Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears Game Thread
“I don’t know what to expect from the Bears on Sunday, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something crazy happened. Something ridiculous that you just can’t believe. And, if it does, I’ll know why.
Goodbye Dad. I love you. Go Bears.”
-From Andrew Dannehy’s farewell to his father. Better than anything I could invent.
Social media was aghast yesterday in the wake of the Bears 37-34 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions. It seemed everybody wanted to assign blame. The truth is everybody on the Bears sideline was somewhat responsible.
But let’s remember. If the Lions don’t fumble two punts, the Bears aren’t even getting this game near overtime. Fans have been fooled by their quarterback’s heroics over the last three weeks into believing this is suddenly a good team. It is not. And we learned that definitively Sunday.
The Bears have a chance to enter their bye week at .500. That thought was unfathomable two weeks ago. Hell, it was unfathomable with six minutes remaining at Arrowhead Sunday. Nevertheless, here we are, daring to dream.
Does anybody really know if the Bears are any good? Honestly, do you?
Sunday will tell us something. If the Bears are a better than average team they will go into Detroit and beat a Lions team on life support. They will embrace the opportunity to rescue what looked like a dying season by beating a team they are better than right now. Good teams beat the teams they should, unapologetically. This is one of those cases.
The Bears haven’t been in this situation. Point spread aside, many will expect them to win this week. How will they handle a bit of success? How will their quarterback handle the abundant praise (deserved) he’s received all week locally? It will be a fascinating game to watch.
DETROIT.
Where once there was a factory
Now sits only stone
And a city once that changed the world
Sits quietly, alone
• The Bears have two wins because they have a good coach and a good quarterback. You were told that they would win some games for that reason, I know you were because I’m the one who told you. (Pats self on back).
• Through five games in 2014, Matt Forte had 118 touches. Through five games in 2015, he has 120. I don’t know when we should start worrying about over-usage, but he looks damn good right now. He isn’t the only one getting the ball a lot, the Bears backup running backs have combined for 26 touches after totaling 42 last year. Fox wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to run the ball, the Bears are 12th in attempts after finishing 30th last year.
• Coming into the game, there was a debate about which team had the better quarterback. That debate is dead. You saw on Sunday why turnovers aren’t the end all, be all when it comes to quarterback play. The guy still has to be able to make plays. Smith can’t. Cutler can.
This is the moment Cutler released the game-winning touchdown.
Jay Cutler never asked for approval.
He never attempted to win over the Lovie lobby when arriving in Chicago as Jerry Angelo’s big ticket toy. He didn’t give a shit that Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs were the big men on campus. He wasn’t going to kiss the fingers where the two keep their imaginary championship rings.
Cutler has never served up the mindless platitudes others do (especially the fella up in Seattle) in a desperate attempt to be media and fan friendly while raking in endorsement money. Cutler doesn’t care what the media and fans think of him. If he wanted to be liked he could spew things like:
My thing is, and I’ve always been this way – to get to know as many people as I possibly can on a personal level, so that way, when you get on the football field, you’ve got your buddy right beside you, and you’re ready to go. – Russell Wilson
When he shoved an offensive lineman for lack of effort or cursed off an offensive coordinator hell bent on getting him killed, he was too emotional. (He’s a brat! That’s not a leader!) When he didn’t scream and yell and throw his helmet after every interception, he wasn’t emotional enough. (He doesn’t care! That’s not a leader!)
I sat in The Billy Goat Tavern with Reverend Dave last December and watched Dave be drank, gargled and spit out by a gentleman bussing tables because Dave had the nerve merely suggest he DID NOT HATE Cutler. The forty minutes that followed revealed to me that in Chicago’s bloodstream lived a disease. If this disease was gonorrhea, hating Cutler was the burning during urination.
• Sitting in the Kapow Terrace in the north end zone, my favorite part of watching the game in person was watching Cutler go through his reads and the way he moved in the pocket. The touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett was 100 percent Cutler. The way he manipulated the defense was brilliant. That’s why the fourth quarter interception didn’t make sense. He was one step ahead all game and all he needed to do was go to his next read and he would have found Eddie Royal all by himself, likely for a touchdown. He had done it all game, why not on that play?
• All three of Cutler’s interceptions this year have been on passes attempted to Bennett. Is that coincidence? Bennett’s lackadaisical attitude on passes headed his way has to drive the coaching staff nuts.
