| The past few seasons, the NFL has seen such amazing risings from the ashes as to make the Phoenix of legend (not the Phoenix of Arizona) as ordinary a bird as your everyday cardinal. In 1998, the Atlanta Falcons bounced back from a 7-9 record the previous year to a SuperBowl loss. In 1999, the St. Louis Rams turned a 4-12 team into SuperBowl Champion. In 2000, the Baltimore Ravens, led by as unlikely a hero as Trent Dilfer (talk about ashes!) recovered from an 8-8 finish in 1999 to win a Lombardi Trophy. And in 2001, the San Diego Chargers and the Chicago Bears, who finished the 2000 season with a combined 6 and 26 record, are 10 and 3, seven weeks into this year’s campaign. If the gods of frivolity, random chance, and parity have their way, the battle of New Orleans 2002, aka SuperBowl XXXVI will be fought by the armies of San Diego and Chicago. After all, everyone loves a Cinderella story. But, hold on a second thar, bubbalouie. Before the Bolts and Bruins fans start making their Mardi Gras and Super Bowl celebration reservations, or even calculating potential playoff opponents, they might do well to consider another fairy tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. You know that story... the one in which the Emperor is conned by his tailors and adoring subjects into believing he is dressed in magnificence and is later exposed to the reality of strutting around butt naked. |
Are the Chargers and the Bears truly diamonds in the rough finally transformed into things of beauty? Or has success blinded them to their own nakedness? Certainly both teams are improved over recent models. The Chargers complimented a stalwart Defense by upgrading their offense by signing the pick of the Buffalo Bills QB litter, Doug Flutie, a legitimate NFL ball slinger, and by taking LaDanian Tomlinson with their number one pick in the 2001 draft. The Bears upgraded their already hardy defense with the addition of two outstanding vets in the middle of the line, Keith Traylor and Ted Washington, and upgraded their offense with their first two picks in the 2001 draft, David Terrell, who is just beginning to make his mark, and Anthony Thomas who has already established himself as a playmaker. (Though miscalculations by the Bears offensive coaching staff has caused them to miss some opportunities by starting the wrong guys, it has not cost them in terms of victories... yet.) On the other hand, the schedule has been very kind to both teams. First, and not necessarily foremost, they both have enjoyed the luxury of a last place schedule. So, one might argue, have the Atlanta Falcons, the Arizona Cardinals, the Cleveland Browns, and the New England Patriots. Those teams have records of 3-3, 2-4, 4-2, and 3-3 respectively. So why the disparity in |
records, if not talent? In the first seven weeks of the 2001 season, those teams have played division rivals 4 times, 2 times, 3 times, and 4 times respectively. By some quirk of scheduling, the Chargers and the Bears have faced a division foe only once each this season. The Chargers thrashed the Broncos in San Diego and the Bears eked out a 4th quarter come from behind victory over the Vikings in Chicago. Now, unless one foolishly dismisses the importance, difficulty, and pressure of winning divisional games, one must conclude that the road ahead for these two Cinderella would-be’s will be far bumpier than the road traveled so far. For the Chargers, 7 of their 9 remaining games are against AFC West teams, beginning this weekend at home against the Chiefs. And for the Bears, after they face the 4-2 Browns at home this weekend, they too will finish their season with 7 of 9 games being against NFC Central teams, starting with the Packers at Soldier’s field next weekend. Will either Cinderella make it to the ball? Will one or the other be exposed as naked in their divisions, destined to wait at home for that one more piece of the puzzle that will get them the long awaited invitation? If fairy tales can come true, as they often do in the NFL, it will be the former. If harsh reality steps upon the dreams of such beautiful dreamers, it will be the latter. |