Week 14 - Bears at Redskins Preview
Quick commentary on last week’s loss (and these conversations are rarely conducive to anything) . . . the Bears should have won. Not because of some boneheaded play, or a Rex Grossman turnover, or anything like that. But, because of an A-hole named Walt Coleman, a dairy farmer from Little Rock, Arkansas. He is also NFL referee number 65, who is most famous for the tuck rule decision of the 2001 AFC Championship game between the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots. Many fans regard him as the worst referee in the league, and you can include me in that crowd. In the final half of the game, Coleman made two crucial decisions that essentially handed a tight game to the New York Giants. Play Number 1: A ridiculous penalty. The Bears are driving down the field with 13:56 to go in the third quarter with a ball that Derrick Ward from the Giants fumbled away to them. From the Giants 11, Adrian Peterson has a four-yard gain on a 2nd and 8. Little Rock calls a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Terrence Metcalf for kneeing a Giants player. If you watch the replay, this is a non call. The linemen push and pull all day long. The Giant’s player probably didn’t even notice anything happen. Ridiculous call that killed a very promising drive. Play number 2: Eli Manning, pass to Amani Toomer in the end zone with 6:59 remaining in the 4th quarter, ruled incomplete as it was a low pass the appeared to “one-hop” into Toomer’s chest and waiting hands. Tom Coughlin challenges the ruling on the field. Several slow motion replays show the ball arrive to Toomer, barely off of the ground, and then bound up into his chest, seemingly from the ground, as hands don’t have that affect at that angle. NFL rules require indisputable visual evidence to overturn a call on the field. Keep in mind that the official is looking at the same replays that fans watching TV are and that the original call was an incompletion. Judging by the angles of the shots they were showed on TV, and my extensive knowledge of physics, the fact that this play was overturned is insanity. This was a third down play, and if called correctly would have likely resulted in an easy field goal try from the six-yard line. My mind says that Coleman had his money on the Giants this week.
Moving on to more substantive things. The Bears meet the Washington Redskins on Thursday at 7:00PM, central. If you are in Chicago you can catch this game on either the NFL network or local channel 50. But if you are outside of either these markets, don’t expect to see the game unless you have the NFL Network.
Despite the doom and gloom surrounding Sunday’s loss to the Giants, the Bears are actually still in the playoff hunt. After all they are only one game out of the sixth and final playoff seed position. The sixth seed is currently held by the Arizona Cardinals at 6-6. There are two other 6-6 teams (Minnesota and Detriot) and five, 5-7 teams including the Bears. That’s a lot of teams vying for one spot and the Bears will likely have to win out to hope to even have a shot. That being said, you have to wonder, at this state of the season, what is the point? If, excuse me, IF the Bears make it too the playoffs, how far could they really go? Coming from a fan you hope that they just lose out and secure the highest draft position that a 5-11 record can get you (usually somewhere in the 4 to 7 range). As a professional, the NFL athletes and coaches are endlessly competitive animals. While their play may not always be inspiring, they will give it their best shot, and should win a few more before the season is over.
The Redskins are ranked third in their division with a 5-7 record, and are similarly on the outside looking in. However, the bottom line is that this is a team in disarray at this point. Their defensive leader (and best player on the team), Sean Taylor, was just killed in his home by four burglars. The funeral was held on Monday, and the ‘skins have to find a way to prepare for a Thursday night game while traveling back and forth to Miami to attend the services. The Redskins have lost two straight to the Buccaneers and the Bills. A match up against the Bears doesn’t look too promising as the Redskins apparently have problems with the B-teams. Ba-dum-pum.
I think that you can throw all statistics and history out the window. Emotion is bound to unravel this team. I expect a very physical and undisciplined game by the Washington Redskins. Hopefully, the Bears will be able to capitalize. There is a giant whole in center field now that Taylor is gone. The other safety is LaRon Landry, a rookie first round pick, and Reed Doughty, a second year player. If there aren’t some opportunities down the field for any of our receivers, I’d be shocked.
Goose’s Go-Ahead
The Bears will dominate an emotional and mistake prone Washington team. Going by the history, this will be a very low scoring affair. But I’m not going by history. The field will be wide open, with some nice highlight plays on both sides of the line of scrimmage, with the Bears ultimately winning.
Bears 31 Washington 24.
Postscript – this go ahead presumes that Walt Coleman will not be officiating this week’s game.