The Big, Bad Chicago Bears Look Like Teddy Bears Again
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya………
First off, I wish….I wish that I had posted something on here prior to Sunday night’s Bears game. Now it looks easy for me to rail against new Bears QB Jay Cutler and the team in general.
But ask any of my friends, family, acquaintances, and many people I didn’t even know, and I’ve been questioning this guy Cutler since his acquisition. I’ve been suffocated by the Chicago sports media’s love affair with this guy. The comparisons to Sid Luckman make me sick. They call him the best QB we have had in the huddle since Luckman. Jim McMahon won a Superbowl for us. Jay Cutler has a career .500 record as a starter and has never sniffed a playoff game. He had a good 35 career starts entering Sunday night and his career record is 17-18 or something like that.
I remember that after McMahon’s 3-4 good seasons leading the team to about 40-45 wins, we moved on to Mike Tomczak until he wore out his usefulness. BUT, I also remember that when subbing for the injured McMahon and then later owning the starting spot, Tomczak had a really admirable record as a starter overall (like 24-13). And if I remember correctly, his record was even better before he was the everyday starter at something like 16-4. Then as the glorious Bears teams of the ’80s fell apart, he was on the losing end of more games. But T-czak wasn’t horrible at all. He went on to some good years with the Steelers.
Later seasons saw us get great performances out of Jim Harbaugh, Erik Kramer, and Jim Miller. Harbaugh also went on to have several good seasons with the Indianapolis Colts before they drafted Peyton Manning. Even Rex Grossman, for all his yo-yo performances and terrible INTs had a great first-half to the Bears’ recent Superbowl season.
My dad still reminices about some of the great games and decent seasons that Bobby Douglass turned in for the Bears in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Don’t get me wrong, either. I am a knowledgable fan of football, football history, and the Bears. I know QB has been a sore spot for most of the 50-60 years since Luckman despite the forementioned performers. I had season tickets for the stretch that saw the worst parade of Bears QBs in the team’s storied history. I suffered thru (in-person and at great expense) Cade McNown, Henry Burris, Moses Moreno, Kordell Stewart, Chad Hutchinson, et al.
But all the hype and glorification of Jay Cutler made me laugh. He’s done nothing. Oh, he did make the Pro Bowl last year with Denver (with Tom Brady injured all year so that a spot was open). So now Chicago sportscasters will refer to him as such for the rest of his career. But the truth is, he is overrated and has yet to prove he can even lead a team to the playoffs. The superstar hasn’t done that most important of achievements yet in his career.
Then the game took place on Sunday night. Add another loss to his career mark as a starter. Cutler looked pathetic throwing a career high 4 INTs and looking hapless out there. I bought the Monday newspaper and the media was still covering for this guy. After all, they can’t jump ship on him just yet and look like the fools they are (YES YOU Rick Telander, Rick Morrissey, Dan Jiggets, Mark Giangreco, Jim Rose, Bruce Wolf, David Haugh, etc).
But as a football fan, I know that is just one game. Cutler will have games with 3 TDs where he looks wonderful. If Kyle Orton could do it, then so can Cutler. If Rex Grossman could turn in a few great games, then so will Cutler. He will rebound.
But the absolute worst thing to come out of Sunday’s game was the injuries. Brian Urlacher is already out for the season with a sprained wrist that required surgery. I just read an article in Friday’s Chicago Sun Times that he was feeling as healthy as he’s felt in years. His back problem is under control and his child custody matters are behind him. He had his confidence back and was ready to have a great season at age 31.
I’ve never had a sprained wrist that required surgery and I’m pretty sure that Urlacher is tougher than me. But a sprained wrist? Out for the season? What ever happened to the days when Ronnie Lott demanded they cut his finger off in the locker room rather than leave the game and have surgery and miss several weeks? What happened to the days when guys like Ted Hendricks and Jack Youngblood and Hacksaw Reynolds used to wear big, thick casts on their wrists and hands and play thru it? They used the damn thing as a weapon like a pro wrestler. I remember when Steve DeBerg played most of a season with a big, cumbersome cast on his arm and he was a winning QB !
So Urlacher is out. Now we have an over-rated QB and a star LB that’s already out for the season. Factor in Nathan Vasher picking right up where he left off last year; getting beat big-time by simple deep patterns. And we can never underestimate the malaise and general lack of motivation that defines Lovie Smith’s coaching style.
This team is destined for 8-8 at best. Vegas oddsmakers see the same thing. A team that went 9-7 with Kyle Orton at the QB helm last year is not listed to fare as well this year with alleged future Hall of Famer Cutler taking the snaps. Everyone seems to see it except the Chicago media and the organization. Oh yes, and those fans that predict an 11-5 campaign every season regardless of personnel or schedule.
This week the Bears host the defending Superbowl champ Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger and favorite WRs Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes should have a field day against Vasher and the already depleted Bears defense. The Bears will likely lose this game and be 0-2 before the end of September is even here. Another couple of INTs in this next game and Cutler will be hearing the boo birds after hardly eight quarters in a Bears uniform.
I’d like to be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. But these big, bad Chicago Bears with the Pro Bowl quarterback and the linebacker who’s feeling like the six million dollar man look like a couple of teddy bears to me. 8-8 sounds about right.