Some thoughts on last Sundays game, while I still remember a few things about it:

• Would have wrote this earlier, but was gone all week visiting the in-laws w/o internet access.  You never realize how much you miss something until it’s gone.
• I do remember last weeks game was cold.  Not so much the temperature, but the wind was just brutal.
• Wow - something resembling a running game.  Haven’t seen that all year.
• That first drive, even if it ended w/ only a field goal, was the best thing about the game.  It took about 10 1/2 minutes of the clock in pretty much real time.  For those of us in the stands, that was just great.
• If you needed any proof as to which is the better beer, Miller Lite seemed to freeze at least twice as fast as Blue Moon.
• This may have been the best game plan I saw Ron Turner call.  Not so much that is was varied and whatnot - overall, they stayed w/ the run - but once they established that, they also threw in some passes when the Packers didn’t expect it, and it worked well.
• Too bad Muhammad can’t catch worth a damn.  Game might have been over at halftime instead of early in the fourth.
• For a team that plays in the ‘Frozen Tundra’, the Packers looked like they wanted no part of being out in that weather.  Sort of like Atlanta during that Sunday Night game two seasons ago when Grossman came back.
• The defense finally played a good game.  Yes, they bent, but only broke the one time on Grants long TD run.  And they grabbed some timely turnovers.
• Another great week by special teams.  Two blocks?  Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen that.  It seemed that the Packers were ’so’ concerned of what they were going to do with the ball with Hester waiting to return it that if the snap wasn’t perfect, it allowed the block team enough time to get to the punter.  Between the two blocks and the 9-yard punt, Hester did his job w/o even touching the ball.
• Tried to sell the tickets and couldn’t.  While I’m glad we got to see what will probably be their best game of the season, it would have been nice to snag some money off of some Green Bay fans and have them watch that in person.  That would have been nice.
• One more game.  Not that excited to go, but it’s the last chance to have some pretty decent football food, have some Blue Moon out of a tap, and see some live football.
• Finally, if this overal miserable season has done nothing else, perhaps it’ll give the Bears a few more Noon starts next season.  I hate 3:15 and evening games in person.

Looking forward to the offseason…..

Some thougths on last nights game, mostly because I feel the obligation to do so…

• There’s not a team in the league I think the Bears would be favored to beat right now.  At home.
• Given that, it’s no suprise we can’t unload our tickets for the next two weeks.  At least the food and beer in the club are good.  But I see leaving those games quite early.  If the Packers game isn’t ‘over’ by halftime, I’ll be shocked.
• I think Orton is getting a bit of a raw deal over last nights game.  Given how long it’s been since he played, I don’t think he did a horrible job.  I do, however, think Ron Turner continues to be the worst OC in the league, and the day he leaves town can’t come too soon.
• Although, I do have to wonder - the Bears have a habit of having the worst OC in the league at any given time.  Turner.  Shoop.  Crowton.  It might just be that as good as Angelo is at putting together a defense, he’s as bad at putting together an offense.
• I also think Lovie is getting a bit of a raw deal this year.  No, this hasn’t been his best year.  But he’s done a great job as HC since coming aboard up until this year, so I’m not going to start wishing for him to leave yet.
• That being said, this fascination with giving Wolfe an automatic series no matter what the situation is each game (with this weeks series coming when the Bears were pinned at their own 3, and Wolfe being about 1/8th the size of the Vikings front four) has to stop, and stop now.
• Also, for his constant harping of ‘playing the players who give us the best chance to win the game’, how in the world is Fred Miller still on the field?  Honestly - he’s the worst offensive lineman in the league - and, of course, the most overpaid.  And I’d say that if he were making $25 a game and actually somehow had a contract that added to the cap amount.
• Any other offense in this league would have won that game last night with the constant outstanding field position they were given.  It’s too bad that we don’t have any other offense in the league.
• The defense actually played a pretty good game.  Urlacher played like the pro-bowler he is.  Vasher showed how much he has been missed this year.  And there were really only three real bad plays I can think of - the 18 missed tackles on the play where one of the Vikings recievers took a pass and ran 60 yards to the 1 yard line (props to Tillman for chasing him down and just keeping him out of the end zone), and the touchdown/2-pt conversion combination towards the end of the game.  They certainly gave this team a chance to win.
• At least the Orton interception to end the game keeps the Bears from becoming only the second team to lose a game when winning the turnover battle 4-0 since 1970.  The other team was, of course, also the Bears when the Giants were in town.  Oddly, the Bears were also the last team to do this back in 1970.  Seems having a sucky offense is just par for the course around here.
• Special teams - meh.  Hester did a decent job most of the time - although here’s a hint for you - NO ONE is going to buy you faking a reverse on a kick return.  No one.
• I also like that the ball was thrown Hester’s way more this game.  He does, however, need to learn how to block on plays the ball doesn’t come his way, and run patterns where he may not be the primary receiver.
• It’s too bad Hester isn’t as good a receiver in real life as he is in Madden ‘08, where he’s really the best receiver on the team.
• Well, I think that about covers my obligation.  I fully expect this Sunday to be a blowout of epic proportions, and to be heading home sometime in the fourth quarter.  At least it’s finally a noon start, so I can get home in time to see the last half of the afternoon games, and the Sunday night game.

Here’s hoping to a better 2008 season.

Some thoughts on last nights ‘now they’re out of the playoffs, not like they had a chance anyway’ Bears debacle game:

• I completely missed the fist five minutes of the game.  Figuring that, like Sunday and Monday night games the game, although slated to start at 7:00 (TV time) wouldn’t start until closer to 7:30, was busy rocking out to Rock Band, so didn’t join the game until Grossman had been injured.
• Too bad Grossman got hurt - I think he would have done a much better job than Griese did - and I would have said that even before Brian stunk up the joint.
• If Grossman is out for the year (haven’t heard one way or another yet), I hope he comes back next year - even if it’s a one year, incentive-laden contract (which I’d guess it at least be incentive laden, and probably not real long term).  Griese can go ahead and move on to another team.
• After seeing Griese run the show quite a bit this year, I can see why he hasn’t lasted long on any team he’s been on.
• Also, if Grossman is out for the year, I’d like to see Orton.  He’ll be back next year, so we might as well see what we have - can be be a starter/backup QB, or do we need to bring in another veteran to be that starter/backup, w/ Orton being the 3rd stringer?
• Another thing is also clear - this team needs a running back.  (The other) Peterson is fine as a backup, but you’re not going to win anything w/ him as your feature back.
• Granted, the line doing a better job of opening holes will also help, but for a team that’s always prided itself on running the ball, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a team as bad at running the ball as the Bears are this year.
• Nice to see Hester get the ball a little in the second half.  It’s too bad Griese both a) completely telegraphed his throws, and then b) made lousy passes to Hester late in the first half - he was open.  At least on the first interception.
• Might as well start putting Hester out at WR a lot more to end the season.  Really work him into the offense and see what he can handle.  Putting him out there just for trick plays and/or long bombs just diminished his effectiveness, since the DBs don’t need to worry about quick slants, crossing patterns, hooks, etc.  He’s either going to a) run a reverse (faked or not), b) get an immediate pass and look for broken tackles, or c) go long.  That’s it.
• Defense - once again, had a chance to make a game of it, and failed.  Had a chance to win the game last week, and failed.  This isn’t about giving up a ton of points (though they’ve done that at times this year), but not being able to make the critical stop when the game is on the line.  I don’t know if that can be blamed on the players not executing, or horrible coaching by the new DC.  Or, of course, injuries that force backups into a more prominent role than originally hoped.
• Special teams - meh.  Didn’t stand out one way or the other.  Gave up a block on a Gould FGA, but that’s about all I remember of them.  Outside of kick returns.
• Granted, Hester didn’t break a big one last night.  But if teams keep kicking him the ball - even squibbing it - he will eventually.  If teams want to kick out of bounds and give the ball up at the 40 yard line, that’s fine - although I wish we had an offense that could actually do something about it.
• In fact, until the Bears have an offense that can make a team pay by giving up the ball at the 40, they might as well just kick the ball out of bounds.  Hester is going to score more often on a kick/punt return that the current offense will.
• At this point, the Bears might as well lose out.  Get a high draft pick.  They need all the help they can get this fall.
• Finally, Bryant Gumbel is just flat-out awful as a play-by-play guy.  I have nothing against him personally, but PbP is not his strong suit.  At one point, he called a field goal good that was a couple yards short.  Another, he had Maynard punting to Hester (which would have been an odd thing to see).  Collinsworth is fine.  But for the love of all that is holy, NFL Network - PLEASE put someone else in the booth for play-by-play duties next year.

Some thoughts on last Sundays game, before I forget them all…

• The best the offense looked in years was on the first drive, when the Bears went with the no-huddle.  Why did we then not see this the rest of the game?
• Grossman said during an interview that he likes the no-huddle, that it’s a chance to just get out there and play.  Given that a lot of times, Grossman’s problems seems to be more mental (thinking too much) instead of just playing, why wouldn’t we just play with the no-huddle all game long?
• For a second, given that first drive, I thought Ron Turner had finally gotten a clue.  Then the rest of the game happened, and I realized that was just a mirage.  The day Ron Turner is no longer in charge of this offense is a day that can’t get here soon enough.  Not that the Bears have shown any aptitude for hiring a GOOD offensive coordinator.
• I don’t know if Adrian Peterson is better than Benson, but I do know I don’t worry quite as much with him in there.
• Hester - I love you and all, but you gotta catch that ball, dude.
• Berrian - nice long catch, but you alligator-armed two others.  Those three plays could have made this a completely different game.
• Grossman may have been the best player in the game on Sunday.
• The defense, while seemingly performing better, still stunk up the joint once they had to start making plays.
• The one person who did play well on defense, and really has had a good season all things considered, is Tillman.  Peanut had a great interception in the end-zone that looked like it would save the day.  Too bad the rest of the defense has been horrible this year.
• And yes, that include Briggs.   Not that he’s been awful, but he hasn’t played anywhere near his level last year.  A lot of that blame certainly can be spread on the rest of the defense not playning as well either, but he just hasn’t looked as good this year.  At least Urlacher has his arthritic back.
• Special teams - not a lot to mention about them.  Overall, they did their job fairly well.  However…
• I realize it was windy, but Maynard just didn’t seem to have a great day punting the ball.
• Finally, this loss will hopefully signal the end of any hopes the Bears will make the playoffs (not that they really should have had any before).  While I’ve seen enough of Grossman to be OK w/ a short term, incentive laden contract for next season, I’d also like to see Orton get in the mix w/ the starting unit to see how much he has improved since his last stint as starting QB.  And start boning up on this years draft class, because you guys need a LOT of help.

Go Bears!  Lose out!  Get a top-10 draft pick!!!