| December 11, 2005 |
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| Week 14: So it goes |
Well, I suppose we have to take the good with the bad. This week's loss to the Steelers revealed the weakness that has been in the back of everybody's mind over the last eight weeks. What is the offense going to do when the defense doesn't show up? Now, Orton's number were at first glance, average200+ yards passing, zero interceptions, yadda yadda. He didn't lose the game, he didn't put the team into position to win it either. But skip that for a second.
The Steelers beat the hell out of the Bear's defense, period. Sure, we were missing M. Brown and C. Harris. That only goes so far. 20+ missed tackles is the reason why the Bears lost. For shit's sake, even Urlacher missed some that he should not have. And for a guy that cannot climb the stair in his house until Thursday, Bettis looked like the old Bus. The Bear's could not do anything to stop him, or pressure Roethlisberger. Chalk it all up to a bad week. Move on.
And with that, Orton comes into question again. If you eliminate the scoring drive of 70 yards, over two passes, his numbers are terrible. I honestly only saw two passes that were bad throws. The rest were drops, associated with the inclimate weather. But with zero turnovers and few penalties, it's hard to put the blame on the offense. Sure, they should have had seven in the first quarter. That would have changed the make-up of the game. But I still put the loss on the defense and their poor play, as stated above. And, Pittsburg played a good game when they needed to. Fair enough.
Next week is Atlanta at Soldier Field. I still field Orton for that game. If the defense doesn't show-up for the rest of the season, it matters little who takes the snaps. |
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Posted by seed at 8:12 PM |
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Anyway you cut it... piss poor.
K.O.... numbers wise it was his best game in weeks, but again, not good enough to get it done. Good enough to keep his job, but I found myself wondering in the fourth quarter... what could Rex do... not because I thought he would have had them winning the game or in a better position to that point in the game, but becasue they were down basically by three TD's and I didn't see them coming back. It's going to be a long interesting week in Chicago sports media. |
Posted by: dutch on December 11, 2005 9:24 PM |
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No doubt. The talk lines will be ringing the Rex Gong, in futility. Let's be honest here, what you have is team that had an eight-game winning streak against TWO good teams. They beat Carolina badly, and snuck one out against Tamp Bay. The wins against Green Bay and Detroit mean little. The Ravens, Saints, 49ers are teams they should have beat. True, to compare to the Cubs, the Bears beat teams they should. Fine. Teams they need to beat, they are so-so. And that is because they are young team that is well coached.
Right now, the defense gives you the best chance to win. Putting Rex in conveys a sense of panic to the rest of the team. The Bears are still up by a game, and have one left against the Vike's. There's no panic necessary at this point. Keep Orton in, and let the D come back against the Falcons.
If the Bears win next Sunday night, and the Steelers beat the Vike's, it is a clinch for the Bears. Bears go up two games, with two to play. At worst, the end up tied with the Vike's in terms of record, and win in the divisional tie-breaker. |
Posted by: seed on December 11, 2005 9:41 PM |
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No matter how you slice it, I think you'll agree that the Bears have already exceeded everyone's expectations for the season. Under Lovie Smith they should always play great defense. The trick will be to see how well he can build an offense.
PS- How 'bout them Cowboys?!! |
Posted by: ~Easy on December 12, 2005 7:42 AM |
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I'm shocked that Bears have even gotten this far. It's all downhill from here. |
Posted by: Leonardo on December 14, 2005 10:06 PM |
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