| First off, I want to congratulate the Detroit Lions. They have been injured and luckless, but come out each week with the attitude that they can win. They controlled much of the game against the Bears. They do not deserve their 0-11 collar. Charlie Batch was having a great day until a late game injury to his shoulder (he will be re-examined, but looks to be out 4 weeks minimum). I salute the Lions for their effort. Next I wish to address this "luck" issue. All season long I have been hearing how lucky the Bears are and how their luck will run out, and on and on and on. Luck can get you a favorable call. Luck can even get you a win here or there. But going 9-2 in the NFL of today indicates more solid elements than luck at work. Try a tough defense. Try great special teams. Up to now, I have been adamant that the Bears have made their own luck by hard work and desire. Then came the Lion game. And what a stinker it was, by both teams. Things were so disorganized and pathetic on both sides, that I am willing to concede, just for this particular game, luck, fate, karma ... whatever ... played a key role in deciding the winner. Dropped passes plagued both teams. A sure touchdown pass from Batch to Scott Anderson went right through his hands. That would have made the score 17-6, and the Bears day a bit bleaker. Then again, David "I wanna be like Keyshawn" Terrell dropped 2 sure touchdowns. It was not long ago Mr. Terrell was whining about not getting the ball enough, telling anyone who would listen what a big play guy he is, and how disappointed he is to not be used to help the team. Too bad he can't use his motor mouth to catch passes. His first drop was a perfect spiral, over his shoulder and into his hands, without a Lion player in the picture. The next was a more difficult hard thrown short pass, but again right into his hands. Perhaps Mr. Terrell should |
spend less time telling us how great he is and more time actually related to football trying to live up to his own hype. I would be happy if he would simply strive to be consistently competent at this point. I had thought Greg Blache had gotten into a nice rhythm (finally) with the defense. The formations and personnel moves in the Viking game were innovative and effective. I had hoped for even more against Detroit. Instead, I saw a lot of 3 man rushes and 2 deep soft zones, enabling Charlie Batch to have plenty of time to find receivers (who sometimes also chose to duplicate Terrell's "hands of stone" routine, fortunately) . I look at the Bears defense and see a young, fast and aggressive bunch, who are more effective when attacking the other team rather than reacting to the other team. Their natural inclination is to go to the ball with speed and bad intent. Greg Blache has chosen to reign in their natural abilities and play a softer zone looking for interceptions more than pressure on the quarterback. The result is the Bear defenders spending a lot of time looking at each other after yet another 20 yard completion. I simply do not understand, nor do I agree with, this approach. A defensive alignment that makes the Bear defensive players seem tentative and unsure on where they should be is a defensive alignment that should never again be used. Winning teams play to their strengths, rather than try to get too cute. Especially when it is coming to crunch time, where any bad effort can have serious post season implications. It seems the Bears coaches are afraid to simply play to the strength of their players, and would rather try to be master strategists. John Shoop seems to have loosened up the offense. Miller is now allowed to take shots down field. Unfortunately, the Bear receivers have chosen this to be their opportunity to NOT shine. |
Dropped passes and terrible results on 3rd down have hampered the Bears all season. Against better teams, it is a recipe for complete and utter disaster (I only hope Shoop simply brow beats his players into shape rather than put the offensive game plan back into a conservative shell). Against the Lions, it should have cost them the game. I can only surmise Lady Luck likes Bear fur. On the other hand, let us go back a bit, and count those missed scores by both teams. For the Lions: Jason Hanson's 3 missed (but well within his range) field goals = 9 points; Anderson's drop of a wide open pass inside the Bear 20 = 7 points; added to the Lions total = 26 points. For the Bears: Paul Edinger's missed field goal (after a Ja-Moron challenge) = 3 points; David Terrell's 2 dropped touchdown passes = 14 points; added to their total = 30 points. So, by adding in the scores both teams should have had based on plays that were run, the Bears win by 4 instead of 3. The fact the Bears only played 1 good quarter out of 4, yet still won the game, indicates a positive occurrence to me. The last stinker by the Packers resulted in a loss to the Falcons. At Lambeau. But of course, Packer fans would much rather have this honest loss than to "luck" into a win in a game in which they played poorly, right? The Bears travel to Lambeau Field this week, where they have had good success, even with bad teams and Cade McClown at quarterback. I would prefer they play with the desire to achieve the goal of NFC Central Division Champion. The Packers are a game behind the Bears, and would love nothing better than to take control of the NFC Central from their longtime rivals from the south. I think the Bears will be up to the challenge, and will prevent a Green Bay sweep, with an effective 24-20 victory. |