And the Season-Long Debacle Continues on MNF
The Bears lost to the Vikings tonight and were thus "mathematically" eliminated from playoff contention. While that was obvious to anyone with a brain two weeks ago, the game was still worth watching for two reasons: Kyle Orton and the Real Adrian Peterson.
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Kyle Orton was pretty bad, but not quite as awful as Tony Kornheiser would have you believe. The guy had absolutely zero support on offense. As he lined up behind a horrible, penalty-drenched offensive line, against the best run defense in football, he was given lousy plays to run with barely adequate third-string runningbacks in the backfield. Then he had Hester running around like a friggin high schooler not seeming to know any of the plays. Just a debacle from top to bottom on offense. Kyle should get two more starts this year, even though his chances of success won't be much higher against Green Bay and New Orleans.
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The Real Adrian Peterson got a couple of touchdowns tonight, but he didn't have that great of a game. Still, an incredible guy to watch and he's going to be a nuisance for years to come in the National Football League, as Ron Jaworski might say 7,000 times.
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Surprise! The defense stepped up. I swear, it was like 2005 all over again. Defense causing turnovers, Orton managing his heart out. Was Nathan Vasher's return the difference on D? He certainly was on two of the picks. I don't want to say the season would have been a whole lot better if Vasher was healthy, but it might not have been quite as ugly.
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Brian Urlacher was a monster tonight. Pick, fumble recovery, two sacks. Last second push for some Pro Bowl votes, I think. Speaking of, I'd say the only Bear that's a lock for the Pro Bowl is Hester. The only others that deserve consideration are Tillman, Ogunleye, and Ayanbedejo. Tommie Harris and Olin Kreutz might get in on reputation as well. Pretty much everyone else sucked this year.
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It's amazing how inept this team is considering the great field position that Hester provides. Every other drive starts at the 40 or better. Man, 2006 seems like a long time ago.
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A couple of crap calls by the refs tonight. A holding on Clark, a roughing on Briggs and a intentional grounding call. The Bears didn't deserve to win this game by any stretch of the imagination, but two of those flags get picked up and there might be a different outcome. I'm just saying.
And that's that. Two more chances to evaluate existing talent before cutdown day. Bear down.
PS. Brian Westbrook: a pox on you and your kneeldown at the one. IT'S THE PLAYOFFS. I'm going to tell Mama McNabb that there's "No Soup For You." That's all.