A Big Bag Of "Awful"

Jesus Christ where to begin? There are any number of things to be mad about, if you are a Chicago Bears fan like myself. How about Rodgers throwing for 10 incompletions on the day? TEN! That's out of 38 attempts mind you. Actually, if you saw the game, you have to be amazed he reached double digits in incompletions because outside of another spectacular interception by Brian Urlacher, Rodgers was on target most of the day. 

I guess if we're being totally honest with ourselves as Bear fans, we shouldn't be too surprised by this. Even though the Packers are the defending Super Bowl champs, that really isn't the reason the Bears lost today. They may have lost to a better football team on the field, but more importantly the Bears have been losing to a much better talent-evaluating organization for quite some time. Let's get to the body count:

Offense : After a much hyperbolized and often parroted call for "balance" from the Bears play calling, Mike Martz promptly went out and called 43 pass plays opposite 9 rush plays. The funny part is, you won't hear nearly as much consternation about the lack of running plays this week, because:

1. The Bears had no chance of blocking the Packers Run Defense
2. The passing game - minus a some bad hiccups - was largely effective. Cutler was 21 of 37 for 302 yards with 2 TD's. 2 costly interceptions still occurred however, to go along with 3 Packer sacks, at least one of which was Cutler's fault for holding onto the ball too long.

Regardless of the play calling selection, the Bears were playing catchup from the outset. While at times the unit looked like they had things figured out, they found ways to shoot themselves in the foot, multiple offensive penalties being the sabotage-du-jour. In my opinion however, the Bears offense is not what lost this game...

Defense : Make no mistake about it, the Chicago Bears vaunted defense is the biggest culprit in this defeat today. If the game clock didn't reach 0:00 in the fourth quarter, Greg Jennings, and Jermichael Finley would still be wide open catching touchdowns this very second. How many times this week did we hear, "Oh the Bears Tampa 2 scheme has had success against Aaron Rodgers historically"? Well guess what....I'm pretty sure the Packers figured out where to attack the Bears 2 deep zone. Craig Steltz getting burned like charcoal ALL EFFFING DAAAAAAAAAAY, certainly helped the Packers do whatever they wanted through the air as well.

When the Packers didn't feel like slicing and dicing the Bears secondary, they had no problem running the ball either, as Ryan Grant had 92 yards on 17 carries. The Bears front four was continually pushed around and set up for Grant to maximize his cut-back ability.

Admittedly, I don't know anything about football, but the Bears scheme is designed to be stout against the run, while allowing for short passes over the middle utilizing a "bend but don't break" philosophy with the hopes of generating turnovers. When you can't stop the run, nor deep passes, and generate two measly turnovers, it's going to be a long day for your defense. Today was a glaring example of that.

Special Teams : Obviously the meatballs are going to bitch about the non-holding, holding call on Corey Graham late in the 4th quarter which negated an unreal deke by Devin Hester that allowed Johnny Knox to return a punt for a touchdown. Would it have made a difference had the touchdown counted? Sure. Would it have absolved everything the Bears did wrong prior to that play? I don't believe so.

Still, it was a remarkable play which would have been awesome if it was successful. Unfortunately, it was the only thing worth noting from Special Teams all day.

Where Do We Go From Here : The Cam Newton show comes to Soldier Field next week. The funny part though, is that I don't worry about whether Newton will be the Bears. I worry about The BEARS beating the Bears.

I know it's only 3 games played, but it's time to (further) call a spade a spade here. This offense is abysmal. The Bears have a quarterback that has a chance to be magnificent, and they're WASTING him. Jerry Angelo and company have surrounded Cutler with a Swiss-cheese (full of holes and it stinks) offensive line, and receivers that would rather catch a cold versus making a play. They have an offensive coordinator that believes in an offense so obsolete, that no other team would hire him.

Defensively there really isn't anything new to extract from this game. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't, you get games like today. No matter what defense a team is running, if you don't generate pressure, you won't stop anyone in the NFL. Most teams do it with 3-4 blitz packages like the Packers do. The Bears do it with 4 lineman, which is to say ONE lineman in the form of Julius Peppers. When Peppers can't get pressure all by himself, there goes any chance of the Bears getting to the quarterback.

I'd love for this to have an easy answer, like say - fire Mike Martz right now - but we're beyond the point of no return for that. I'd love to say, "Fire Lovie Smith right now", but that wouldn't do any good at this point either. We're stuck with this bunch for the time being, and as such, I'm hoping that they have the ability to make a complete adjustment on the fly like they did last year.

Is that even possible? Technically, yes but as Bear fans know there's a big difference between "possible" and "likely".

Nut Punch

"It's Tufffffff..." as former Chicago Bears Head Coach Dave Wannstedt used to say. That's what today's contest versus the New Orleans Saints ended up being. So much for all the positives from last week. Today's game was a stark reality that this Bears team is capable of still looking like complete crap when matched up against a serious coach with a cutting edge offense.


It wasn't so much the score that left me feeling ill, but rather the coaching - or lack of it - from the Bears. They reverted to the stubborn, bull-headed play calling that is as much a staple of this coaching staff as Lovie Smith's southern drawl. Let's get to the body count...


Offense : Remember when I said that I was concerned about the offensive line last week? Games like this were exactly the reason I was concerned. Not only are they inexperienced, but now they're officially thin too, with rookie Right Tackle Gabe Carimi going down with a yet to be determined knee injury. They provided very little protection for Jay Cutler, didn't blow anyone off the ball to springing Matt Forte once for a 42 yard gain, committed several penalties while allowing 6 sacks and multiple hits on Cutler all afternoon.


None of that really makes me that mad however. What really chaps my ass, is the lack of preparation and adjustments from Mike Martz. If he didn't believe that his offensive line was vulnerable before the game, he had to know they were getting killed by halftime right? Where were the hot routes? Why keep calling 7 step drops when you know the line can handle the blitz packages? Why get away from the running plays so easily?


Don't get me wrong, Cutler is culpable for these lack of adjustments too. Cutler played like absolute crap, even when he had time to throw. Still, when Mike Martz is called "The Mad Scientist" as often as he is, he must be raked over the coals with vitriol when he doesn't live up to that billing, especially against a One Trick Pony defense like New Orleans. A defense that was missing people in it's secondary I might add...


Defense : I guess the people in Canton, Ohio can stop carving that bust of Henry Melton for one week. Not that Melton was alone in being invisible in pass rushing situations. The lack of sacks isn't a big deal as long as the defense generates turnovers, but the Bears put up a big Goose Egg in that category.


Another category the Bears got burned were third down conversions. The Saints converted 8-17 third downs on the day, while rattling off chunks of yards, mixed with occasional deep passes. One of those deep shots proved to be particularly fatal, as Drew Brees split the Bears safeties in the cover two, for a 79 yard touchdown to Devery Henderson early in the second quarter. That play gave the Saints the lead for the first time, and they didn't look back, carving up the Bears defense for 382 total yards.

Special Teams : Hey Devin.....you still here?

Where Do We Go From Here : The Packers are coming to town. Don't need to remind anyone what happened last time they played at Soldier Field. If the Bears had their hands full with the Saints high speed offense, and blitz happy defense, then it stands to reason that they're going to have an even tougher time with the Packers.

Green Bay is a better version of the Saints in both offense and defense. While historically the Bears defense has done OK against Aaron Rodgers, he still gives the Bears plenty of things to deal with. Defensively, Green Bay is the worst possible match up for the Bears right now. New Orleans showed just how inept this Bears offensive line is, and I'd expect Dom Capers to turn the dogs loose immediately, especially if Carimi is injured for the game.

The only hope I have, is that Martz comes to his senses like he did a year ago, and realize that the Bears best chance to win, is to chew up clock with balanced play calling, mixed with short to intermediate passing attempts.

I kinda doubt that's going to happen though...

A Good Start

It was only a couple days ago that I wrote that the Bears are an irascible bunch to try and get a handle on. Today's game did nothing to change my feelings on that. After predicting anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7, the Chicago Bears promptly went out and dismantled the Atlanta Falcons 30-12, and left me more confused than ever!

Rather than try to overreact too much and draw conclusions after one game, it's important to remember this is indeed one game, there's plenty of season left to go, and while this win was impressive in many respects there's still plenty of room for improvement. Here's what I saw:

Offense : This group is leading the charge in terms of confusing me. They ran the ball pretty well, threw the ball even better, put 23 points on the board, and more than likely could have put 35 were it not for a couple of stalled drives. The star of the game was Matt Forte, who ran the ball for 68 yards at a 4.3 yards per carry clip, caught 5 passes for 90 yards, one of which went for a 56 yard touchdown.

Holy Crap Roy Williams is still alive?! Who knew? Leave it to Roy to actually have a good game and tweak his groin in the process. Groin injuries are pretty bad since there's nothing you can do to treat them except rest. Still, I have to give Roy credit. He caught 4 passes but three of them went for 3rd down conversions (complete with his annoying First Down gesture). Roy was 1 of 8 different receivers that caught passes from Cutler, and as a whole they did a good job running crisp routes while stretching the field.

Love him or hate him, Jay Cutler has never looked better than he does right now. Cutler showed that if he gets time, he'll pick apart any team, any defense, under any conditions, on his way to throwing for 312 yards, 69% Completion Percentage, 2 TD's and one flukish interception. Today was a glaring example of how keeping Cutler upright is of paramount importance.

Which leads me to my large area of concern, the offensive line. Looking back, I'm pretty amazed the Bears moved the ball the way they did, considering J'Marcus Webb and Gabe Carimi looked plain old-fashioned over matched at various times. Webb at one point pulled out a Conrad Dobler style Leg Whip in the second quarter, while Carimi looked like the NFL was too fast for him. The damage amounted to 5 sacks allowed. That is unacceptable, and needs to be cleaned up immediately if this team is going to compete for....(gasp)....the postseason.


Defense : Dominant. That's all there is to it really. The Bears pressured and confused Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense all day, and did so while only rushing their four d-lineman the whole time. Julius Peppers and Henry Melton each checked in with 2 sacks, while newcomer Amobi Okoye added a sack for a total of 5 team sacks. Peppers also forced a fumble that Brian Urlacher scooped up and returned for a touchdown. In case you were wondering the Bears only had more than 5 sacks in a game twice last season. Okoye really stood out to me. He was very disruptive and showed good burst from the 3 Technique spot.

Charles Tillman also had a great game today, forcing Roddy White to run inside routes, while also causing another fumble with his patented Ball Punch. And lets not forget Brian Urlacher. Brian had one of his best games as a Pro, which is saying a lot. Urlacher had an unbelievable interception early in the contest, to go along with his already mentioned fumble recovery, and ten tackles on the day. He might be 33 years old, but he can still get it done.

Special Teams : Return wise, Devin Hester couldn't really get it going, but it didn't matter. New punter Adam Podlesh was solid with a 48 yard per punt average, while stalwart Robbie Gould was perfect on the day.

Where Do We Go From Here : Another test of the Bears mettle takes place next week in the form of the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are statistically the most lethal offense in the NFL, and shouldn't be too slowed down by the absence of Marques Colston. They certainly gave the Packers defense fits on Thursday night, and will be looking to do so again.

Still, despite being on the road, the Bears have a chance to win this game. The Saints defense is very blitz happy, mainly because they're not very good everywhere else, particularly in the secondary. Also I believe the Bears defense has a good chance to slow down New Orleans, mainly because the Saints center is washed up (HINT : His name rhymes with Olin Kreutz). If the Bears can get pressure up the middle, they can disrupt the Saints offense. I believe they will be able to do that.

Then again, it's only one game the Bears have won, and as Jerry Glanville once said "NFL stands for Not For Long".

Anniversary? My Hope For Our Country

I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the ten year "anniversary" of 9/11.


First of all, kudos to you the reader for subjecting yourself to yet another article written about 9/11. As if you hadn't already been beaten over the head with 9/11's significance nearly every day for the last ten years. Second of all, I thought it was understood that while technically correct, the term "anniversary" was reserved for something positive? I don't know about you, but I'm of the opinion that NOTHING positive came out of 9/11, during and since. There have only been degrees of "negative", which is why I'm writing this post in the first place.


9/11/2001 is more sad to me now, than it was ten years ago. Why do I feel that way? I've been asking myself that question for quite some time, and I've reached a few different answers in a few different paths.


When 9/11 first happened, I can honestly say, while absolutely mortified by the tragic and senseless loss of life, I wasn't afraid. I was not scared of what could happen the next time I got on a plane. I was not afraid of terrorists any more so than I already was. I was also completely confident that we would bring those responsible for this murder-filled act of war, to justice. Why did I not feel the fear so many claimed to have felt? One simple reason :

• We were officially UNIFIED

Immediately following 9/11 the United States was never more unified, amicable, and in-concert, arguably since World War II. We all collectively knew how devastating this day was. We all knew that the time for political discourse, religious differences, and racial tensions among other issues, were not what mattered anymore. Human Life, American Lives, and the preservation of Liberty was the priority, first and foremost.


It was that sense of collective benevolence, and singular sense of purpose that fueled my lack of fear. In the ten years since that time however, I have born witness to this country collectively losing it's mind, while showing vitriolic amounts of discord, disaffection, hostility, and even more shockingly, hatred for it's own fellow citizens. In the ten years since we've seen a ton of disconcerting changes. Some of the highlights include:

• A completely unjust war initiated by the same leaders we trusted in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, who also promised we were starting this unjust war for just reasons.
• Multiple economic collapses and corporate fraud taking full advantage of the ever swiftly eradicating and perpetually unemployed/under-employed middle-class citizens.
• An increasingly mutated sense of patriotism, laced with tribalistic, uber-Christian fueled jingoism stating "Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists" and "Jesus chose America to destroy Non-Believers and Brown People" which flirts dangerously close to fascism.
• Multiple random shootings from our citizens, AT our fellow citizens i.e. Seung-Hui Cho, John Allen Muhammad, and Jared Lee Loughner to name a few.

I mention these things not to take sides. Far From It. I'm not on the side of democrat, republican, or any silly ass Tea Bag nonsense (especially the Tea Baggers). I mention these things as marking points, which serve as seminal moments of how we as a nation went from Unified, to being never more divided in my lifetime post 9/11. I'm not exactly sure, and I'm positive everyone has multiple theories on how it happened, but it definitely DID happen, and I'm sickened as a result of it. I look at our country now, and for the first time ever, I can say I am disappointed and sad at how off-message we've become. I am so melancholy at how much we have grown to hate each other.

When Osama Bin Laden was finally killed this past May, it became crystal clear how deep the divisions in the country had become in the past ten years. Bin Laden's death was almost an "also-ran" in terms of people's reaction. The media certainly tried their best to stir up the feelings of triumph, but it largely didn't work. Most people viewed Bin Laden's death as the equivalent of finally buying that extension cord you've been meaning to purchase. Sort of an "Oh Yeah, I've been MEANING to take care of that", which is so offensive, given the totality of damage Bin Laden caused. Yet his death was not nearly as satisfying as say if it happened in April of 2002.

I'm not saying it wasn't important that we kill Bin Laden. Quite the opposite. His death was a death that should be celebrated by any reasonable person, and that's the point. There was no catharsis from his death despite the fact that Bin Laden is the very man who's acts were celebrating the "Anniversary" of!

Which brings me to my final point. If we insist on celebrating this "anniversary" of the one of the darkest days our country has ever seen, it is my hope that we all collectively realize how much we've grown to hate each other since that fateful day. I hope we realize that hating each other is a pointless way to go through life, and that the only way our country is going to truly evolve is to understand that the true meanings of "tolerance", "forgiveness", and "acceptance" are not just buzz words, but keys to growth.

I want to believe that this country will realize how much we should value each other, despite our differences. I want to believe our country can be as unified as we were on 9/11 without senseless tragedy having to play a role in our unification.

Whether that will actually happen, will be up to us.

Chicago Bears 2011 Season : Explosive Mediocrity

Hello good friends. Over the past month my family and I have been vigorously preparing for a move from the city to suburbia. I'm happy to report that the move was successful. As you can imagine, moving was TOTALLY easy, and I had more than enough time to study and prepare for the upcoming NFL Season, specifically studying the Chicago Bears. If you can imagine that's true, I'm sure you can imagine that Notre Dame places student safety as their #1 priority during football practice as well....but I digress.

When it comes to the 2011 version of the Chicago Bears, I'll say this much for them, they've remained an irascible bunch in terms of determining where they are going with this thing called a season!

In a league where a majority of defenses are 3-4, zone-blitz, multiple fronts and coverages designed to confuse and pressure quarterbacks, the Bears remain entrenched in a Tampa 2, 4-3 base look that's so predictable you can set your watch to it. In a league where bastardizations of the West Coast offenses permeate, specifically designed to withstand blitz packages while concurrently keeping the quarterback upright, the Bears remain loyal to the Mike Martz version of Air Coryell, which even when it's successful, still gets your team's quarterback killed.

Those philosophical differences the Bears held over the rest of the league, were reason enough for me to predict doom and gloom for them last season. The Bears promptly went out and won their division while coming within 1 win of playing in another Super Bowl. Who would have thought it? Obviously I didn't.

You would think that the Bears would be competent enough as an organization to build off of last seasons success and be in a position to challenge for the Super Bowl. They've been in this position before however, and unfortunately based off of Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith's track record, I can't think like that. Nope. Sorry. Can. Not. Do. It. These are still the Chicago Bears, who never give you what you expect, good or bad.

If we go by what Brian Billick has described as three indicators of a teams best chance for success going into the new season ("Coaching Continuity, Quarterback Play, and Veteran Presence"), the Bears are better than most teams in that department.

When you look at the offseason moves - and plenty of them were made - the Bears took an admiral approach of signing other teams garbage/reclamation projects, such as Roy Williams, Marion Barber, Vernon Gholston (for a month), Sam Hurd, and now Brandon Meriweather. Couple those moves with a latest count of three contract disputes/bellyaches and a fare-thee-well to Olin Kreutz, and the season outlook gets even murkier.

Offensively, as I previously mentioned, this ship is still being run by Mike Martz. Even though the Bears are insisting the offense will be closer to what it resembled the last 9 games of the season, I just don't trust them to do that. I still believe they are going to try to be the reincarnation of The Greatest Show On Turf, especially when Earl Bennett is making claims that this offense is capable of dropping 40-50 points a game this season. I'll believe it as soon as I see that offensive line block for 7 seconds consistently.

Defensively, as much as I can't stand how antiquated it is in terms of philosophy, when you have smart veterans and Hall-Of-Famers running it, it can still work. Especially when Lovie Smith's Tampa 2 has a proven track record of success against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The only thing that can stop the Bears defense this season is health. That's been known to happen.

Special Teams are still among the best in the business. Even with the significant rule changes, I still believe the Bears will find a way to get good field position, as they always have since Lovie and Dave Toub took over. Devin Hester is still the best returner of all time at the end of the day, and it was nice to see him re-establish that fact last season. I believe he'll return at least one more this season.

What does that all mean to me? I'd say around 7-9, with a chance for 9-7 if Cutler stays healthy. This offensive line is FAR from where it needs to be. This defense is still one or two key injuries away from being VERY ordinary, and before I forget, there are a ton of key players on this team on the wrong side of 30. On a team where depth is not nearly as abundant as it should be, you don't like hearing that fact.

Then again, I've been incredibly wrong about the Bears before. Either way, I'll be watching.