So I guess that Indy upset was a fluke
The Bears felt the crap running down their legs in the fourth quarter for a second week in a row, and it appears that our fears of a lousy 5-11 or mediocre 7-9 season will come to fruition. On the surface, 1-2 ain't bad and is certainly overcomable. But they're going to get embarrassed on national TV next week against Philly, and I don't think I can handle John Madden's back-handed compliments that do nothing more than point out how lousy Kyle Orton is for three hours. I just can't.
Today was not a good football day for me. Not only did the Bears crap themselves, I lost my Eliminator pick (thanks for showing up, New England) and had Ronnie Brown on my fantasy bench to boot. He scored 39 points today. Good thing I didn't pull the "questionable" LDT from my lineup, I might have actually won. Back to the Bears.
This game was tiring. I think Bill Simmons said it best on his podcast the other day. When hearing of the Bears-Tampa matchup, he said "that is a good game that I absolutely do not want to watch one play of." He was right. It actually lulled me to sleep early in the third quarter. I woke up when Orton hit four receivers in a row and the Bears scored a touchdown. I thought I was dreaming, so I backed it up and re-watched the entire drive again. No shit! Orton looked quite competent today, if for only eight minutes or so. Otherwise, it was the same old Kyle. Missing receivers and/or making them come to dead stops to get completions. Before I dreamed up that touchdown, I was actually dreaming of next April's draft. It's that kind of year.
Elsewhere on offense, the entire unit remains very light on talent. Forte is the real deal. He's not a bruiser, he's just a smoothe runner. Nice cuts, hits the hole, catches the ball, can outrun people. A professional back. I'm liking the Lloyd pickup more and more every day, too. But everyone else on offense pretty much sucked today, especially on the line.
As for the defense, they certainly can stop the run. Dusty Dvoracek comes to play every day. I'll tell you who's been missing in action, though. Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris. These guys are supposed to be the main guys, and they're being severely outplayed by Briggs and Dvoracek, respectively. Does either of these guys have a single highlight this year? Urlacher has recovered a pair of fumbles, but falling on the ball isn't exactly a skill. Harris has been simply taking up space, which is nice but not exactly franchise-worthy.
While falling on the ball may not be a skill, forcing fumbles most definitely is, and you know what's coming next. Peanut Tillman punched out another one today, though his colossal brain fart in OT pretty much negated all his good work in the first 4.5 quarters. My dad said, "That was it. That was the game right there." And I'm having a hard time arguing with him.
Still, you should never lose to Brian Griese. Griese's fine, he's ok, he's competent, he's professional, he has nice touch, yada yada. But he's still a Loser with a capital L. I can't believe they let him beat them.
Anyways, that's it for now. This Bears season is already painting a mustache on the Cubs' Mona Lisa, and its not even October yet.
Till next time...