This post for Football Friday for On Her Game is something of a rant because the Bears have squandered yet another golden opportunity. One they really did not deserve based on their inconsistent play of this season. I had such high hopes for the game, and then I found that truth be told, I slept through much of it. While I have been fighting off some kind of end of the year sickness/exhaustion, I think this was more of a defense mechanism, hoping that the game on the TV was just a bad dream. No dice - it was a true nightmare.
On this
Sunday evening, three days before Christmas, the stage was set for the Bears to
win the NFC North thus securing a spot in the playoffs. The Lions had been
eliminated following an overtime loss to the Giants, and the Packers by virtue
of their tie with the Vikings would find themselves on the outside looking in
if the Bears could just beat the Eagles in Philadelphia. Of course this would
not be an easy win as the defense in Chicago has left much to be desired, and
the offense in Philadelphia under first year head coach, Chip Kelly has found
its rhythm led by second year quarterback, Nick Foles.
Still, NBC
snatched up this game for its Sunday Night coverage under the flex-scheduling
option; seemingly under the impression that this game was going to be
competitive and relevant to the playoff picture. At least the latter was true,
even though the Bears seemed oblivious to the fact that this game meant
everything to them and absolutely nothing to their opponent in regards to
playoff implications.
Following the
disastrous ending to the game against the Vikings, I thought for sure the air
had completely gone out of the Bears playoff hopes. I had mentally moved on to
next season, which is pretty typical for a Bears fan at this point in the
season. Yet, the Lions could not seem to pull away, so there was still a
flicker of hope. The flame, albeit small, seemed to be stomped out by the
Eagles faster than one can light a match as they jumped out to a 21-0 lead
before the first quarter had even ended. Of course the final score of 54-11 was
even more abysmal.
Melissa
Isaacson of ESPN.com and the Chicago Tribune
wrote,
“when shortly after you get
started, your team looks
like a group of toddlers in the middle of rush-hour traffic. Ironically, Cutler
pointed to the Eagles as an example of a team gathering itself after an
embarrassing loss.
"They
just had our number. It's going to happen across the NFL," he (Cutler)
said. "These guys went to Minnesota last week and had a similar game
[losing 48-30], and then they bounced back pretty well.
"Nothing
says we can't play well next week."
Actually, Jay
there is a lot to say that next week may not go very well either. First of all,
the Vikings who have struggled all season to be relevant, beat the stuffing out
of the Eagles. Yet, the Bears defense gave up 514 total yards amidst a game
that ranked as Isaacson went
on to say, “the worst game in Bears franchise history in touchdowns allowed
(seven), the second-worst in points allowed and, especially considering what
they had to play for, their worst overall showing in recent memory.”
Rather than
finishing your playoff business a week ahead of time, the Packers who will more
than likely be led by Aaron Rodgers will be coming into Soldier Field on the
last game of the season to battle it out for the division title. If this eerily
familiar, let’s go back to 2010 when the Bears had the division title and the
number two NFC seed secured, but the Packers were trying to squeak their way in
to the playoffs as the six seed. Well the Packers did more than just make it
into the playoffs, they won the Super Bowl that year.
Do I think
that the Packers will win the Super Bowl this season? Absolutely not. Do I
think the NFC North deserves to have a representative in the playoffs? Not
really. I would actually prefer to temporarily move the Arizona Cardinals in to
the North so that the division can be well represented as I think that team is
the most deserving of all the potential “on the outside looking in teams.”
Until next
Sunday, I will try to figure out a way to block this gift of coal from my
memory and root hard for my Bears on Sunday against the Pack. Let’s hope the
Bears can find their cheese
graters again between now and then. I will also hope that I can keep Jim
Mora’s voice out of my head – “What’s that? Ah — Playoffs? Don’t
talk about — playoffs?You kidding me? Playoffs? I
just hope we can win a game! Another game.”
Post a Comment