PACKERS EXPOSE BEARSFLYING PIGS FALL TO EARTHby egoc

Some things never change. After 80 years, each Packers/Bears game is anticipated with palpably breathless anxiety by fans of both teams. In the four games between the two ancients of the NFL in 1999 and 2000, each won two, all victories by the visiting team in their opponent’s crib. This year’s contest was even more dramatic in that the Bears entered the rivalric competition for the first time in many years with a winning record. In fact, they were in first place of the NFC Black and Blue division by a full game ahead of the Packers. That they occupied that lofty position by virtue of overwhelming chance and pure luck is historically moot. Divisional supremacy was on the line. That they occupied that lofty position by virtue of overwhelming chance and pure luck, while being historically moot, spoke volumes in the final outcome of the game. As Sky Masterson knows only too well, sometimes luck is a lady, and sometimes she’s a bitch. On Sunday, the grand dame turned her back on the Chicago Bears, and left them to their own devices, talent, and will. On Sunday, against the Packers, all their devices, talent, and will were not enough to get them into the endzone... not even once. Green Bay exposed the Chicago squad for what they are... a sub-mediocre team,

masking their inferiority with smoke and mirrors. In the Bears' six wins since losing their 2001 season opener to the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago relied on the good graces of Lady Luck to put them over the hump, with miraculous 4th quarter 14 point+ comebacks in three of them. On Sunday, against an obviously superior force, the Bears once again needed to be dealt a winning hand by fate. Fickle fortune laughed in their collective face. The much heralded Bear’s defense turned out to be a Paper Tiger as the defensive line was unable to pressure Brett Favre most of the day and the secondary proved as porous as they ever were. Their forte, the run defense, was an open book to Packer RB Ahman Green who slapped them around to the tune of 5.2 yards per carry on 18 totes for a total of 93 yards. Mercifully, the Packer game plan only gave the ball to Green 18 times. Instead, the Packers were inclined to showcase the talent of their MVP candidate Brett Favre. Favre who leads the League in TD passes with 17, is third among league starters with a passer rating of 94.3, and is fifth in the league in passing yardage owned the Bears all day. With pinpoint accuracy, he hit Bill Schroeder at the back of the endzone for a 41 yard TD and sealed the game with a 9 yard bullet to Antonio Freeman.

On defense, the Packers showed why theirs is second in the league only to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another Bears’ fraud exposed in the game was rookie running back Anthony “The A-Train” Thomas. If anyone has ever seen photos of a derailed train wreck and the way it’s cars fold accordion-like, they can appreciate what happened to Thomas on Sunday. The Not-so-irresistible force met the Truly-immovable-object. Thomas was held to a pathetic 45 yards on 22 carries for a wretched 2.05 yards per carry average. The A-Train reached the end of the line. No doubt that four weeks hence, when the Packers and Bears meet again, at Lambeau Field, where the Bears have won twice in the last two season’s, fans of both teams will look forward to it with all the anxious anticipation that preceded Sunday’s match up. It’s unlikely, however, that the Bears fans will have the same optimism with which they approach this game. They will have faced three consecutive weeks of divisional rival games including road trips to Tampa Bay, Minnesota, before returning home to face the Lions on 10 days rest. In all likelihood, they will lose at least 2 of those games and barring any miracles, all three. The Bears are to be commended for the fantastic entertainment they have provided all NFL fans this season, but the bubbles have burst for Lady Luck’s Bastard Son.

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