ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I'm currently in shock. The Bears just crushed the Saints to win a trip to the Superbowl! I'm happy for Lovie and the entire team and for the great city of Chicago. We're going to Miami!

It hasn't sunk in. Maybe by this afternoon it will.

I've got to run to Sports Authority to get my hands on one of those locker room hats.

BEAR DOWN.

This is the biggest game of my life since the Superbowl back on January 26,1986.
I wanted to take a different approach to writing about this game today. So, I'm sharing some of my day dreams with you. They are newspaper headlines.

I'm hoping I see more newspaper headlines tomorrow that are of this form:
Bears March all over Saints
Bears Maul Saints
Aints what they used to be!
New Orleans hit by Hurricane Hester!
Who Dat? Da Bears you dumb asses.
Cinderella Saints swept away by Bears.
Return of the back! Jones carries Bears to Miami!
Shufflin on down to Miami!


Stuff like that. I'd prefer not to see crap like this:
Aint it about time?!
Dropped a Deuce on Chicago!
Saints March into Chicago!
Aints no more!
New Orleans Payton best in Chicago! (or some shit like that for the coach from Naperville)
Bush is good!
Saints Super in Spaceship!

MJ did a great job of breaking down this game. Go read it. I won't waste any more time, since its getting close to game time: Bears 24-17 over the Saints. They will meet the Golden Boy, Tom Brady, who will beat the Colts (yet again) 27-21.

We're going to Miami folks. Pack your bags.


BEAR DOWN.

I just woke up to the sound of sleet hitting my bedroom window. After a long night of going out and drinking this is the last thing you want to hear at 8 am. The little ice daggers were crashing against the glass in steady bursts. This means the wind is kicking up. Its swirling. I think I can hear the neighbor's Bears flag over the wind chime hanging off the garage. Its game day and somewhere downtown the Saints are letting the wind and the ice creep into their gameplan.

I know weather isn't going to be as much of a factor as everyone hopes it will be. Hoping for the weather to help you in a big game is a sign of weakness. Both teams play in it, so why would one have more of an advantage than the other? The typical arguement is because it affects the play calling. Less passing, more running. That doesn't help tip the balance of power to either the Bears or the Saints. Both can run the football. Both have problems stopping the run too. If there was such a thing as grinder football, today's game would embody it.

The die-hards have already left their houses this morning. A typical Bears season ticket holder, at least the ones I know, have woken up at 5 am. They start preparing themselves as if they were going to get the call to come in and defend Colston on a skinny post. That's a good thing because covering the 6 foot 4 inch wideout is going to be a tough job. You better eat your Wheaties. These early birds need to prepare too. They spend the first hour of their morning finding their long underwear and North Face fleeces. Its important to make sure there is an inside pocket on one of those bubble jackets. That's were the Jack Daniels goes. Everyone is in uniform. There will be a team of Urlachers, Paytons, and Butkus' in the stands today. That's going to be tough for the Saints to defend.

Typically the driver has the Tahoe packed up since last week. All the essentials to win a game are in the back: grill, tent, folding chairs, and coolers. If they've been smart, to a man, they have all armed themselves with a gameplan. Everyone knows what Lovie should do to keep the Bears ahead early in the game. The drive down to the tailgate actually begins at 6 am and the conversation the entire way is about the defense. Everyone has an idea that will get the Bears to Miami. Even I have one. So here it is:

Everyone thinks that Mike Brown is the best safety on the Bears. They're wrong. The best safety on this team is Brian Urlacher. So I want to see Rivera and Lovie move Brian to strong safety today against the Saints. That is step one. Step two is to take the kid from 'Bama, Anderson and stand him up. If he could get 12+ sacks in the regular season not playing every down, and with one hand on the ground, you can only imagine what he can do at linebacker. Put him outside and figure out if either Briggs or Hillenmeyer can take middle. So now what you have is someone at linebacker who is super fast and has the uncanny ability to pursue the quarterback. We need to get more pressure from the front four, but I believe blitzing from the linebacker position is something we don't do enough. The reason we don't do it enough is because we need Urlacher to drop back into coverage. Fine. Stick him back there for a few plays at strong side safety, and bring Anderson along at linebacker. I think these two moves will benefit both the defensive backfield and the front four.

See? Everyone has a gameplan for today. What's yours?

Sunday came and went. The Seahawks went with it. Straight out of town. I am still stunned from the overtime victory the Bears had over the Seahawks. It was a tough game for the Bears.

Historically, the Bears have had some trouble winning home playoff games. If you want to get technical about it, we've had trouble winning playoff games, period. Have no fear, Ron Turner is on his second go around as offensive coordinator and he knows how these things shake out. The first drive was a thing of beauty. We methodically marched down the field using Thomas Jones as the messenger. He would let the Seahawks know that the Bears were not going quietly. No three and out in this series. Instead, we find Turner calling nothing but run after run. It built up our momentum. That's what a nervous, and much maligned quarterback would need to build his confidence up. More importantly, this is how you win the game.

Grossman had a great game. He came close to throwing a very early pick, only to watch the defender let the ball through his hands and into the waiting hands of Davis. It was an important first down. The game could have turned right there. I could sense the reporters in the booth working simultaneously on two different stories right at that moment. Its as if the Bears season was just another one of those Twist-a-plot books you used to read as a kid. Skip to page 45 if Grossman is intercepted: "The Seahawks return the broken pass to the Bears 20 yard line!!"  Skip to page 88 if Grossman completes the pass: "First Down Bears! What a tremendous effort! The Bears are marching into Seattle terrotory" It was an up and down season that found many people peeking at page 45 on Sunday, only to be relieved the right path was indeed on page 88.

The most disappointing thing about this entire game was once again the defense's inability to stop the run. I hate to start off with the negative, but it seemed like Alexander was rushing for 10 yards a carry in the second half. The defense made 2 huge stops when they really had their backs against the wall, but the pounding up the middle we took was painful to watch. The pressure on Hasselback was also a bit light in this game. I would have expected a few more sacks, or at least a couple of knockdowns. Instead, we saw Seattle's QB stand tall in the pocket and complete passes when he had to. Their game plan worked well against our defense, on our field, in our weather. Did anyone expect anything less from Mike Holmgren? He knows a thing or two about beating the Bears. I'm just thankful that the defense kept them from scoring in the OT session. It gave our quarterback the chance to complete a great pass to move us into field goal range. Robbie Gould took care of everything from that point on. 49 yards later the dream is almost real.

Bring on the Saints.
BEAR DOWN

PLAY ANGRY! That was the message from a couple of die-hard Bears fans earlier this week to the organization in Lake Forest. I agree with this sentiment, but I have my own words of wisdom that I'd like to impart. It's about 11am and the game is about to kick off. I know this won't hit most of you until after the game is over, but that's ok. I have to get this off my chest.

Dispel the myths

"Bears weather" is going to tip the edge in the Bears' favor. This is why home field advantage matters. Sorry guys, but this is not a fact. The Bears, IMHO, aren't a cold weather team. We are light and fast and rely on speed. The frozen mush patty of a field they will play on today is not going to be an advantage. I understand that people think Bears football is about winning in December (or January) with the skies opening up and dumping 10 feet of snow onto Soldier Field, but this isn't going to help us. Sure, we should be running the ball with both Jones and Benson (I prefer Benson in today's weather) but the weather will not be a factor in our win.

 

Myth number 2: Rex has to manage the game. WRONG. Rex has taken a ton of shit for being up an down all season. I'm taking a stand. Rex, play like a winner. Take that Gator win with you to the field today and emulate it. Confidence comes from a deep belief that you know what you are doing. Stop thinking about it and stop listening to idiots like me who write blogs or newspaper articles. This game won't be lost because of you. And if the Bears defense craps the bed against the Seahawks, and we are behind in the 4th quarter, it will fall on you to lead this team down the field for a win. Don't manage the game. Play to win. There is a difference.

Myth number 3: Defense wins this game. No, defense will lose this game for us. When Carolina came in here last year, it was the defense that kept us from winning. It was a horrible performance by our secondary. It was missed tackles. It was total slop. What we need the defense to do today is stay away from the big plays. Make tackles. Don't let Stevens run free across the middle. There really isn't more I can say on this one. Defense doesn't win games. At least not today's game. I'd like to be wrong about this one, but deep down I know better.

 

Keys to the game

So here are my key to winning today's game and enjoying a visit from America's new team, the Saints. (Anyone remember when they were the Aints? A lot has changed)

1. Rex needs to keep the turn overs down to 1 or less. I am ok with 1 pick. Especially if it is going down field. This would mean that Turner is willing to punch the Seahawks in the mouth. Which leads me to number 2...
2. Punch them in the mouth. Be physical. Whether on defense or on offense. I want to see Benson hit the hold hard while running people over. I want to see the defense get to the quarterback. Hit him on every play.
3. Big play players need to make big plays. Hester, Manning Jr., Moose, Urlacher, and yes even Peanut. You guys need to carry us. Make big plays
4. Run both of our backs often. Do not throw on 3rd and 2. Run the damn football. Run it often and run it hard. I expect each of these running backs to have close to 60 yards a piece by the 3rd quarter. You read that right. Run it down their throats.
5. Finally - on the tough decisions, the 4th and 1 on the 40 late in the 3rd quarter. Go for it. And don't just try to run a typical dash up the middle (the draw). Throw to a running back out of the backfield. Jones can do this for us well

So here we go guys...the final prediction:

Bears will manage to get over their nerves right before half time. We go into half 10-10 tied. I expect the 3rd quarter to be the place we see the magic. We either get a kick returned by Hester in this quarter, or a pick for a TD. This moves us up to 17-10, maybe 17-13 heading into the 4th.

From there, predictions go crazy. So I'll just say the game ends with the Bears winning 24-20.

Happy Belated New Year all you Bears fans! I know I've been fat and lazy as of late, but I am back. I can't promise that I am any better since my little vacation from writing, but I can promise that I will be posting a hell of lot more in the coming days. (and weeks) So let's get right to it shall we?

Lets go through some of the obvious points since I missed posting during the first round of the playoffs. Here are some brief comments on the teams you enjoyed reading about last week. Notice, I am starting with the LOSERS.

AFC

The Chiefs

One and done! Is anyone surprised by this? I doubt it. I knew very few people out there that thought the Chiefs had a shot against the Colts. I'll be honest, I actually was one of those suckers that thought the Chiefs had a shot. Why not? The Indy defense was horrible against the run and LJ is one of the league's best. He should have ran all over the Colts. 200 yards and 3 touchdowns! Yea, well that turned out to be a freakin pipe dream. Indy took care of the Chiefs with little effort. Actually, Manning had a crappy game (3 interceptions) and his defense was the story. The Indy defense shut the Chiefs down. Talk about a smack down.

The Jets

Just End the Season? Are you sure? Ahhhh hell! Why not give it a shot. The Jets had the comeback player of the year at QB. Everyone's favorite former Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington was no match for the Golden Boy. The Jets actually hung around for a bit in their game against the Pats, but just like a tornado tearing through Nebraska, they were blown away in the 4th quarter. The entire season for the Jets revolved around their new head coach, the Mangenius! Well, it turns out that he wasn't smart enough to beat his old pal - and still NFL Genius of Record:

 

NFC

The Cowboys

How ' bout them Cowboys? How about them indeed. The Cowboys were the team I expected to see in Chicago. My logic was simple.(IMHO) Parcells would have to return next year because he is Parcells. You don't fire Parcells. This would mean that Owens would have to find another team to torment next year. The only way this would be possible is if TO stepped up and brought his A-game. Remember the performance he had in the Superbowl that one year for the Eagles? That is the type of performance he needed against the Seahawks. This obviously didn't happen. As a result, the Cowboys had to find another way to win. I think everyone saw how they eventually came back and were a field goal away from winning this game. I won't re-hash it. Instead, I'll point you to our friends who run the best damn Cowboys blog on the planet. The bottom line is that the Cowboys underachieved in my opinion. They should have won this game against the Seahawks, and they should be in Chicago getting ready to face the Bears. I wish TO the best of luck in his search for a new job. May I suggest a grocery store.

 

The Giants

First, let me be honest. I didn't think the Giants had it in them to make the playoffs. I'll give them credit for actually getting in but this team has some massive problems. Tiki is retiring, and replacing him is going to be tough. I love Jacobs' game, but he is no Tiki Barber. Deep down, I wonder how many people actually wanted to put forth 110% to win against the Eagles. It would have taken 150% effort for this team to beat the Eagles. (Can you tell, I picked the Eagles to win this game?) Let me stop rambling for a minute. There is a lot wrong with this team. Everyone hates Tom Coughlin, Tiki is gone, Eli is so bad he  looks like a Detmer instead of a Manning, and Shockey is the only one who plays with fire. Don't believe me? Anyone remember his helmet losing catch? These guys did. Bottom line, they need to make a change. But what do I know.

 

Ok - so that leaves us with the Patriots, Colts, Eagles, and the Seahawks who come to Chicago. I'll cover those teams tomorrow as well as start breaking down the Bears playoff game. For now, I leave you with the picture of the sign some fan left at Halas Hall: (read about it here)