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
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