So the Bears were looking tough and got the bye week. I was nervous about the Seahawks, and they survived that week - not one of their better performances. I went to the Championship game and they bumbled around for three quarters before they laid the wood on the Saints. Favorite moment of the Championship game? All the idiot Saints fans who got showered with a chorus of "who dat?" once the Bears turned it on. We had a fair number of them in our section - they had been letting us hear it (who dat?) for three quarters - and before you know it, they were gonesters.
What went wrong in the Superbowl? I hate to say it, because I spent all season defending him - too much Rex Grossman. The Bears were down 22-17 in the fourth quarter, with the ball. They were playing against probably the best quarterback in the game, and a future first-time Hall of Famer. And they're in a game that they had no business still hanging around in. They had done a good job defensively in keeping the game from being a blowout.
Then, the pick. If they don't turn the ball over there and get points, it's an entirely different game. But, they didn't, and Indy won. Give 'em credit, they were the better team that day.
3 comments:
Lots of good points there. A few things I'd like to add:
1. I thought all along the Bears would have a tough time in the divisional round, regardless of opponent, and that if they managed to get by that game, they would have a much easier time in the NFC championship. I think it was just the whole psychological "monkey on the back" of not winning a playoff game in so long.
2. Many Chicago columnists went on pretentious rants about how the mouth-breathing Grabowski bears fan is an idiot for thinking thet "Bear-weather" exists, let alone plays into our favor. I do agree that it is more a tip of the cap to the tradition of playing outdoors in the elements in Soldier Field for all these years, and a testament to the dedication and toughness of the fans, but you would have to be lobotomized to truly believe the weather didn't play into our advantage against the Saints. Bush had one big play, Brees and McAllister did nothing, Colston had 1 decent catch, and their D turned into swiss cheese in the 2nd half.
3. As far as the Super Bowl is concerned, there are 3 factors that I think contributed greatly to our demise, which have not been (or hardly been) touched on in most commentary I have seen on the game:
- Cedric Benson's injury hurt us a lot. Many have jumped on the Tom Jones bandwagon, and he did have a decent day highlighted by 1 huge run. But he did not have a dramatic impact on that game. He is overrated as a blocker (no better than Benson, in spite of what the media would have you believe, watch a game tape sometime and see who blocks mroe successfully a higher percentage of the time). Jones is not a real threat at receiver, and he isn't as strong a runner as Benson. He doesn't have the leg drive. He doesn't hit holes with the same authority. He doesn't always go down falling forward. He doesn't punish & wear down defenses. He is a slightly above average, cutback type runner who has thrived in a running based system. If we had Benson, I think we beat up the Colts D more, rack up some extra first downs, add to our measly TOP, and maybe have a different game.
-Ron Turner's playcalling did not put our offense in the best chance to succeed. I am a big Grossman fan, and love that he has a big arm and can stretch the field. I also like some creativity in play-calling. But when Turner calls a passing play on 2nd and 2, in a neutral stadium, when our offense has done nothing and desperately neds a first down for momentum, and our D is already tired, I wanted to scream. In that case, I line up and pound it 3 timws to get the first down. We desperately needed to put something together on offense, both to get momentum and to give our D a break, and Turner's bonehead playcalling in that instance (and several others) took us out of position to do so. I love that play call at home, when Rex is rolling, when we're up by 7 and trying to put a dagger through someone's heart. But on a neutral field, when the O is struggling and we desperately need a first down, it is Turner's job to put our offense in he best position to do that, and he repeatedly did not.
-Our D played their guts out, and I give them credit for that. The offense did not leave them in good positions, and they did an admirable job of keeping the game within reach despite being on the field for over 40 minutes. But I can't let them off without shouldering some of the blame. yes, theyw ere not always put in the best position to win, but they call themselves the best D in the NFL, and they did not play like it. Where was the pressure from our big-mouthed d-liinemen like Wale (who I will have plenty to talk about on another day)? When the d-line couldn't get in Manning's face, where was the pressure that the brilliant professional candidate Ron Rivera is supposed to be able to manufacture? Where was the second level run support? Where were the turnovers Lovie constantly harps about? The Bears D was in a tough spot, but let's face it, this team was built to win on D. they are supposed to be able to withstand a mediocre game from our offense, and a tough opponent, and still come out on top, and they didn't. They had opportunities to stop the Colts on 3rd down, get off the field, get some rest, and give our O more chances, and they blew those opportunities the majority of the time. `
I won't argue with your points, but considering that the Bears D was on the field as long as it was and kept the game close against the best QB in the game... well, you can fault Rivera if you want (and I hope in his new role as position coach he does really well), but I don't see a lot of fault for the guys on D.
Touche.
I agree, the D deserves markedly less blame than the O. But regardless of whether it was the 1st half (when they were still relatively fresh) or late in the game (when they were tired, in no small part due to the O's mishaps), they never generated a consistent pass rush, and never made stops in 3rd down situations when they had opportunities to. Late in the game, that certainly could be a by-product of fatigue, but early on they could've amde some stops that 1) would have gotten them off the field at the time and 2) saved their legs and lungs for the home stretch, when they were obviously worn out.
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