Pack93z
You retired too? .... Not me. I'm in my prime
Ah the joy of a good Jay zinger.. I love seeing the bears go down in a giant ball of flames...
However, we can't forget.. this game will be like their superbowl this season.. they will come out and give it a good fight. That being said.. I think I will grab the Marshmallows and roast them over the open flame that has become the Bears 2007 season.
A victory over the Vikings would have brought some false hope. At least now it’s clear that the once-proud Bears are in dismal shape
December 18, 2007
BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist
MINNEAPOLIS -- Now America understands why the Bears are the NFL's newest crash dummies -- or, I should say, the segments of America that wasted their lives watching Monday night. After the latest collapse, three men gathered on the ESPN set. One was Emmitt Smith. Another was Adrian Peterson, who might break Smith's all-time rushing record, smiling as he was serenaded by lingering fans with the obvious, "Yo, Adrian!"
But I was more interested in the guy sitting with them. Hey, Steve Young, can we talk you into quarterbacking the Bears? Yes, at your age?
False security doesn't stop the bleeding. It only creates a pseudo comfort zone that shouldn't exist at Halas Hall, where the Bears officially are stuck in the NFL past tense and need a significant offseason overhaul. Much as a victory might have warmed the civic bones on a cold December night, really now, what would it have accomplished?The Bears were better off blowing a 13-3 lead and losing 20-13, just to drive home the point in Lake Forest that this team is kaput as we know it.
What did loss No. 9 teach us?
That Kyle Orton is not a legitimate starting quarterback and has a bigger neckbeard than a future, which I already knew before he made a horrendous throw to downtown Duluth on 4th-and-1 to end a late threat.
That the defense played well against the explosive Peterson but is finished as a dominant force, which I already knew before Brian Urlacher stopped writing his blog and woke up for the ESPN cameras he so adores.
That Devin Hester is the most exciting athlete in sports but also the most perilous to his team when he grips the football like a lunchbox, which I already knew.
That this team makes stupid mistakes, which I already knew before Peanut Tillman's unforgivably unnecessary roughness penalty (which led to a Minnesota field goal), Fred Miller's roundhouse swing at Jayme Mitchell (which killed a drive) and a Garrett Wolfe holding penalty (which shortened a good return in the final minutes).
"It was the story of the season for us," Lovie Smith droned on in a small space by the locker room. "We did some good things, but weren't able to finish."
Oh, I can hear the giddy amnesiacs now. The Bears made the Vikings sweat, which can serve as a confidence builder for 2008. They turned Tarvaris Jackson into a scarier sight than Michael Jackson, proving they can hang with a team that could do some postseason damage. The mere fact they weren't embarassed on national TV, when most of us were expecing a flogging, somehow is enough to satisfy those who forget the Bears were in the Super Bowl less than 11 months ago and were telling us they'd return and win this time.
So It was for the best that they lost, if only to subdue the would-be nonsense that their future isn't so shaky after all. The Bears, of course, need a quarterback, as they have for most of their existence, with the Donovan McNabb dream still flickering for serious fans after Orton stumbled in his first start in two years. The Bears also need a running back, a revamped offensive line and probably a receiver assuming Bernard Berrian signs elsewhere, which makes sense with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, prowling in the hallway near midnight. The Bears will need to address the likely departure of Lance Briggs (another Rosenhaus client), problems in the secondary and whether Urlacher -- who was great -- still can be a consistent, healthy season-long monster.
When Peterson slipped past a blocked Briggs and scored to give Minnesota a seven-point lead with 10:50 left, tell me: Did anyone think Orton could win the game? He had a couple of impressive moments in the first half, but he was seen flipping his helmet on the sideline when the offense turned sickly in the second half.
How many times do I have to say it? Rex Grossman can't play. Brian Griese can't play. Kyle Orton can't play.
"Kyle did a decent job," said Smith, who seems inclined to start Orton against the Packers. "First time out, hostile environment, he continued to give us a chance to win until the end."
Until. The. End.
"We had a chance to win it, but we didn't make enough plays in the second half," Orton said. "Put that on me."
The temperature in Philadelphia, which seems to change daily, is that McNabb still could be traded in the offseason. His favored destination might be Minnesota, where Jackson's struggles may lead to conclusions that he can't lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl but could be groomed by a championship-capable McNabb. Coach Brad Childress is a McNabb guy from way back, and with Peterson and an elite run defense, the Vikings give McNabb a much better chance to return to the Super Bowl than the Bears. Weeks ago, he was telling people he wanted to go home to Chicago, but upon realizing the Bears' deep woes, he changed his mind. Do you blame him? Whatever the case, Orton's outing should end every absurd notion that he ever could be The Man.
On the back page of the newspaper, the Bears are in shambles. On the front page, they've become social misfits. Their demise on the field has been compounded by a continuing series of troubling issues involving star players, the latest featuring -- you guessed it -- Briggs. In a season when he has feuded with management over his contract and suspiciously fled the scene after crashing his Lamborghini at 3 a.m., Briggs is accused by the mother of his 3-month-old baby of not paying sufficient child support and getting at least two other women pregnant.
This, assuredly, is not the textbook way of landing a long-term extension.
"I have had an open-door policy toward parenting," Brittini Tribbett, 21, told the Sun-Times. "Lance has apparently had an open-pants policy toward paternity."
Briggs and Urlacher are more than brothers in linebacking. Both are fighting public battles involving children fathered out of wedlock. Urlacher's custody saga with the world-famous Tyna Robertson has become a running embarrassment. This after Tank Johnson clouded last season with his guns-and-ammo circus. Maybe the Bears haven't plummeted to the crime-blotter level of the Cincinnati Bengals, but the problems were disturbing enough during their Super Bowl run. The dimension of losing football just makes Halas Hall more dysfunctional.
There was Lovie, trying to find consolation in 5-9. "We've got a chance to sweep our biggest rival," he said, referring to Green Bay.
I'm more interested in free agency, the draft and the trade market.
This season was dead before it started
However, we can't forget.. this game will be like their superbowl this season.. they will come out and give it a good fight. That being said.. I think I will grab the Marshmallows and roast them over the open flame that has become the Bears 2007 season.
A victory over the Vikings would have brought some false hope. At least now it’s clear that the once-proud Bears are in dismal shape
December 18, 2007
BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist
MINNEAPOLIS -- Now America understands why the Bears are the NFL's newest crash dummies -- or, I should say, the segments of America that wasted their lives watching Monday night. After the latest collapse, three men gathered on the ESPN set. One was Emmitt Smith. Another was Adrian Peterson, who might break Smith's all-time rushing record, smiling as he was serenaded by lingering fans with the obvious, "Yo, Adrian!"
But I was more interested in the guy sitting with them. Hey, Steve Young, can we talk you into quarterbacking the Bears? Yes, at your age?
False security doesn't stop the bleeding. It only creates a pseudo comfort zone that shouldn't exist at Halas Hall, where the Bears officially are stuck in the NFL past tense and need a significant offseason overhaul. Much as a victory might have warmed the civic bones on a cold December night, really now, what would it have accomplished?The Bears were better off blowing a 13-3 lead and losing 20-13, just to drive home the point in Lake Forest that this team is kaput as we know it.
What did loss No. 9 teach us?
That Kyle Orton is not a legitimate starting quarterback and has a bigger neckbeard than a future, which I already knew before he made a horrendous throw to downtown Duluth on 4th-and-1 to end a late threat.
That the defense played well against the explosive Peterson but is finished as a dominant force, which I already knew before Brian Urlacher stopped writing his blog and woke up for the ESPN cameras he so adores.
That Devin Hester is the most exciting athlete in sports but also the most perilous to his team when he grips the football like a lunchbox, which I already knew.
That this team makes stupid mistakes, which I already knew before Peanut Tillman's unforgivably unnecessary roughness penalty (which led to a Minnesota field goal), Fred Miller's roundhouse swing at Jayme Mitchell (which killed a drive) and a Garrett Wolfe holding penalty (which shortened a good return in the final minutes).
"It was the story of the season for us," Lovie Smith droned on in a small space by the locker room. "We did some good things, but weren't able to finish."
Oh, I can hear the giddy amnesiacs now. The Bears made the Vikings sweat, which can serve as a confidence builder for 2008. They turned Tarvaris Jackson into a scarier sight than Michael Jackson, proving they can hang with a team that could do some postseason damage. The mere fact they weren't embarassed on national TV, when most of us were expecing a flogging, somehow is enough to satisfy those who forget the Bears were in the Super Bowl less than 11 months ago and were telling us they'd return and win this time.
So It was for the best that they lost, if only to subdue the would-be nonsense that their future isn't so shaky after all. The Bears, of course, need a quarterback, as they have for most of their existence, with the Donovan McNabb dream still flickering for serious fans after Orton stumbled in his first start in two years. The Bears also need a running back, a revamped offensive line and probably a receiver assuming Bernard Berrian signs elsewhere, which makes sense with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, prowling in the hallway near midnight. The Bears will need to address the likely departure of Lance Briggs (another Rosenhaus client), problems in the secondary and whether Urlacher -- who was great -- still can be a consistent, healthy season-long monster.
When Peterson slipped past a blocked Briggs and scored to give Minnesota a seven-point lead with 10:50 left, tell me: Did anyone think Orton could win the game? He had a couple of impressive moments in the first half, but he was seen flipping his helmet on the sideline when the offense turned sickly in the second half.
How many times do I have to say it? Rex Grossman can't play. Brian Griese can't play. Kyle Orton can't play.
"Kyle did a decent job," said Smith, who seems inclined to start Orton against the Packers. "First time out, hostile environment, he continued to give us a chance to win until the end."
Until. The. End.
"We had a chance to win it, but we didn't make enough plays in the second half," Orton said. "Put that on me."
The temperature in Philadelphia, which seems to change daily, is that McNabb still could be traded in the offseason. His favored destination might be Minnesota, where Jackson's struggles may lead to conclusions that he can't lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl but could be groomed by a championship-capable McNabb. Coach Brad Childress is a McNabb guy from way back, and with Peterson and an elite run defense, the Vikings give McNabb a much better chance to return to the Super Bowl than the Bears. Weeks ago, he was telling people he wanted to go home to Chicago, but upon realizing the Bears' deep woes, he changed his mind. Do you blame him? Whatever the case, Orton's outing should end every absurd notion that he ever could be The Man.
On the back page of the newspaper, the Bears are in shambles. On the front page, they've become social misfits. Their demise on the field has been compounded by a continuing series of troubling issues involving star players, the latest featuring -- you guessed it -- Briggs. In a season when he has feuded with management over his contract and suspiciously fled the scene after crashing his Lamborghini at 3 a.m., Briggs is accused by the mother of his 3-month-old baby of not paying sufficient child support and getting at least two other women pregnant.
This, assuredly, is not the textbook way of landing a long-term extension.
"I have had an open-door policy toward parenting," Brittini Tribbett, 21, told the Sun-Times. "Lance has apparently had an open-pants policy toward paternity."
Briggs and Urlacher are more than brothers in linebacking. Both are fighting public battles involving children fathered out of wedlock. Urlacher's custody saga with the world-famous Tyna Robertson has become a running embarrassment. This after Tank Johnson clouded last season with his guns-and-ammo circus. Maybe the Bears haven't plummeted to the crime-blotter level of the Cincinnati Bengals, but the problems were disturbing enough during their Super Bowl run. The dimension of losing football just makes Halas Hall more dysfunctional.
There was Lovie, trying to find consolation in 5-9. "We've got a chance to sweep our biggest rival," he said, referring to Green Bay.
I'm more interested in free agency, the draft and the trade market.
This season was dead before it started
