My Friends,

 

I wonder who the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week will be?

 

Not to throw a turd on the dinner plate, but there is a downside to watching Devin Hester take it all the way back. In both cases the reason he was back there was due to the Rams scoring a TD, and in both cases the defense gave up another TD on the ensuing drive. Hester sure is fun to watch, but trading two touchdowns for one doesn’t seem like the best way to get and keep a lead. Maybe it had something to do with the defense being gassed after being on the field so long, but it would help if they threw in a stop afterward to make his returns worth something. But I do have to dole out props to Peanut Tillman. For the most part his coverage this year has been outstanding, and he’s as sure a tackler in the run defense as the Bears have. Dry roasted no more.

 

All the talk today will be about Hester’s record-breaking performance, but the real story last night was the way the offense played. Ron Turner called a great game, Rex Grossman took no more than the defense gave him, Cedric Benson pounded and Thomas Jones ran through a porous Rams defense, and what do you know? A 114.4 passer rating, 172 yards on the ground, no turnovers, and four offensive touchdowns on drives averaging better than 74 yards.

 

It sure looks easy when they hold on to the ball, doesn’t it?

 

So now the Bears have their bye locked down and can secure home field with a couple more wins, or a win this Sunday and an unlikely victory by the ‘Skins over the new conference darlings from the Crescent City.

 

As Iron Mike pointed out last night, among the mopes on the NBC pregame before the Cowboys/Saints Sunday night tilt only Chris Collinsworth had the good sense to stick with the Bears as the best in the NFC.

 

Outside of Chicago it looks like it’s going to take a win on January 21^st to make the rest of the nation believe.

 

LBF

12/12/2006