even get the coach canned properly.
The Quote II
"It's hard and it's slippery. We were grabbing some balls, and they were slipping out of our hands." - Ron Jaworski
You know ... I think I'll just leave that one alone.
THE BALDEST TRUTH
More stuff on the Bears' Meaningless Victory of The Century:
1. If I'm Brad Childress - and we do go to the same barber - I pretty much let Brett Favre do whatever he wants whenever he wants however he wants. Favre still can take the Vikings to the Super Bowl - especially if the team gains the No. 2 seed with a home win over the Giants next week and an Eagles loss at Dallas. All Childress can do is get in Favre's way.
2. It is so obvious that Cutler is more comfortable when he's rolling out of the pocket. It was obvious Monday, it was obvious last month and it was obvious in October. So why hasn't Turner let Cutler do it more often? Oh, and Cutler needs to tuck the ball away and run more, too.
3. Well, how about that? Tommie Harris lives! If he and Brian Urlacher are healthy next year and if both play even 85 percent as well as they used to, it could mean a TD-a-game difference in 2010. Pretty big ifs, though.
4. I swear we had a couple of Mark Anderson sightings. Really.
5. The Bears came to hit. Unfortunately for them, some of their hardest hits came against each other.
6. You don't have to be Joe Namath to realize that Suzy Kolber is one of the only sideline reporters in all of televised sports who's worth a damn.
7. If Adrian Peterson doesn't fumble in OT, the Vikings win that game. The kid is fun to watch but he can't be ranked among the all-time greats until he learns how to take care of the football.
8. While channel-surfing during a timeout, I stopped at ESPN2 just long enough to hear Tim Legler talk up Vinny Del Negro as if the NBA's lamest duck is the next Phil Jackson. Yo, Tim ... have you watched any of the Bulls' games this season?
9. Jaworski said that after closely reviewing film from each game, 22 of Cutler's first 25 interceptions were the QB's fault. Jaws also blamed Cutler for No. 26 on Monday. And this is from an ex-quarterback who usually defends these guys.
10. Game balls go to Chris Williams for his fine work blocking Jared Allen and to Devin Aromashodu for catching just about every pass thrown his way. Even those positives, however, make one wonder ...
If Williams is for real, why wasn't he at left tackle all season in place of Orlando "The Human Statue" Pace? If Aromashodu is for real, why hadn't he been in the lineup for a team that spent most of the season begging for a skilled receiver?
Or are they not for real, making them two big lumps of Fool's Gold?
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5 Comments
DrewS said:
Typical Lovie team. Roll over when you have a chance, and play like kings when all hope is lost. Where the #@$! was that intensity when it mattered earlier in the season? Nice garbage time effort, guys. And I mean that both seriously and sarcastically.
Still a fun game to watch, though. I wish we could see more of them.
Mike Krivich said:
Let's see what lurks under the Lovie happiness...
30 points the defense gives up.
Favre shreds the Cover 2 every time they play it.
The defense gives up 30 points.
Some younger players step up so why didn't they play earlier on?
Lovie saves his job for another season.
Turner uses this game as an audition for a new job.
They are still bad, no draft picks with a clueless management and coaching staff.
Next year, when the offensive is scoring at will against the defense in training camp, consider it a preview of things to come on how bad it will be. The new offense can score on bad teams, but fails against good teams. Just watch and see in the regular 2010 season.
Here comes Detroit and I bet the Bears struggle because they think they have turned a corner.
Arrogant and over confident, see we told you so.... you...you...unbelivers; is what we will hear all week.
The defense gives up 30 points is all I need to remember.
sjvl said:
I still love The Bears, and I had a great time last night. Any day you can beat the Almighty Favre (urp) is a good day in my book. The season is over. Take last night for the great fun it was.
Mike Nadel said:
I like your spirit, sjvl. Of course, the Bears LOVE your spirit. They especially love the spirit of all the folks who had great fun after paying their four-figure PSL fees for the right to buy $300 seats from which they could swill their $7 beers!
As Lovie will be saying from the Soldier Field sideline next season (after cashing one of his $200,000 biweekly checks): It's all good!!!
doug nicodemus said:
i just got off the phone with someone who said the rams are moving back to the city of angels...any truth to that..
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