Orange Whip
San Francisco blew into town and the Bears won in a breeze, 17-9. The Niners were whisked away in a flutter, and the Bears whirlwind tour of first place will continue another week. The game's MVP? Why Gale Sayers, of course. Thank you, thank you, be sure to tip your waitress, I'll be here all week. Ok, enough with the puns, to the game analysis!
- The story of the day was obviously the wind. Every pass was an adventure, and no kick was a gimme. Fun game to watch, really. I almost fell off my couch laughing at Gould's first missed Field Goal (juuuust a bit outside), and at Vasher's record-setting 108 yard kick return for a touchdown.
- The drastic conditions weren't good for the Bears, of course, because it kept the game close against an easy opponent where one mistake could cost them the game. But the defense stepped up, as usual, and overcame all the miscues.
- And what miscues there were. The wind was a factor, but three fumbles by Bobby Wade is simply unacceptable. On two of the fumbles, he simply shouldn't have bothered fielding the ball. He's been good all year at making something out of nothing, but you'd think after the second fumble he'd learn his lesson. Nope. He tried to make chicken salad out of chicken shit a third time, and it backfired. I suspect he'll regain his job next week (Rashied Davis fielded the last punt of the day), but you never know. Coaches hate guys that drop the rock.
- The Bears and the NFL are in the business of selling jerseys so they broke out the alternate Orange unis today. They look kinda cool, but I'm not really a fan to tell you the truth. I prefer the traditional navy, and to leave the gimmicks to the Seahawks of the world. It just felt like I was watching the Miami Hurricanes with dark helmets, which considering the elements wasn't really far off.
- The real story of the day, of course, was the loss of Cedric Benson. His knee got bent backwards on a play, and much like Mark Bradley two weeks ago, he's currently listed as having a “sprain.” And as with Mark Bradley, I'm expecting the worst. MCL, ACL, the whole nine yards. This really, really sucks for the Bears. I don't want to jinx it or anything, but seeing him carted off I was reminded of Curtis Enis. Top five draft pick, contract holdout, sat on the bench awhile, finally cracked the starting lineup, one good game, bam, busted knee. Came back the next year, lost a step, averaged barely 3 yards a carry and was cut the following season. The NFL should simply not allow the Bears a top five draft pick again. Career killer.
- At least the Bears have some depth this year. Thomas Jones, when healthy, has been great. And Adrian Peterson looked really good today, too. But really, that's not the point. Cedric Benson was really starting to shine, and visions of Pro Bowls danced in my head. I really hope he comes back strong without losing a step. Maybe the orange jersey is a good omen. After all, it worked for McGehee.
- It wasn't a good day for the signal callers. Cody Pickett gave a Chad Hutchinson inspired performance. I was actually amazed when he completed that one pass. Just awful. Orton didn't fair much better, of course, but what can you say. The Bears won.