Chicago Football Chili

My brain is a mish-mash of thought, Bears and Vikings related.

First, I wonder how much time and thought Brett Favre put into being a Bear.  When he decided that he really didn't want to be retired and then got all mad at the Packers for having moved on, he was hinting that he'd like to stay in the division.  You have to assume that the Vikings were his preferred choice, given the pre-existing relationships.  You also have to assume that the Lions were never seriously on that list.  So how much think-time was spent on the Bears?

And (perhaps more tellingly), how quick were the Bears to shoot down that notion?

So, there was hubub last week because Jay Cutler did not want to speak to Bob Costas for an interview before Sunday Night Football.  It worries me a lot that our quarterback is afraid of Bob Costas.

And furthermore, if you can't step up and say "I haven't played up to my contract" when the whole world can see that you're not playing up to your contract, well, then the terrorists win.  Please, PLEASE, take some accountability while we still have a chance to finish with dignity.  Please!

Coach Ditka used to hate playing in Minnesota, famously labeling their home venue "the Rollerdome" for the annoying noise level.  Well, I guess now it's the "Mall of America" Rollerdome.

I hated when the Bears played Minnesota because we could never figure out a way to contain Tommy Kramer.  Sad, sad days, those.

You have to think that the Bears' Adrian Peterson is a little sick and tired of having a namesake in the Vikings' Adrian Peterson.  It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode in which Elaine's boyfriend has the misfortune of sharing the name of serial killer Joel Rifkin, and she tries to convince him to change it.

Well, whattya think, Adrian (of Minnesota)?  How about Deion?

 CHILI DAN

Posted by dawn2 at 08:28 AM | Permalink

Was it really 21 years ago...

On Dec. 31, 1988, the Bears played the Philadelphia Eagles in what was to become "the Fog Bowl".  With one quarter played, the air on the field took on that pea soup quality.  Thick, thick, thick, with maybe 10-15 yards of on-field visibility.  It was great television.

What the viewers didn't see was a 400-yard passing day from Eagles QB Randall Cunningham.  What the Eagles didn't see was the endzone.  The Bears won 20-12, despite the low-vision arial attack.  And a legend was born.

Fast forward to now, and the entire fandom of our beloved Bears are walking around in a fog.  Could this season really be over?  How can we be below 500 at this point in the season?  It's hard to see a light at the end of this tunnel.

But the Eagles of today are not the consistent winners of old.  They are 5-4, which is better than what we're posting, but not by any means intimidating.  This is a winnable game.

Last week, the Packers beat the Cowboys shortly after the coach and the quarterback just took responsibility for the previous week's loss to the Buccaneers.  It's a good lesson.  Face up to it.  Then take the victory.

The Chili Dogs are counting on you.  They HATE the Philadelphia Eagles.

 CHILI DAN

Posted by dawn2 at 04:55 PM | Permalink

With less than three minutes to go in the Thursday night game, I look over to Chili Dawn and say, "you know, even if they take it downfield with a big last-second touchdown, I will not be able to say that I'm happy about this game."

Well, as if to spare me the existential angst of being unhappy about a Bears win, Jay Cutler threw that last-second pass to a red jersey.  A suiting end to an awful, awful game.

To his credit, the first thing our QB did in his post-game press was to thank the defense for keeping them in the game.  Unfortunately, everything he said after that was a waste of our time.  We got an "it just didn't work out", and a "we gotta lead better."  Really?  IT just didn't work out?  WE gotta lead better?

And Lovie, as you might expect, said that SF "made plays".   

Shouldn't SOMEONE on this team be angry?  Shouldn't SOMEONE on this team be unable to keep quiet about how rotten they're playing?  Where's the passion?  WHERE'S THE PASSION?

Normally, after a game like this, I'd take a day to cool down a bit before putting fingers to keyboard.  I love the Chicago Bears.  I always want them to win.  And I always want to believe that they WILL win.  But they are really testing my generally optimistic nature the past few weeks.

Well, we get a few extra days rest before Philadelphia - an entirely beatable team.  The team needs to do some soul-searching.  And someone needs to bring some fire.

And yeah, Lovie, we have to make some plays.

 CHILI DAN

Posted by dawn2 at 10:29 PM | Permalink

I made a very quick prediction on Sunday.  "The Bears are gonna kill these guys!"  I thought special teams covered the kickoff well, and I was impressed with the pressure Tommie Harris put on Kurt Warner on 2nd down. 

Heck, the only thing more impressive was how quickly Harris got tossed from the game.  And while I understand the appeal of pounding on an idiot talking smack to you, I gotta say, there's a right time and place.  And it's NOT in the first sequence of the game.

Harris has since apologized.  And it's nice that someone on the defense has apologized for something.  Because when you give up 40+ points in two out of three games, you should probably be feeling some remorse.

Coach Lovie, not one to say much of anything, much less "I'm sorry" is feeling some media heat these days.  The Coach's best press conference to date is still his first one.  The one in which he said what Dick Jauron would not - we will beat the Packers.  We'd like to see that candor again, for old time's sake.  Say out loud what we're thinking.  "We haven't played very well." 

Saying it does not mean the season is over.  It means you understand the situation.  It means you recognize that coddling and minimizing is not a good course of action.  It means you accept that you are accountable to this team, and that you respect them too much to offer false praise.

And once you've done that, you can shut up.  Because we don't need any more than that.  We don't need "I'm Sorry."  As the great philosoper George Costanza once said (well, three times actually), "You can stuff your sorry's in a sack, Mister!"  Because the words don't mean as much as the actions.

Next opportunity for actions is Thursday night.  Take that opportunity.

 CHILI DAN

Posted by dawn2 at 08:42 PM | Permalink

Cleveland Rocks!

Admittedly, you want to go into games like last weeks expecting to win (which we did), and more importantly, not NEEDING to win.  Well, we needed that win.

Whew!

I don't know about you, but I watched the early part of that game with a degree of dread.  Chili Dawn and I mentioned it briefly but couldn't dwell on it - if they lose against Cleveland, the season is over.  Not mathematically, of course.  But it's hard to recover your heart and soul.  Those games are harder to watch (of course we'd watch them anyway - we love our Bears).

Thankfully, the Bears won.  Logically, we knew they should.  The key thing was, they did.  For a moment, I even thought Caleb Hanie was going to get in some significant playing time.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

So, the monkey's off our back, and we get to start fresh this week.  While the Cardinals aren't the explosive, unpredicable, and good-enough team that moxied their way into the Super Bowl last year, they are still a team who can win.  And we need to re-prove that we can beat teams like that.

We beat the defending AFC/Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.  We get the bookend in week 8.  You seem like a good fellow, Kurt Warner.  After this weekend, we'll go back to wishing you well again.  Until then...

Go Bears!

 CHILI DAN

Posted by dawn2 at 09:33 PM | Permalink