A Wounded Bear is a Dangerous Animal...

[Bruce]

A Wounded Bear is a Dangerous Animal...
October 1, 2007
Written by Bruce Smith - PackerChatters Staff

...An Early Preview

There is only one thing to do with a wounded bear – kill it and put it out of its misery.

Who would have thought that in the 5th game of the 2007 season, the youngest team in the NFL would have just that opportunity presented?

But that is exactly the opportunity that sits before the 4 – 0 North Division leading Green Bay Packers in their house next Sunday night at Lambeau Field in front of a National TV audience.

Obviously the Packers have had this game circled on their calendars since far before the season started as a critical game. If you want to dethrone a champion you have to knock them down – especially when they come to visit your house.

Here it is the first day of October and the 1 – 3 Bears face travelling to Green Bay with everything to lose if they cannot stop the slide that has left them in an early “must not lose position.”

The desperation that the team (Chicago) is feeling is summed up quite well in the words of Brian Urlacher: "We're a bad team right now," he said. "We're definitely not playing to our potential right now—that's not a bold statement, obviously. We've just got to get it fixed, man. If we don't think we're better than we are, then why are we playing?" We stink right now."

That is a wordy summary with a lot of now’s sprinkled in, but it does capture the situation.

Lovie and his once feared defense had just given up a lead twice and 34 points in the fourth quarter of their collapse to the Lions, to which the usually confident and soft spoken Lovie Smith offered, "Right now we're a 1-3 ball club, and that's exactly how we played. There aren't a lot of positives for me to talk about right now."

Wow! Who saw this coming as recently as September 1, 2007? Not me, or any one I was reading or listening to.

Yes, the Bears have suffered a number of critical injuries, but they also made a number of critical mistakes in personnel decisions in the off season. And if you dig deep in the disaster that is currently “the Bears” a number of coaching decisions will come under microscopic scrutiny.

When a team blows a 13-3 lead in 15 minutes and collapses as dramatically as the Bears did last Sunday, finger pointing at every level of the organization should be expected. Especially when one considers the high expectations that as recently as a month ago had folks in Chicago booking their 2008 Super Bowl reservations.

The Bears had hoped for a turnaround by changing from their strong-armed but head-case QB Rex Grossman to the well traveled Veteran Brian Griese. Things did not change as expected. In fact, Brian Griese sounded a lot like Rex Grossman when he offered up this gem: "Sometimes, I'm on my back and don't see what happens."

This brings us back to the title of this article - A Wounded Bear is a Dangerous Animal.

Believe me the Bears know what is at stake when they travel to Lambeau field next Sunday night.

Jamar Williams relayed what his coach told the team in the locker room, (Lovie Smith) "Told us to look in the mirror,"

We're not doing our job right now, and that starts with me," Veteran center Olin Kreutz said. "It starts with me making my blocks. [Griese] was under a lot of pressure, and that falls on us."

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris implores, "Just keep believing in us, and we'll be all right. This whole year has been bizarre, not just the second half [of the game]. We just need to pull together, find a way.”

Of course the same Tommie Harris sounds borderline psychotic when he declares, "This team is one of those teams that's so good it's scary. We shouldn't be losing games. We're too good for this.”

And back to sober reality when he admits, “I don't understand this. We'll find a way… Somehow.”

So what will it take for Mike McCarthy, Brett Favre and the youngest football team in the National Football League to do the right thing and put a wounded Bear out of its misery?

That is the question that is being pondered and designed at 1265 as I write this piece.

We should have a interesting week of analysis and suggestions here in the forums... as we wait for this HUGE and unexpected early season opportunity to arrive.

I will offer up my suggestion in part two of this Preview later in the week… I look forward to reading all of yours in the forums while we wait for this opportunity Sunday to arrive

 

[Obi1]

Good post Bruce.

I was thinking that there was the Minnesota Vikings who puffed out their chests and bragged their way to a 6-0 start in 2003 then lost out of making the playoffs on a lst second TD to the Cardinals.

I hope the Packers don't make the same mistake.

Also, llok at the Milwaukee Brewers THIS season... Scary how fast starts can be outdone by horrendous finishes.

 

[Greg C.]

It's so weird. At the end of last season, the Packers were out of the playoffs and the Bears had the best record in the conference. Now the tables have turned. Under Lovie Smith, the Bears have played well against the Pack, so this is no gimme. But at this point I just don't see how that Bears offense can get much done against our defense. The Bears will need to get some turnovers and one or two big runbacks by Devin Hester to win this game.

I really think the Packers will win. I feel very good about this game.

 

[nathaniel]

I have a good feeling about the game too, but I've by no means marked it off as a win yet. Rivalry games are always tough. I mean, look at the 4th quarter against the Vikings. I think everyone was sweating bullets for a few minutes there.

 

[WinnipegPackFan]

First, let me say "Excellent piece as always Bruce"

I really thought our wake up call was going to happen against the Vikings. I didn't like the fact that we do not have a good record there, that Brett may have been a little shaky due to the fact that all eyes were on him and the big 421 record;and that the Vikings were really playing for some early season pride. The end result went our way and I am happy to have been wrong about how I thought the game might go.

With the above being said, I am really happy we turned over the ball a few times in the dome. This may sound funny but it's better to have the turnovers happen there;in a game we won and with MM taking serious note so he will be able to practice the ball control aspect this week; instead of letting that aspect of the game sneak up on us when the Bears arrive on Sunday.

Ball control is always a key but I like the fact extra emphasis will be placed on it during this week. As for the outcome ? We are 4-0 but a very hungry Vikiqueen team almost came back on us last Sunday and the game was not really sealed until there was about 1:05 left and we got the interception.

We are now facing another very hungry team with something to prove and although I think we are better then them on paper; I think we have another close, tough game ahead. We should win if we "really" show up to play but I will not be surprised if they take advantage of our pass D !!!

Yes, Chicago will surprise us and score with the pass this game, we need to score more.


Cheers ackbeer:

 

[Bruce]

Here is what Lovie Smith was saying on Monday regarding getting his 1 - 3 team back on track with a trip to 4-0 Green Bay up next:

"We need to get the ball to Greg Olsen more. The passing game right now, you can say we need to get the ball to Olsen more, to Devin Hester. We're not going to change an awful lot, though. We're not going to bring in anybody else. We're going to go with this group and try to get it solved."

"We're starting the second quarter [of the season]. I expect a lot of improvement. It's good to play a team like Green Bay … going to their home stadium, a place that we've had success winning. Hopefully we can get some of those things taken care of."

 

[Bobby Roberts]

This game is scary. There's no question that a wounded Bear is dangerous. These first 6 games of the season are very difficult IMHO.

When looking at the schedule, I thought we'd be in great shape/very lucky going into the bye with a winning record (4-2). We're already at that point with a 4-0 start, but beating the Bears is important. It keeps our lead in the division, knocks the Bears further down and goes toward us dominating at home again.

The bears will come out hungry and play hard all 4 quarters. We cannot get caught up in the records and believe that we are so much better than them. The players must come out with the same fight that they've had thusfar. This one is poised to be a classic!

GO PACK GO!!!

 

[Bobby Roberts]

"We're starting the second quarter [of the season]. I expect a lot of improvement. It's good to play a team like Green Bay … going to their home stadium, a place that we've had success winning. Hopefully we can get some of those things taken care of."

That quote needs to be posted in the GB locker room this week!

 

[warhawk]

This is the Packers/Bears. It's probably going to be a war.

I don't think they have the offense to beat us. I think our pressure will hurt the Bears badly who are very inconsistant with pass protection.

We need to clamp down on the run better than we did last week and put them in obvious third and long passing situations. If not their TE's could hurt us with shorter down and distance plays for first downs.

On offense Brett should be able to out duel their Dbacks. Losing Brown was a huge blow for the Bears. They are not the same pass defense without him in there.

There's only two ways the Bears can beat us. We turn the ball over for scores #1.
Secondly, they keep the ball by effectively running it and getting enough time of possession to keep our offense out of rythm.

The Bears made a huge error sticking with Rex and not addressing an aging offensive line that showed signs last year of needing some change and they are paying for it. You can't keep your defense on the field the whole game no matter how good they are.

 

[Zombieslayer]

It's so weird. At the end of last season, the Packers were out of the playoffs and the Bears had the best record in the conference. Now the tables have turned. Under Lovie Smith, the Bears have played well against the Pack, so this is no gimme. But at this point I just don't see how that Bears offense can get much done against our defense. The Bears will need to get some turnovers and one or two big runbacks by Devin Hester to win this game.

I really think the Packers will win. I feel very good about this game.

Greg - That is exactly how I'm feeling. Contain Hester, don't turn the ball over, and this is a lock. Their O is limp. I'm not at all worried about it. We just can't let Hester and their D score.

One more thing to add, their DBs are hurting. We need to exploit their secondary. If we can do that, we can kill them.

One thing to watch out for - they did manage six sacks against the Lions. Hopefully our OL fares much better.

 

[porky88]

Bears scare me a little. This is their Super Bowl basically because 1-4 as we all know is a tough record to recover from. It's possible but it's tough.

Green Bay will be fired up but this is do or die for Chicago.

 

[pack_in_black]

Bears scare me a little. This is their Super Bowl basically because 1-4 as we all know is a tough record to recover from. It's possible but it's tough.

Green Bay will be fired up but this is do or die for Chicago.

I'm really hoping that the GB players come out as fired up as they were in last year's season finale, and not over-confident as young, undefeated teams are always in danger of being.

This is a game where our Packers can really establish themselves as the Alpha Dog in the NFC North, and as a true contender in the NFC as a whole. I hope MM is pushing these guys to get their minds right.

 

[Pack93z]

This is a game where our Packers can really establish themselves as the Alpha Dog in the NFC North, and as a true contender in the NFC as a whole. I hope MM is pushing these guys to get their minds right.

I agree, but if the players need to be pushed then something is amiss.. they should feel this chance to bury the Bears this week right down to the bone.

 

[pack_in_black]

This is a game where our Packers can really establish themselves as the Alpha Dog in the NFC North, and as a true contender in the NFC as a whole. I hope MM is pushing these guys to get their minds right.

I agree, but if the players need to be pushed then something is amiss.. they should feel this chance to bury the Bears this week right down to the bone.

I disagree. It's the fans' collective duty to be automatically jakked up for a rivalry/kick-em-while-they're-down game. Every player in the NFL sees games as a job that they do. Like the rest of us, I'm sure they get caught up in the day to day humdrum of their work, and get a little lax here and there.

It's the coaching staff's duty to keep them sharp, hungry, and aware of the repurcussions of a loss at any given time. Especially when the roster is as green as ours is.