| In any sport, there are games or matches that are simply more special than others. In football, these types of games have fans and players alike foaming at the mouth. Heated rivalries usually mean either team can win, regardless of current standings or records. A heated rivalry coupled with a game for first place is normally off the scale. The players are aware of their requirements. Practices are crisper. Hitting is more intense. The players don't want much to do with the idiot sports talking heads, waving them away instead of joining their inane banter. And on game day, everyone knows this is something special. . Then there are the Chicago Bears. . Given their effort this past Sunday, they may as well been participating in an intra-squad game. There was no focus. There was no intensity. The result was almost a carbon copy of their impotent loss to the Packers the first time around. . In a recent Sports Illustrated article, many Bear players were said to voice their support for Head Coach Dick Jauron. They see him as a players coach who treats them like adults. They see his calm demeanor as quiet leadership. Given the fact I have not been in the Bears locker room or at their practices, I have to take the players at their word on this. I too wished to see Jauron's stoic presence on game day as a positive. But after witnessing such a low key ineffective team effort in their biggest game of the season, I am forced to recognize Jauron's emotionless expression as simply indicating he is too stupid to realize what is going on. . On normal teams, they have the goal of forcing their opponent into being a one-dimensional team, thereby making it easier to defend against them. The Bears coaches have somehow misinterpreted this, as they have made the Bears offense one-dimensional by design, thereby ensuring they only pass through the endzone before and after the game. John Shoop has devised an offensive game plan that ensures the opponents defense need not worry about anything happening further than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. It has gotten so bad now that defenders are charging gaps |
and almost taking the handoffs themselves. As an offensive coordinator, John Shoop makes a very good clipboard holder. It would be very nice if Shoop were far less offensive and much more coordinated. . I have read stories defending Shoop, making it a point to say he is 11-4 since taking over as offensive coordinator. I say, his record is a sham. If not for the Bears defense and special teams, they would be 5-7 at this point of the season, and I doubt anyone would be praising him for that. You want to see the true story of the Bears offense? Look at their 3rd down conversions (or lack thereof). 3rd & 6? Complete a 2 yard pass for a 5 yard gain, then punt. 3rd & 2? Run directly into the teeth of a 9 man front for a 1 yard gain, then shank a field goal. I understand expecting yards after the catch on a pass play, but you cannot continue to throw short and expect the receiver to run for the needed yards every time. Whatever happened to completing a pass at the first down marker? Or how about having a receiver go beyond the marker, then come back for the ball? These are not novel ideas, and they are not against the rules. So what the hell is the problem? . Jim Miller shares some of the blame for this. He has shown no inclination to take charge. He seems unwilling, unable, or not allowed to audible. He is perfectly willing to muddle through the dysfunctional game plan presented to him rather than put himself in a position to actually achieve something. As the coach in the movie ‘The Replacements' said: "winners always want the ball". Miller obviously does NOT want the ball. This leads to nobody else wanting it either. Dropped passes may actually be a part of the game plan since they happen with such regularity. The Bears offense was able to start drives inside Packer territory, but it didn't much matter. They did nothing to make any Packer defender do anything more than laugh. . There was an alleged incident on the Bear sideline where the defensive players were said to be harassing Shoop about his play calling. Jauron was asked about it directly in his Monday press conference. He responded by giving the 'heat of the moment' type of cover |
statement, and said players are talking all of the time on the sidelines, and that it shows their desire to win. Nice to know the players desire to win. What about our idiot buffoon coaching staff? Oh I am sure they want to win, but do they have that desire? Do they have the ability to stand amid chaos and make sense and order from it? Are they capable of putting their players into position to succeed? . Answers: idiot buffoon coaching staff should be taken to the big C in the middle of Soldier Field and shot; no; no: no. . Idiot lardass defensive coordinator Greg "Where's the Buffet?" Blache has been quoted as blaming the defense for not shutting out the Packers. Uh huh. Go puff another blunt Gregg. . The defense had 2 very obvious failures, resulting in 2 Packer touchdown drives. The Bear defenders were out of position and missed tackles during both drives, making Favre's job a bit easier. Aside from that, the Bears defense did a good job. They even got the turnover which could have made a difference. As usual, their offense then promptly imploded. Urlacher would have been better off trying to bull his way into the endzone than running out of bounds to stop the clock. And it would have saved us the embarrassment that followed. I would say holding Favre and friends to 17 points was an adequate job. It is pretty unrealistic to expect any defense to shut out their opponent every week in order to have a chance to win. . Words cannot adequately express my true utter disgust that this Bears team came up so short in a game so big. Now, they have to fight for Wild Card seeding, not an automatic considering they have chosen this point in the season to lose track of where the endzone is . Tampa Bay comes to Chicago, with a chip on their shoulder and their late season surge just beginning. Tony Dungy is a better coach than Dick Jauron (though my Tampa Bay fan friends argue with me about this). The Buccaneers, having buried themselves early the past 3 seasons, know more about coming up big when they have to. Tampa Bay 21 Chicago 10 |