Emissions from the Bear Nebula
Russell Wanek
Posted January 18, 2006

I wish I could bring myself to see the "good" in the 2005 season others keep trying to point me to. All I can see is Panther WR Steve Smith running unmolested through our defense as if he was wearing a Bears jersey, and wonder how on earth NOT covering him would even be considered as part of the intended game plan?

I guess maybe the Bears believed their own smack talk about how his 14 catches for 169 yards in the regular season game didn't mean anything because he didn't score?

The Panther offensive effort seemed pretty simple - get the ball into Steve Smith's hands as many times, and in as many ways, as they could. The Bears defensive effort seemed pretty stupid - ignore Steve Smith because he just doesn't matter.

How else can you explain why Chris Thompson was covering Smith, seemingly one on one, with the Bears only 2 points down late in the game? In case you forgot, Thompson was one of the many schlub reserves on the Bears defense who sucked mightily in the regular season finale against the Vikings. Thompson was one of the people who shouldn't have even been suited up in the playoffs, unless it was in overalls emptying the trash bins on the sideline.

Jake Delhomme must have almost choked himself on drool when he saw THAT match up. And there was absolutely no hesitation as to where he was going with the ball.

Thompson promptly let Smith run right by him, then fell down as he tried to catch up. Touchdown, 8 point Panther lead, game essentially over.

Charles Tillman also did the stop and choke, before falling down himself, on the Panthers second offensive play of the game, resulting in Smith's first touchdown.

Now maybe I'm a bit out of touch since I never played pro football. But it seems to me that if you are about to get burned for a very easy touchdown for your opponent, you simply mug the receiver. Take the penalty, take the yards and live to fight another play. That's what I did in similar circumstances long long ago. As a matter of fact I did it 3 plays in a row in the endzone with my opponent's team on our 3 yard line.

Their receiver was bigger than I was, but I refused to let him simply do an ally-oop catch over me for a touchdown. So I mugged him. 3 consecutive plays, I hit him and tackled him before the ball got there. 3 consecutive plays I was flagged for a penalty. 3 consecutive plays they marched of a short penalty distance.

This strategy actually worked even more in my team's favor, as the receiver was so mad at me after penalty number 3, he cursed me and took a swing, promptly getting ejected.

So why can 2 defensive backs getting paid a LOT of money in the pros not understand the concept of NEVER surrendering cheap easy points to your opponent?

Thompson being matched up on Smith was as much a coaching error as a player error. You mean to tell me not 1 Bears coached realized something was wrong before that play started?

I read in one of the many game reports that the Bears only had Thompson out there because they were shorthanded due to dings to their defensive backs. That may have been true, but how in the world does sending a 3rd string schlub out to match up with the best receiver in the game even become a remote possibility? If they were shorthanded, then they should have played a 3 deep umbrella zone, sent in an extra linebacker, and simply blitzed with the 8 guys up front. There is no way the end result of that strategy could have been worse than what actually happened. Hell, maybe even Delhomme rushes his throw and it ends up short and picked off, or maybe even the rush buries him so no throw is made.

If you had told me before the game the Bears offense would have 3 touchdown drives of more than 50 yards, guaranteed, I would have bet the farm the Bears would win. I would have probably picked a final score of Bears 28 Panthers 10 at that point, figuring the defense would be good for a touchdown as well.

And of course, I would have lost my ass.

So I'm sorry, but you're not going to get any happy news here. No blubbering about a "great season", because I don't think a team getting their butts handed to them on their home field in the playoffs has anything "great" about it.

The coaches are responsible for putting the players in a position to succeed, and then the players have to execute. Neither of these things happened, and the failures of both components were on a much larger scale on the defensive side of the ball.

And I am at a loss to do anything but shake my head and wonder what the hell they were drinking in their pre-game Gatorade.

2005 Chicago Bears : NFC North Division Champions
One and done in the playoffs once again … thanks morons

BEAR NOTES

" QB Rex Grossman looked a lot like idiot buffoon Eli Manning, but got himself squared away and flying straight as the first half came to a close. His stats don't tell the true tale of his contribution, and the loss cannot be pinned on the offense. All year long the defensive players were saying "give us 17 points, and we win". The offense gave them 21 hard earned points. The defense was not up to the task of backing their boasting with performance.

" A question for DE Adewale Ogunleye - how's that quest for respect working out for you now? Maybe next year, you can simply shut the hell up and play, okay?

" DE Michael Haynes wants out. He is disappointed he hasn't been given a chance to start and wants to be released or traded.

" One and done … flashback to 2001, or a nightmare all of its own?

Bears Coaching Staff

Lovie Smith, Head Coach
Ron Turner, Offensive Coordinator
Ron Rivera, Defensive Coordinator
David Toub, Special Teams Coordinator
Charlie Coiner, Asst. Special Teams
Wade Wilson, Quarterbacks
Bob Babich, Linebackers
Darryl Drake, Wide Receivers
Harry Hiestand, Offensive Line
Harold Goodwin, Asst. Offensive Line
Rob Boras, Tight Ends
Tim Spencer, Running Backs
Don Johnson, Defensive Line
Perry Fewell, Defensive Backs
Torrian Gray, Asst. Defensive Backs
Mike Bajakian, Offensive Quality Control
Lloyd Lee, Defensive Quality Control
Rusty Jones, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator

Weekly picks:

2005 Regular Season : 167-89

2005 Post Season: 3-5

As usual, I do not use any of the many "point spread" formulas when making my picks, primarily because I am not some polyester clad doofus sports bookie. I am a football fan. They do not pause at the end of games to add in the point spreads before declaring a winner do they? No, they don't. This means the point spreads mean absolutely nothing to me.

I am now a Seahawk fan. Why? Easy. It is because they are the only team of the remaining 4 still in the playoffs that has never been to a Super Bowl. With the Bears destroyed and out of it, rooting for the Super Bowl newbies is all I've got left.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP:

Pittsburgh was involved in probably the most exciting playoff game so far, and earned their way to the championship game in Denver. Their defense befuddled Peyton Manning, helping him to keep his playoff choke streak intact, so theoretically should totally destroy Jake Plummer. But only if they were playing in Pittsburgh. I think this Bronco team is more balanced and has an overall better defense, so I give the edge to the Broncos as home. Denver 27 Pittsburgh 20

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

Steve Smith is a one man wrecking crew. I think the Seattle coaches are going to be much smarter in the way they handle him than the Bears coaches were. I think he'll end up with many catches, and a lot of yards, but that the Seahawks will keep him out of the endzone. Shaun Alexander will be back and ready for Seattle, but the Panthers will be without their top 2 running backs, giving Seattle a slight edge. Seattle 24 Carolina 17

Bears 2005 Schedule:

Preseason:

08/08 MIAMI, 7:00pm - WON 27-24
08/12 @ St. Louis, 7:00pm - LOST 13-17
08/20 @ Indianapolis, 7:00pm - WON 24-17
08/26 BUFFALO, 7:00pm - WON 16-12
09/01 CLEVELAND, 7:00pm - LOST 6-16

Regular Season:

09/11 @ Washington, Noon - LOST 7-9
09/18 DETROIT, Noon - WON 38-6
09/25 CINCINNATI, Noon - LOST 7-24
10/02 bye
10/09 @ Cleveland, Noon - LOST 10-20
10/16 MINNESOTA, Noon - WON 28-3
10/23 BALTIMORE, 3:15pm - WON 10-6
10/30 @ Detroit, Noon - WON 19-13 O.T.
11/06 @ New Orleans, Noon - WON 20-17
11/13 SAN FRANCISCO, Noon - WON 17-9
11/20 CAROLINA, Noon - WON 13-3
11/27 @ Tampa Bay, Noon - WON 13-10
12/04 GREEN BAY, Noon - WON 19-7
12/11 @ Pittsburgh, Noon - LOST 21-9
12/18 ATLANTA, 7:30pm - WON 16-3
12/25 @ Green Bay, Noon - WON 24-17
01/01/06 @ Minnesota, Noon - LOST 34-10

Bears finish regular season at 11-5, and win NFC North Division Championship

Playoffs:

01/15/06 CAROLINA, 4:30pm - LOST 29-21

Contact Russell at RRWANEK@aol.com

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