Sleep It Off

Today, you saw why the Bears gave Rex Grossman so many chances at QB1. He may throw the deep ball as well as anyone in the NFL. Of course, the Bears coaches are enamored with talent over football skill. That is why you see Orton doing well with the tools he has. He is a football player. But he is not a very good football player; he has shortcomings. His shortcomings don't turn into turnovers ala Rex. But he cannot stretch the field and capitalize on the few deep opportunities he gets in a game. Of the 300,000 passes he threw in college, not one of them was over 15 yards. You saw it today. The Bears offense was exposed to the masses for what it is. Not very good. You can have speed and potential, but results and points are what counts.

That being said, this was a game that we should have won. We need an offensive coach who can call a two-minute drill. The last two possessions on offense were horribly played. It is either they don't believe in their wide-outs and tight ends or just forget to throw to them like a normal football team. Either way, you will see this all year. You just get the first down, four more plays and get in field goal range. Put it on your QB. That is what he dreams about. A fullback dive on 4th and 1 with the game on the line. Who made that call, the Smart Quiz winner from AM 780?

Another example of Bears talent evaluation. Chris Harris was dumped by the Bears because they loved Kevin Payne. Payne is younger, faster and flashes great potential. Harris just led the league in fumbles caused with 8 last season. The number 8 would be the number of crucial tackles Payne has missed this year already. Your strong safety needs to be a solid tackler. Payne is always around the ball, he just can't stop the guy who holds it. For a defense that values the takeaway so much, this decision still rankles. Harris's strip of Greg Olsen changed the game.

They need to tell the kick return teams that the illegal blocks in the back are not working. It would be one thing if you tried to cheat and sprung your guy for a huge return. All three of these penalties came on no-gain returns. And killed us on field position. A couple penalties hurt, dropped or missed passes; this game came down to the fact that the offense couldn't get a drive for 3 quarters. Or a first down. St. Clair couldn't handle Julius Peppers, and I now await the second coming of Fred (I lost my wallet) Miller. It will be an improvement. The only thing St. Clair blocks well is oxygen. Devin Hester pulls a rib? Again, we very easily could have started 2-0 with both wins on the road. I still had us at 0-2 at this point.

I was furious after this game. I put Mary Cate in for a nap and fell asleep myself. A gift of a nap. When I woke up, I was so happy for the rest, I lost my anger. I think I'm growing as a human being.