And I've made a decision. I'm going to write about what I watched yesterday today and today alone. I'm going to get some of these things out of my system and then we're all moving on. Moving on to the Meadowlands. Moving on for a showdown with the Giants. But yesterday was like being forcefed some completely unedible food product and not be allowing to vomit. I just sat there in that beautiful stadium and had to let the vomitous taste sit in my mouth as I washed it down with plastic cup after plastic cup of Old Style Light. Okay...
I fucking hate Jay Mariotti but he got me today. Watching Grossman play sometimes while wearing that number is eery. Ron Turner needs to get him under control. If he's struggling, shorten the routes. Call some screens. Simplify the offense. Or else put him on the sideline. How can a player want to lose more than Joey Harrington??
Everyone say it at once...THROW IT AWAY!
I don't wanna watch Justin Gage play for the Bears anymore.
This week in practice I want this. Brad Maynard punts the ball up in the air and Devin Hester fields it. Every time he physically crosses the ten yard line, a cage full of rabid wolverines is released and allowed to devour him whole.
Where'd Tommie Harris go? I'm not sure but wherever he is, he's probably lined up in the neutral zone.
Justin Gage sucks.
Just me (and Noah) or did Cedric Benson look terrific in limited duty? Getting him out of the game as fast as possible was definitely the right thing to do. Maybe they can get Justin Gage some carries.
Charles Tillman. Oh, Charles Tillman. You're lucky this team has Justin Gage or you'd be getting your own column today.
Enough (I just yelled fuck), I'm done with yesterday. On to tomorrow. This team is going to win Sunday night in the Meadowlands and then errant passes into the waiting arms of Jason Taylor become as distant a memory as Jim Miller trying to make tackles in playoff games. This team is going to win Sunday night and we'll talk and laugh and frolic in the meadow. This team is going to win Sunday night because they have pride and they'll be embarrassed by what we all have to say about them over the next six days. This team is going to win Sunday night because goddamnit...I say so.
#2 jeff said . . .This is why you're the starter. You've addressed everything except why we couldn't stop Ronnie Brown, and since we're done talking about yesterday, we need to figure out how to stop Tiki Barber. If he's rolling, it's going to be a long day.
I sure hope Urlacher plays, and I hope even more that he has an opportunity to hit Shockey so hard he looks as retarded as he talks.
November 7, 2006
#3 District Selectman said . . .first, i loved your column and rossi's was the absolute star of my weekend...what a great joint to lament a poor bears performance...it looks like brian is going to play and bernard doesn't sound lik he's completely out according to lovie.
November 7, 2006
#4 jeff said . . .Glad you liked Rossi's. I used to work in the IBM Building, and Friday's we'd have an open bar at work and then go to Rossi's and get destroyed. That place is home whoever you are.
If we don't see Mark Bradley against the G-Men, I'm going to stop wondering when he's coming back.
November 7, 2006
#5 Ted in Iowa said . . .have to play bradley, no matter what. need his speed out there.
November 7, 2006
#6 Brian said . . .You are sure right about Justin Gage. What a display of incompetence. Not only do I not want to see him play another game in a Bear uniform... I want him ridden out of town on a rail (be glad I didn't suggest a firing squad), and I want the number 12 retired and the uniform burned, so I never have to be reminded of that idiot.
November 7, 2006
#7 Pat said . . .That was a disaster no doubt and I can't help but think of my post from 2 weeks ago....This team could just as easily be 5-3 rather than 7-1. Yes, we beat the vikes and the Cardinals...but by the skin of our teeth. This is not all bad though....last year we were all beating it over being 11-5, this year we could stumble to a 4-4 finish and still reach that mark. The point is this...right now, we are not among the elite of the NFL..BUT we have the talent and the time left in the season to do it. Unlike the last 2 playoff runs, this is not being done with smoke and mirrors (see: Kyle Orton and Jim Miller) we actually have a lot of talent that just needs to be polished a bit. I am pissed and VERY dissapointed, but I keep telling myself it is not the end of the world and there is a silver lining.
By the way, My old man was an attorney in the IMB building for 25 years...just read some posts about it and it brought back good memories of visiting him at work before going to see MJ play at Chicago Stadium.
November 7, 2006
#8 Still said . . .THROW IT AWAY!!
oh. you meant figuratively.... I'm embarassed. I always do that.
I wish our backup wideouts could fill in as impressively as our backup bloggers (do you see what I did there?).
Nice work DS, nice work Jeff.It's nice to know that even though the men to whom this site is dedicated will occasionally repay our allegiance with the visual equivalent of shitting a broken light bulb, we can drag our bloody asses to this website and experience something deserving of our time.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, thanks for not being shitheads.
November 7, 2006
#9 Pissed off said . . .Jeff, maybe I need to watch the game again (not looking forward to that), but the d-back who would deserve his own column is not Peanut this time, it's Vasher.
Apart from that one jumped route that even I, in my forty year old body, could have jumped, he blew ass. His idea of tackling has become giving weak shoves out of bounds or grabbing enough jersey that when the runner blows him over, he can at least bring him down after an additional 6 yards. He has gone way soft tackling. Peanut, for all his many flaws, is still throwing himself into guys.
The only way Vasher is making the Pro bowl this year is for Rex and Moose to vote for him all day long on their cell phones.November 7, 2006
#10 jeff said . . .I just want to say that since I have discovered this site, which was yesterday, I have found intelligent opinions and banter. Most of you I can tell are die hard fans that feel the losses as much as I do and no loss hurts worse than this one. As I said yesterday only the loss to the Browns last year is close to how this one feels and this loss is worse. Last year we had some excuses, his name is Kyle Orton and while were bashing him we can throw Gage in there too. This year Rex has looked like a combination of Joe Namath and Joe Montana at times. Then at other times he looks like Ryan Leaf and Kyle Orton rolled into one. Could someone honestly explain to me how he can look so good then look so bad? I'm serious here...maybe I'm dunb and the answer is obvious but I dont know it. I realize everyone has hang up games but these are some extreme differences. I think that along with Devin Hester I would like to include the offensive line in getting attacked by wolverines. If they let another defensive lineman get to the QB in less then 3 seconds they should be severly attacked. Jason Taylor is good but last time I checked John Tait and Ruben Brown were pretty good too. They fucked it up bad on Sunday. I am not a Rex apologist but he's young and inexperienced and needs time. I love the Bears but I honestly dont think they can win this coming Sunday at the Meadowlands. THEY LOST TO THE FUCKING 1-6 DOLPHINS AT HOME!! After that performance I dont know if they can win another game this year. Tiki Barber is far more accomplished and just a better all around back (including receiveing) than Ronnie Brown and Ronnie Brown looked more like Jim Brown on Sunday and if thats the case then Tiki will be having a career day Sunday night.
November 7, 2006
#11 jeff said . . .I believe very firmly that this team is going to win a lot more games this year. That played a terrible game Sunday and that's allowed. They have a quarterback who has still not started an entire season...who has mechanical and mental breakdowns under pressure. So did Peyton Manning, pretty horrifically, when he was young. We like to compare Rex to Eli Manning but remember...Eli has started a season and half more than him. I know it feels terrible now but they just won 7 of 8 games to start the season. That's really nice.
November 7, 2006
#12 jonathan said . . .by the way, completely agree on the vasher comments. but when you're team is down, allowing a ball to be taken out of your hands in the endzone was basically the death nail.
November 7, 2006
#13 jeff said . . .I firmly believe that if the Bears play at the top of their game, they can beat anybody. But it seems that when they're not playing at the top of their game, they're playing their absolute worst; there are no in-betweens. Maybe Minnesota was a middle-ground, but even that was pretty ugly.
Rex does need time to mature, to avoid getting flustered and making things worse when one thing goes wrong. I'm not sure if a week is enough time, so there is a chance the Giants game could really, really suck. I'm still hopeful though, that this Bears team will play their hearts out in the Meadowlands, and bounce back from the terrible loss last Sunday.
Bear Down, Chicago Bears!
November 7, 2006
#14 District Selectman said . . .Rex has a great opportunity in Chicago. He gets to mature in meaningful games. That becomes a problem if he starts costing them games and so far he's only done that once (and you can't put the entirety of Sunday's disaster on him). The Bears have one agenda: get that top seed. Sunday night is a great chance to move towards it.
November 7, 2006
#15 Pissed off said . . .Yeah, I still don't know quite what to make of Rex's performance. After all, that TD to Moose was pretty outstanding (on both ends). The had all the momentum at halftime, and then Gage comes out and says, "Go fuck yourself, Chicago." Why'd you say that Justin? Why? You're my hero [okay, not really]. And you say something dirty. Like poop. Poop mouth. I hate you Justin Gage, I hate you.
Granted, Rex didn't exactly right the ship, but it certainly wasn't all him.
ESPN, of course, is all over Strahan going down -- he is the most marketable defensive lineman, after all. But Osi Umenyiora, the other DE, is also likely to sit out, and he leads the team in sacks. I haven't heard whether Plexico will be out against us.
November 7, 2006
#16 Midway Monster said . . .I agree with Jonathan that there are no in-betweens. They either tear it up and kick someones ass or suck horribly. I would say the the Minnesota game would go on the bad side as well as vs. Arizona and of course the dreaded fins. That a great point, why cant we just play a mediocre game, I feel that would still beat most teams in the NFL, not the Giants though. I think the Bears will have to have one of their good games to win that one. If they dont turn the ball over so much we have a shot but if we turn it over 3 or more times against that team. On the bright side Strahan and Umenyora (if either of those are spelled right) will not be available. Hopefully this will lead to more time for Rex to look downfield. When that defensive end comes around Rex's blindside we're in for a long game. I do love Rex and he is still developing but he's not a rookie anymore and he HAS started about a seasons worth of games so lets not glorify him too much. Either he's good (vs. buffalo, SF, GB, Det, etc) or he sucks (vs. miami, min, arizona). Which one is it?
November 7, 2006
#17 jeff said . . .Gentlemen:
To me this is the week. The key is not to look down the line but focus on the game at hand. As for me, I know an bunch of NJ/NYers and have raosed the stakes. This one is bragging rights for the rest of '06 & a must win in my book.
To me the key is teaching Manning just why they call it the "black n blue" division. He needs to taste turf big time!
November 7, 2006
#18 Dave said . . .With you, Monster. It's all about Sunday night now. As for The Grossman Binary -- I don't think you can judge him based on his first fifteen, sixteen, even twenty starts. Look at Big Ben, inconsistent. Eli, inconsistent. HOWEVER, the real question with Rex is becoming whether his style can be effective in Chicago. The right quarterback for this team - this defense especially - might be wearing #14.
November 7, 2006
#19 Dave said . . .Shut up "pissed off" before I piss in your mouth...
November 7, 2006
#20 Megan said . . .Best wishes to all you die hard Bears fans.
I bugging out. Got to much work to do and I need to re-direct my focus.
Meant no harm to anyone, just trying to engage in a little smackdown. Thats all.
Chicagos a great town. Been there many times and enjoyed many of the same restaurants you mentioned in some of your postings.
Anyway, good luck the rest of the way.
And by the way, that wasn't me addressing pissed off.
November 7, 2006
#21 Megan said . . .Once again, thanks for your extremely witty repartee there Dave,
I am worried about Barber. Do we have the defensive huevos to stop the run? Urlacher? What about passing. Manning is patient in the pocket, more so then our panic-ee friend Grossman. We need to put pressure on him. I think their running game will be key. But yeah, I shouldn't forget about Shockey.
Offensive. Awww shit. Grossman, bring your best to the Meadowlands. I think that Strayhan being out will help, but..
It really all depends on if the Bears can keep it together. If they start to fall apart early, they seem to have a really hard time collecting themselves and re-grouping. It could be very ugly. I aggree with MM this game is key because the Giants are nothing to sneeze at and if we loose this, the rest of the season will most definately suck (I think even more so then Dave does, if that is even possible. )
BTW, I grew up with four older brothers, I am used to off-color remarks regarding, mothers, fuckers.. et al.
So, give Vasher, Hester and every body else who is going to carry, catch, grab or land on the ball, extra stick-um and BEAR DOWN!!
November 7, 2006
#22 max said . . .He has a soul? could it be? hmmm, I think the Pats loss last Sunday humbled him a bit??
November 7, 2006
#23 Fred said . . .I also agree that this week is big. My roommate is a Giants fan and he has been talking trash for 3 weeks and its only intensified since da Bears lost. The most important thing in this game to me is not who wins it (but i wanna win this one really, really, really bad) but how Rex plays against a playoff caliber team. I still have faith in him. maybe its blind faith, but its there
November 7, 2006
#24 Midway Monster said . . .The thing about Sundays game is not that it was a loss. We all knew 16-0 was possible yet a stretch. That's over now.
The thing about Sunday was being bad on offense, on defense, on special teams, and at coaching. Sitting there watching all that happen at once was hard to see. One thing after another and nothing we could do about it.
That is not gonna happen again as long as our coaches and players can learn from their mistakes and I think they can.
All is fine in Bear land.
Bring on the Giants.
And Ron, RUN THE FUCKING BALL!November 8, 2006
#25 jeff said . . .It's time for all of us who have associates that are Giant fans to circle the wagon & lock arms. We need the bragging rights and I'd "love life" come Monday if the Bear D went at Manning big time and we took this one. It's a big game. Gotta rebound. Plus the Bears/Giants used to be a major rivalry.
Megan, you're right about Barber. We need to stop that running back cold. He really isn't all that good (only 1 TD). Disrupt the blocking schema and we're home free.
-- Miday Monster
PS - I've left The Bear Fight Song from YouTube.com as voice mail on my buds phone (who are Gmen fans) all week long. Havn't done that prank since the Green Bay game.
November 8, 2006
#26 Pissed off said . . .nice. i haven't wanted to see a ballgame this much in a long time. i'm very aroused.
November 8, 2006
#27 jeff said . . .Are you fucking kidding me midway monster....Barber isnt that good??? He leads the league in rushing you dipshit. He has 830 yards already. If you knew anything about football you'd know that Coughlin likes to pass in the red zone and run Jacobson at the goal line, thats the only reason Tiki has only one TD. WOW now that I have that out of my system I can focus on my original comment. The Bears can win but they cant turn the ball over, thats the bottom line. One or two at most and if they arent deep in our own territory that would help as well. And for all those people who are analyzing the game...looking back at past Giant games...like last week for example and say hey... they only beat the Texans by 4 points...we should be able to win. KEEP IN MIND THAT WE LOST AT HOME TO THE 1-6 DOLPHINS WHOM THE TEXANS HAVE BEATEN ALREADY THIS YEAR. The dolphins suck ass and we lost to them, we could end up losing by 40 to the Giants if we play like we did last Sunday agianst the fins. I really have no hope, how can I...If somehow, someway we win this week, on the road, against the best opponent in the NFC my faith will be restored. However, even if we win, I honestly dont know how long it will take me to get over this loss to the fins becuase I will still be thinking about it. I think I just really wanted 16-0 and didnt want to see that shattered by a 1-6 SHITBOX team. I dont know what else to say, I just hope I feel better if the Bears win. I hope I can let go of the fins loss then.
November 8, 2006
#28 Superbowl Bound said . . .hey PO'd, you can't use that texans points. because by that rationale, we should be beat the giants by a hundred since they were down like 40 to seattle. i don't think it is that difficult to see, to be honest, and PO'd is right on that point. it is turovers. 6 in the arizona game should have cost us. the minnesota game would never have required a comeback had rex not handed antoine winfield 6 points and this sunday was 14-10 at halftime until justin gage fumbled the first play of the second half. if you make teams go the length of the field on the bears, six points is very difficult to attain.
November 8, 2006
#29 Max said . . .Get used to seeing blitzes and other ways to confuse Grossman. He has yet to show he can handle it. Grossman is very frustrating to watch. He needs to grow up and realize you can't throw off your back foot in the NFL like you did in college. When you do, they pick it off. Amen, on Benson. I would LOVE to see the Giant game be a coming out party for Benson. It would be great to see Jones and Benson's no. of carries reversed this Sunday. How cool would it be to see Benson tear up the Giants and outplay Tiki Barber (arguably the best back in the NFC this year). I think you will see much more of Davis this week and less of Gage, although I think everyone like's Gage's size. But size doesn't matter if you continue to fumble. All year I have been hearing that Devin Hester is dumber then a rock... I have to say I am now starting to believe them.
November 8, 2006
Rashied's coming out party this week. 7 catches 110 yards and a TD plus some solid kick returns.
November 8, 2006
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.