My Friends,
Lovie Smith said it a month ago; teams that win 10 games generally make the playoffs. His team didn't. They would have if Peanut Tillman hadn’t taken the boneheaded penalty in OT against Tampa, or if Lovie and his staff could have figured out how to milk the last eleven seconds off the clock in Atlanta. Sorry, folks. Time to box up the stuff for the winter.
Here’s a telling stat: since routing Detroit in week four, the Bears won the time of possession battle once, in week 12 when they had a mere 30 second edge over the hapless Rams. Even the Lions, in their return matchup in Chicago, carried a 32:09/27:51 advantage in losing 27-23.
In a game the Bears had to have, the defense gave up 31
points. Simply put, they stunk. That pass over Brian Urlacher’s head and in
front of the safeties was open all day. The rush defense gave up 127 yards on
the ground and christened another 100-yard rusher, this time a rookie. Another
300+ passing day by a no name quarterback. No help or double-teams on the league’s
most prolific receiver. No sacks again, this time against a line that was
giving up more than a couple a game. Over 450 yards allowed.
Bob Babich isn't a scapegoat. He's the reason. He has to go.
No doubt Danieal Manning will have his ears singed once again, this time for blowing coverage on the Texans’ first score, and then for coughing up the ensuing kickoff. My question is, after Manning had started to settle in and was playing well as the nickel back, what was Babich thinking by asking him to relearn free safety? Craig Steltz was an all-American drafted to play back there. All week long they told us this would be his first start, and then Babich switches up on game day and puts Manning in? The poor guy gets bounced around like a pachinko ball and then they wonder why he has trouble keeping his assignments straight?
Sure, the offense could have thrown in with a better effort. Taking the middle two quarters off didn’t help the defense stay off the field. Still, the scoreboard read “Bears 24” at the end. That should be enough to win. It better be in the playoffs, and this was essentially a playoff game.
While we’re bidding adieu, we should take a moment to say thanks to Slats Booker for a great career in Chicago. That would be the part that ended here in 2003. Two more drops today and once again you have to wonder whether the Bears coaching staff has any clue about the talent on their own roster. Brandon Lloyd catches everything they throw at him, but he spent two weeks in the doghouse earlier this season after he healed up. Was that because Lovie didn’t like how slowly his sprained knee came around, or because Smith resented Lloyd’s aspiring music career? God forbid they have somebody creative at Halas Hall (save Dave Toub). Earl Bennett? Correct me if I’m wrong, but was that the first (over-) thrown pass to him all year just before the two-minute warning at the end of the game? Did they ever issue a game day jersey to Brandon Rideau? Does Mike Haas know all the local carry out joints for lunch? Mark Bradley had 30 catches for 380 yards and 3 TDs for the Chiefs in eight games, and he couldn’t get on the field here? Who is Devin Aromashodu? Did you even know he was on the Bears roster? What does Darryl Drake do all week that you can count on one hand the total number of times all these guys saw a huddle?
The most galling part is that even though the Vikings managed to squeak out a win against the New Jersey NFC “B” team, the number six seed was there for the taking when the Raiders sank the Bucs ship and the Eagles clawed out the Cowboys’ eyes. The back door was wide open, and Lovie couldn’t figure out how to unlatch the hook on the screen.
Meanwhile, Ron Rivera took over as defensive coordinator for the Chargers on October 28th and all his defense did was allow an average of 18.5 points in eight games (none more than 24) while San Diego went 5-3 and snuck into the postseason tournament.
Trust Lovie Smith? The guy who is 16-16 and without a playoff appearance since he ran Rivera off a Super Bowl team to install Bunky Bob?
Lord help us if the changes coming mean a promotion for Babich and 0-16 Rod Marinelli getting added to the staff.
It’s on to the postseason, but not for our Bears.
I hope you enjoyed the commentary, if not the outcome. Thanks for reading!
LBF
December 28, 2008