RSS
Home
Bears in Five: Week 9 vs. Cardinals
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
It's hard to express honest thoughts and emotions about the Bears 41-21 loss to the Cardinals that are acceptable in print so here goes nothing.
Heading into the Cardinals game this was still a season filled with opportunity. A victory put the Bears at 5-3 and squarely in the playoff hunt, and on a two game winning streak riding the wave of positivity away from the Cincinnati disaster behind.
Unfortunately then the game started and what's left is a team that closed the second quarter of the season with two blowout losses and one of the ugliest victories in recent memory.
Things aren't getting any easier with a short week leading up a prime-time match-up with Mike Singeltary's team in San Fransisco.
So has the season officially come unraveled? Looking at five keys from Sunday it sure would appear so:
1) Tommie Harris loses his mind - Many will try but I am not sure any of us will ever figure out what Tommie Harris was thinking when he threw that punch.
Was it an honest moment of rage? Was he trying to intentionally get kicked out of the game? Did he really think he was going to get away with it?
Whatever the answer it's no coincidence that the Bears have given up over 40pts in the two games that Harris hasn't played. For all the criticism and bad press he's relieved Harris is still the only Bears defensive linemen capable of drawing a double-team.
Because of that the Bears need him on the field, but because of his behavior and over sized contract many feel the Bears need to part ways with him.
what it might come down to is Lovie Smith needs Tommie Harris to save his job. And after what we all saw Sunday, Lovie can't be feeling too good about that.
2) The Warner-Fitzgerald show - Every bit on par with Brady to Moss and Manning to Wayne, when Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald start putting it together on Sunday the Bears never had a chance.
The first half results of Cutler/Hester have been promising and Hester is on pace for his first 1,000 yard season. But what fans saw Sunday is how good can pale in comparison to great. How sufficient compares with dominant.
Charles Tillman shadowed Fitzgerald and it didn't make a difference. Lovie Smith brought every variety of pressure he could think of and none of it rattled Warner. That is an elite duo who almost single-handedly won the game.
Fans have to wonder if it'll ever be possible for Culter to Hester to even scratch the surface of that dominance. Or maybe it will be Cutler to Olsen after busting out with 3 touchdown connections over the weekend. For now all either duo can do is simply watch and learn.
3) What more can Cutler do? - Cutler has been far from perfect through the first half of the season, but all his flaws aside when your quarterback throws for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Chicago Bears you MUST win that game.
Through most of the first half Cutler's play had been the obvious indicator of wins and losses. If he threw two or more interceptions the Bears lost, if he threw one or none they won.
Until Sunday of course.
If the Bears as a whole can not perform well enough to get victories in games Jay plays that well then I am not sure what else can be done. There certainly isn't much more that Cutler can do.
4) Can't get it done in the trenches - Watching Bears games on Sunday and immedeately two things become painfully evident: they can't rush the passer and the offensive line can't push anyone off the ball.
Football is a game where glory goes to the skill players but victory is earned in the trenches. Right now the Bears are having about as much success in the trenches as Poland did in World war I.
The offensive line can't knock anyone off the ball. Without being able to move the line of scrimmage it's entirely up to Matt Forte to create in the running game. The result is an offense that must rely entirely on Jay Cutler and screen passes to get one its best playmakers involved.
The defensive line can't win a one-on-one battle. Even when Lovie dials up the blitz the Bears can't get pressure. Instead what you have is five of six guys mulling around the line of scrimmage and an already suspect secondary exposed.
5) Lighting a fire under Lovie - Over the last two and a half seasons as the Bears have muddled in mediocrity Lovie Smith's demeanor has come into question. A leader is supposed to set the tone, the emotional state for his team.
What comes across as cool under pressure and supreme confidence when winning has looked strikingly like confusion, disinterest and incompetence in recent weeks. Especially as the Bears have been embarrassed with two blowout defeats in the last three games.
Unable to light a fire under his team, will Jerry Angelo and the McCasky family now light a fire under Lovie and place him squarely on the hot seat during the second half of the season?
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
