Bears-Bengals Post-Mortem
Doing my Monday Bears post-mortem review to see what everyone is saying out there after an abysmal loss to the Bengals. Let me tell you, there is no shortage of opinions. I think this audio clip from The Score’s phenomenal postgame show with former Bears Doug Buffone and Ed O’Bradovich best sums up the majority of the reactions (including my own). These are two crusty, hard-core, no nonsense former Bears defenders that could still line up today and slap Frank Omiyale around like the little girl that he is. Here, Buffone suggests where the Bears go from here:
[podcast]http://fansidedblogs.net/podcasts/bears/bliss.mp3[/podcast]
Next, Dougie goes off about the Bears’ purpose (or lack thereof):
[podcast]http://fansidedblogs.net/podcasts/bears/no purpose.mp3[/podcast]
This show is absolute appointment radio, especially after a Bears loss. The good news for you, is that you can download the podcasts of hour 1 and hour 2 of the show.
Lovie Smith addressed the media and here are some of his big revelations after starting his Halloween week by watching a horror flick that was the Bengals game tape.
"“Can you learn something from it? Yes,” Smith said, almost wistfully, like he wasn’t necessarily convinced in this case. “You learn something every time you go out and play.“There were several things we did wrong. We weren’t aligned properly at times. Making tackles. We will continue talking about getting takeaways. Our third-downs were still up. There were a lot of things we need to improve on and we will.”"
Smith’s most interesting comments came when addressing Tommie Harris’ playing time:
"“There isn’t anything wrong with Tommie,” Smith said. “It was more a coach’s decision as much as anything. I thought we had better options.“Could Tommie have played if I wanted him to? Yes, but I thought we could get a better Tommie if we let him rest.”"
Well at least now we know that Jerry Angelo wasn’t totally full of it last week. I hope this sends the right message to Harris – get your ass on the field and practice. The special treatment is over.
While many people have been calling for Lovie’s head, the Tribune’s David Haugh believes Lovie Smith’s job is safe – as it should be.
"… please remember that Lovie Smith has two years and about $11 million left on his contract after this season.So unless Virginia McCaskey adopts Daniel Snyder into the family, the Bears aren’t likely to pay Smith a fortune to go away and open the vault for a $6 million-a-year replacement such as Bill Cowher or either of the two Mikes, Holmgren or Shanahan."
Let’s separate what will happen with what should happen. The fact that the McCaskey’s are too damn cheap to do the right thing shouldn’t blunt the notion that Lovie’s team has been grossly unprepared for two weeks running coming off a bye. Sure, they were tough road games and the defense is decimated by injuries, but this is a bottom line business and the bottom line is that Lovie’s defense has been exposed and his team is floundering. Win or go home. It’s that simple.
Not everyone at the Tribune is clueless. Steve Rosenbloom provides a different view of Lovie’s scheme.
Blog Down Chicago Bears takes it a step further and wants to blame Jerry Angelo. While the headline grabbed me, I disagree with some of his arguments, especially the idea about giving up on Benson. If he hadn’t been cut by the Bears and hit his own personal rock bottom, he would still be a worthless piece of crap.
On a lighter note, my guy Matt over at Jay Cutler Superstar has a great piece on the Bears as Simpsons characters. Great stuff! I needed a laugh like that on a Miserable Monday.
BEAR DOWN!!!
Through the month of October, my usual BEAR DOWN signoff will be in pink to raise awareness for National Breast Cancer Awareness month.