Lovie Smith: Mind Over Matter
Lovie Smith thinks the Bears matter. He even told you right here in Monday’s presser:
"“We’re not sitting in first place right now, but to me, because we’ve played one less game than the [Packers] … that’s why this game is so big for us,” he said. “Again, we just want to matter. Right now, I think you can say the Bears really matter by what’s going on in our division.”"
He went on to tell you how good he thinks his team is versus the perception:
"“We’re 5-3 right now, [and] a lot of times it seems like we’re 2-6 or something like that,” Smith said. “As we’ve said, we’re a good football team. I think in time we’ll prove that more and more.”"
So Lovie thinks the Bears matter? For now, I guess he’s right. But Lovie is also not completely immune to the winds swirling around him and his team; the winds of doubt and uncertainty about how good this team really is. That’s why he gets his “seems like we’re 2-6” comment in there. You know what Lovie? 2-6 feels about right.
When you use your mind – see how I tie the mind and matter together? – you will clearly see that the Bears aren’t as good as their winning record would have you believe. Let’s consider who the Bears have played in the first half of the season.
Detroit Lions: 2-6
Dallas Cowboys: 1-7
Green Bay Packers: 6-3
New York Giants: 6-2
Carolina Panthers: 1-7
Seattle Seahawks: 4-4
Washington Redskins: 4-4
Buffalo Bills: 0-8
I think that adds up to 24-41 if my quick math is right. That’s well below 0.500. If you look further, the Bears’ wins (the BOLD entries) have come against teams that have won a grand total of 9 10 games [corrected]. See where I’m going with this?
Now let’s look at the second half opponents:
Minnesota Vikings: 3-5
Miami Dolphins: 4-4
Philadelphia Eagles: 5-3
Detroit Lions: 2-6
New England Patriots: 6-2
Minnesota Vikings: 3-5
New York Jets: 6-2
Green Bay Packers: 6-3
I think that adds up to 35-30. That’s a step up in class from the minor league games they’ve played so far.
So if you don’t mind the facts, it doesn’t matter what I think.