BHO, our president-elect, is a big fan of the Bears. He’s also a big fan of opportunity. And like the new America he’s already created, the Bears had plenty of opportunity on Sunday. But like most Democratic initiatives, they failed to execute and no one can explain why.
The Bears became victim # 9 on the mighty Titans docket Sunday, falling 21-14. And so the Patriots will have to forego uncorking the champagne for another week. For some reason, everyone I asked thought the Bears would win. But if you think rationally and not through Super Fan goggles, Tenn is 8-0, has a great offense, a great defense, and is doing a lot of things right. The Bears, not so much. We have yet to put it all together – 3 phases, 4 quarters, 60 minutes. And you can’t do that against a solid, well-rounded team and expect anything other than a loss. You also can’t overthrow receivers on a consistent basis if you’re an NFL quarterback, back-up, bearded, sexy or not.
Sure, the stage was set for the Bears to make a big statement and move to 6-3. But they got out-played by a better team. What are you gonna do? It wasn’t like Tenn came in expecting to lose after going half a season unbeaten. Jevon Kearse got his think on and put a piece of athletic tape in the middle of the 90 on his jersey to point out they were 9-0. You know that took some planning. The Bears answer? Urlacher put a piece of tape between his jersey numbers, 54.
Our defense remains an exclamation point followed by a question mark. They stopped the run, holding Tenn to 20 yards on 29 carries (an avg of 0.7). If you watched the game on your couch – no, if you were in a coma on Sunday, you ran for 5 more yards than the Titans in the first half. You can’t be disappointed by that. However, what you can be disappointed by is their refusal to stop the pass. On 30 completions, they scampered 289 yards (an avg of 9.5). And that was the difference in this game. That and scoring only 14 points. Field position was pretty big too – each team punted 8 times, but the Tits left 5 inside the 20, the Bears 0.
I’m Too Sexy for Completions
So, Rexy started off great, scoring half the Bears points on his first drive, a 14-play, 75-yard, 6:20 drive when he was 6-9 for 51 yds. That’s gold, Jerry, gold! But I knew going beard-less would catch up with him. I mean, where does he get off shaving before a game? I would have bet my Rexy jersey that he didn’t complete more than 4 passes the rest of the way, but he finished 20-37 (54.1%) for 173 yds with 1 TD, 1 INT and a QBR of 64.4. That’s a lower QBR than Orton’s had all year, lower than any of his starts dating back to last year – except for his first start in week 15. So, even the beard-master needed a game to get going. Maybe we chalk this one up to first start jitters. But that’s it, you only get one of those games.
So, I’m finally at a crossroads with the Sexy one. It can be awkward to step in and be a temporary leader, especially considering the Titan’s are on a roll and playing great defense. But if he plays this week, I’m giving him an all-or-nothing shot and making my official ruling on him. Green Bay is a formidable intra-divisional opponent, which is a big enough game to test him, but not so big that he can’t be held individually accountable. If he plays well and we win, then I say he can keep his job, at least as a back-up. But if you can’t beat the Farverheuh-less Fudge Packers, you’re useless to me. You might as well tie him to a safe and drop him in Lake Michigan. It would be the ending our boo-happy fans seem to want.
Go Rexy! Or die.
© 2008
Bear Down Baffa 
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