Bear Down Baffa

You gotta take a W whenever it comes, so I’ll take this one.  But I’m not planning any parades down Michigan Avenue just yet.  The Bears did bring the Browns down to Chinatown alright.  But you have to consider that in this analogy, the Browns were actually a group of Chinese people that were heading down to Chinatown at the time.  All the Bears really did was give them a lift.  So no, there was no Gatorade shower for Lovie.

After the Bears faked a trip to the Appalachian Trail last weekend and instead spent it in Cincinnati padding Chad Ochocinco’s stats, this victory is like I imagine the make-up sex would be for the wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford – if she caught him in the act on TV seven days ago: uncomfortable and unfulfilling, but a necessary step toward reconciliation.   

To be completely forthright, I haven’t thought about the Bears once since I clicked save on last Monday morning’s post.  And even that was only because I have editorial responsibilities.  See, I didn’t actually write last week’s post.  I out-sourced the article to a group of international Super Fans based in Indonesia, where Obama was born, and where they accepted rice and a used Cade McKnown jersey as payment.  So although I haven’t read it and don’t plan to, I hope you enjoyed it.

I told our staff that I wanted to win this game 38-6, that the Bears had to destroy the Browns after last week’s monumental ass whoopin’.  Sure we needed to win; that went without saying.  But the Browns are a semi-pro team that is steadily becoming an anti-pro team.  We couldn’t just come out and win 10-7 or it would appear as though we have no heart – and no chance.  Well I almost got my wish.  We won, and 30-6 is pretty lopsided.  But the Bears didn’t destroy anything Sunday, other than the hearts of fans hoping to see their team send a virile message to the rest of the NFC. 

Don’t get me wrong, the Bears played well in certain aspects of the game.  Our defense dominated.  But a “just show up” effort against this semblance of an NFL team would have exacted a similar result.  With all of the scoring opportunities we had, we should have won this game 44-6, maybe 51-6.  And though it would still only count as one win, you can’t help but be disappointed by our offense, who still seem to struggle with putting the biscuit in the basket.  I just can’t help but think that against most teams, what I saw Sunday simply would not have been enough.

Defense:  Big and Bold
Our Urlacher-less D returned to form, especially in the first half.  Talk about keeping them out of the end zone?  The Bears kept Cleveland out of Bear territory the entire first half.  Brown QB Dererk Anderson was 2-9 for 13 yds at halftime, as CLE went three-and-out four times, threw a pick, fumbled, and went nowhere on their last possession as time ran out at the half.

We held the Browns to 191 total yards and 1 for 11 on third downs.  We also took the ball away 5 times, and got our first sack since Detroit (Oct. 4).  The second half was tarnished only by a rare, bad punt by Brad “Rarely Bad” Maynard that went 12 yards, giving CLE the ball on the Bear 30.  This led to their only TD.  But the Bears blocked the PAT, so fans who didn’t watch the game will presume we held them to 2 FG’s, which is nice.

The Cutler Identity
Jay “the Butt Nut” Cutler was a passer-by 17 of 30 (56.7%) for 225 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, and a 66.7 QBR (a mere 2.6 better than last week).  He was sacked 4 times, and was roughed up on at least half a dozen plays.  After the game, with his uniform dirty and his mouth bloodied, you’d have thought he was in a tooth-and-nail fight to the finish instead of a blowout.  And he stayed in it to the end, even with a four score lead, taking a knee on the game’s final snap.  Dude’s got some satchel on him.

Outlook
At 4-3, we’re once again above .500.  And with Green Bay losing to Minn, we’re back to being tied with them for second.  I know it’s early to start talking playoffs, but it is week eight.  And right now, we’re chasing three wins (Minn is 7-1).  But there are only four teams ahead of us in the Wild Card race, and none has more than a one game lead.  So we’re not out of anything yet. 

Lance Briggs admitted the Bears have to earn our respect back one game at a time.  They may have gotten the W Sunday, but I don’t see respect entering the equation just yet.

Go Bears!

© 2009

This entry was posted on Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 9:07 am and is filed under l) 2009 Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.