Balance. Balance is the key. Not for the Bears to beat the Carolina Panthers this Sunday but for me to maintain emotional and psychological stability in the days and moments leading up to 1:00 pm.
I said early in the year that a road game against the Lions was the biggest regular season game the Bears have played in a long, long time. People keep mentioning the 2001 season but you couldn't name a big game that season if you tried. We just kept winning in 2001 and in some of the most unbelievable ways possible. We won that Lions game and gained the pole position in a weak NFC North. (Note on this: the NFC North has more wins than both the AFC East and NFC West so relax with all this MOST AWFUL DIVISION EVER talk.)
Let me address three pressing Chicago Bears issues:
1. "They haven't played anybody."
Does anybody understand what they're saying? This is a Chicago Bears team that has been an NFL doormat for three seasons. We're no longer that. To say we're supposed to beat anyone is a true jump in status, a climb out of the deep dark depths of the NFL cellar. The three losses: week one writeoff at Washington, Kyle Orton debacle versus Cincinnati, defensive collapse versus Cleveland.
2. "They are the best of four bad teams."
You can group them together if you like but it is foolish. The Bears are 3-0 in division and have won those games by a combined score of 88-22. If that's not good enough to separate them from the pack, I don't know what is.
3. "The altercation"
This was not a malicious act. This was two grown men fighting. They play football for a living. People need to stop being pussies. So a guy's jaw got broken. He hasn't said anything much about (because his jaw is wired shut, maybe.) Should they be suspended? No. Should they be fined? They don't care. Mainstream media, led by a lot of guys in their mid 50s who have an asinine purist view of professional sports, don't understand that we don't care about these things in the same way we don't care about steroids. I want my center and right tackle to fight. I want to know my center can break a face with one punch. You know what it makes me think? It makes me think he can sure as hell open a hole for Thomas Jones.
IF THE BEARS WIN SUNDAY it takes this season beyond the level of pleasant surprise and elevates the team to contender status. If this is the class of the conference and you beat them, put it together. If the Panthers leave with a 27-3 win - okay. Then we know who we are. If we're singing the Shuffle at 4:07 to celebrate a 13-10 win...
Then next week is real easy.
#2 jeff said . . .You know what they say. Bearslove is bears, love.
November 18, 2005
#3 revdad said . . .wow, that's a three year recall.
November 18, 2005
Let's ask the same "Who have they played" question about Panthers. ... Hmmm, their wins came at the expense of the Jets (2-7), Minnesota (4-5), Detroit (4-5), Arizona (2-7) and Green Bay (2-7), for starters. They did beat Tampa Bay (6-3), but Chris Simms was playing like he was the son of a Sim from Sim City instead of Phil Simms, so that's not that impressive. Carolina also beat New England early, back when everybody thought that was going to be a rare achievement; Patriots now, of course, are 5-4. And Panthers losses -- OK, they both were a while ago, but still -- were to Miami (3-6) and New Orleans (2-7). Like the Bears, Panthers have yet to prove they can consistently beat good teams.
Unfortunately, I do think they're going to beat the Bears. Carolina defense stymies Bears rushing game, and Delhomme is better than Orton; that's probably all it takes. Yeah, I hope I'm wrong too.
November 20, 2005
Here at DaBearsBlog, you are free to kill us or the Bears as you so wish. You are not free, however, to be an asshole. So if you spew racism or ill-meaning foul language (cursing about football is just fine) or anything of that ilk, your comments ain't gonna last long, jerk.