Because I want to believe one more time…

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?

• I always like the Chicago Bears…except lately.
• I just can’t see any way the Bears prevent Aaron Rodgers and company from throwing the ball up and down the field.  Now with the emergence of Jermichael Finley – a player I told you about in August – Rodgers should have no problem putting up big yardage.
• Also the Packers seem to be one of the few teams who manage to run effectively against the Bears consistently.  So there’s more points.
• The Packers defense – with their fiesty young linebackers – will take away the running game from the Bears early and force Cutler to throw into some tricky situations.  Do you think our receivers can get open against this secondary?
• So wait…why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?  Because there’s absolutely no reason they should win.  And I’ve come to expect good things from this group when nothing is expected of them.  I think a big play gets made on special teams early and sets the stone for a big upset.

Chicago Bears 20, Green Bay Packers 17

The Green Bay Packers are going to the postseason.  They’re going to have a chance to win the Super Bowl because that’s what going to the postseason means.  Aaron Rodgers – the guy who just a summer ago was under the most pressure in the sport – has risen to the top shelf of NFL quarterbacks.  Their defense – the damn Packers defense – is the top ranked in the sport.  Don’t look now but the 2009 Green Bay Packers are everything we hoped the 2009 Chicago Bears would be.

So I’m thinking maybe the Bears should forget about the first twelve weeks of the season.  They’re lost love.  Wishes made to an empty fountain.  Forget about failures on the offensive line, interceptions in the red zone, holes in the Lovie deuce and injuries everywhere.  For one day, Sunday, deliver fans of this organization an effort.  Because I left out one piece of information…

The Packers don’t have to go to the postseason.  The Bears can have their say in the discussion.  Win this one.  Have pride in yourselves and in the colors you wear and beat those bastards back to Cheese Town.  Send them with a message: WE WON’T BE PART OF YOUR ROAD.  Soldier Field should not be part of the Packers’ path to the postseason.  It should be a big tollbooth and the cost to pass through is your season.  Make them pay, Chicago Bears.  Give us all one beautiful memory from 2009.      

The Old Formula

The Chicago Bears are spoilers now.  They’re not good enough to be in the hunt for a playoff position or bad enough to be jockeying for position at the top of the first round.  (I’m completely aware the Bears don’t have a first round pick.)  If the Bears had won in San Francisco, they’d be playing for their playoff lives down the stretch.  But they didn’t.  And they’re not.

• All the Bears proved yesterday is that they are not the Rams.  They’re not the Browns or Chiefs or Lions either.  They are a middle of the road team. 
• They won’t say it but I have to believe Jay Cutler injured his hand worse than he was letting on yesterday.  Otherwise that fourth quarter give-up drive is just about the worst coaching I’ve ever seen on a football field.
• Was it me or did it seem Chris Williams got beat a lot yesterday?
• The guards played well, albeit against the Rams.  It seemed the Garza and Omiyale were all over the field.
• I think Jamar Williams is the keeper of this second group of linebackers.
• This win should be no means quell the hunger at Halas Hall for a new head coach.  To quote Steve Rosenbloom, “Then again, when you consider that the Bears’ three wins in the last
  two months have come against teams that entered Sunday with a combined
  record of 3-29, the Tour still might have legs.”
• Khalil Bell looks like a faster, shiftier version of Matt Forte.
• Adewale Ogunleye seems to get pumped up for these games against terrible teams.  Maybe he’ll grace us with his presence next week?
• Dan Pompei breaks down the safety play: “Kevin Payne and Al Afalava
  gave the Bears solid play at safety, Payne coming off the bench to
  start at strong safety for the first time this season and Afalava
  playing a true free safety for the first time in his life.”  Does anyone believe the coaching staff has any clue what’s happening at this position?
• I really like the combination of Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett at wide receiver but watching last night’s game should have the Bears salivating to acquire Anquan Boldin.  Boldin is the big, physical target that Cutler’s been dreaming about.
• Remember when we were all singing Brad Maynard’s praises?  What the hell was that yesterday?
• Retire the receiver screen.
• On the fake field goal: really?  Is that even a play call?  Who drew it up?  It makes no functional sense to have a tight end cross the formation and receive a flip in defensive traffic.  It also makes no sense to risk failing on that play and give a dying team hope.  This coaching staff simply makes no sense.

The Bears are not good.  Not even close.  Today’s win was so awful that it was enough to get a coach fired.  But it won’t.  Why?  Because we’re already in the process of disguising this victory as somehow important.  Nothing…nothing…nothing…was learned today.

This team is awful.  Terrible.  Disgusting. 

But you know what? 

It’s Packer week.

I was fired up at the start of last week’s game in Minnesota.  I doubt I’ll be able to repeat that performance.  I’d like to see the Bears win this week.  Win big, if possible.  Not because I think it will reaffirm some belief in the folks running the show but because I don’t believe this roster is one of the league’s cellar dwellers.  I think some pieces are in place.  I think those pieces need to be nurtured, developed and other words that mean the same thing.  I don’t think that’s going to happen with these guys.

Chris Williams Moved to Left Tackle
Lovie Smith officially acknowledged today that the team has moved Chris Williams to left tackle.  Of course, in typical Chicago Bears fashion, they waited until Orlando Pace could be embarrassed and subsequently injured by the fierce Vikings defensive front.  Jay Cutler’s blindside immediately becomes the only thing worth watching against the St. Louis Rams.

On a side note, I think Steve Rosenbloom is out of line in questioning whether Orlando Pace quit on Lovie Smith Sunday.  Pace is one of the greatest left tackles of the post-LT era and he’s done more than enough in this sport to warrant a pass on being dominated by a player in his prime.  Rosenbloom loves the team, it’s obvious in his writing, and he’s disappointed.  But ease off on this one.

Jarron Gilbert to debut this week?
According to Jerry Angelo, he’s fit and ready for action.  If this is the case, it’s an intelligent move.  The next five weeks can become about a lot of players.  There is no reason that Gilbert shouldn’t be worked into a rotation of Alex Brown and Gaines Adams as Adewale Ogunleye is worked out of the lineup.  The Bears also must give Jay Cutler a chance to throw the ball to Devin Aromashodu, a player he has been excited about since training camp.  Maybe a post pattern?  Something not a bubble screen or go.

Where is ownership? 
Mike Imrem writes a MUST READ column in the Daily Herald asking some very obvious questions.  Here’s the entire open:

For years now my measure of upper-level leadership has been how Steelers owner Dan Rooney was described by Mean Joe Greene.

“When things go as planned, Dan is in the background,” Greene said. “When things don’t go as planned, he’s in the forefront.”

Unless I’m mistaken, six losses in seven games signals that things aren’t going as planned for the Bears.

So where are the ownership McCaskeys? Where is club president Ted Phillips? Where is general manager Jerry Angelo?

All of them should be so visible these days that we get tired of seeing them.

Maybe Lovie Smith’s $5.5 million annual salary is enough for him to be the point man taking all the hits.

Some really good stuff from a really good writer.  Click the link and read the rest.

George S. Halas was the king of the Chicago Bears.  Not the head coach or general manager.  Not the Director of College Scouting.  Not the Player Personnel Consultant.  He was the king.  And he ruled with a fist that would make iron blush.  The Bears don’t need to replace their offensive coordinator or adjust controls inside the war room.  They need to anoint a leader.  They need a king.  The king’s name is Mike Holmgren.

There are viable general manager candidates out there that could stabilize the front office.  Ernie Accorsi risked his reputation on Eli Manning and won the Giants a Super Bowl.  Charley Casserly risked his reputation and took Mario Williams over Reggie Bush – a move that made him the laughing stock of the NFL.  Has everyone sent their letters of apology to this now-genius bit of evaluation?

There are also viable coaching candidates.  I favor Shanny’s ability to implement the stretch running game and utilize the ability of quarterback Jay Cutler over Bill Cowher’s grit but really couldn’t complain if either was brought in to lead the team. 

But Mike Holmgren is a different story.  The big man studied coaching under the great Bill Walsh in San Francisco and management under the brilliant Ron Wolf in Green Bay.  He elevated the Seattle Seahawks to consistent success for a decade.  (There are even rumors of Holmgren returning to run the ‘Hawks.)  Holmgren would receive total control of football operations and thus total accountability for the ballclub’s success or failure.    

Hiring Mike as the man upstairs could also lead to a second coup: a high-profile, Holmgren disciple as coach.  Might it be enough to convince Jon Gruden to spare the nation another year of that inane blabber he spews on Monday nights?  Gruden would be, in a lot of ways, a remarkable hire.  A combination of Shanny’s offensive ingenuity and Cowher’s fire.

Do I think this will happen?  No.  But this is how the Bears should be thinking.  Big.  Don’t tweak.  Overhaul.  Don’t tinker.  Rebuild.  And do it with the football people who earn respect merely by walking through the door.  How would you feel about Holmgren/Gruden in 2010?  I’d feel pretty damn confident.