“What teams are more ‘Chicago Bears’ than the Chicago Bears”.
As a Chicago Bears fan, I think I speak for all of the us as Chicago Bears loyalists when I say that all “sports experts” continue to underestimate our team before, during and after moments of pure glory, and it is beyond frustrating. For example, after two terrific wins against the Vikings and the Buccaneers (which, might I add was in London and they had been there for less than 72 hours before playing), the significant majority of sports analysts (minus Coach Ditka) picked the Eagles to win in a Monday night showdown, including all seven Chicago Tribune sports writers.
Forget the Bears vs. Eagles record over the last five years (Bears lead 5-1) and don’t even consider Michael Vick’s record against the Bears defense (0-5) because the Eagles had one great win against an ailing Cowboys team, and that should mean the Bears ought to quiver in the shadows of an Andy Reid coached group that had started off so poorly these same sports “experts” questioned whether or not Philly stood a chance making it to the post-season.
So in order to defend my team and to prove that even though I might not have my own sports show on ESPN or even my own article in the sports section of Sports Illustrated, I might have a little bit more knowledge of who is acting more like the Chicago Bears than the Chicago Bears.
Here are my top 5 “Bears” Teams:
1- San Diego Chargers: I mean have you seen the last 3 games San Diego has played?! Phillip Rivers has no protection, the offensive weapons are non-existent and the defense can’t stop a damn thing. The Charger’s offensive line has done so little to protect the quarterback that you could compare them to the line paid to protect Jay Cutler last season. How are they supposed to win football games if Rivers can’t do his job? While everybody is criticizing the Bear receivers (or in their opinion, a lack there of), San Diego’s veteran offensive play makers are injured, old and slow or just not performing up to the standards that they should be. The four games they have lost have been lost by a TD or less, and the Bears are on a three game win streak while forcing sacks, interceptions and enough three-and-outs to seal in victories. We also haven’t let the Packers score 45 points on us at home EVER although they were close twice (1952 and 1960 when they scored 41 points at both games) we hold the winning record against them in the most well known football rivalry.
2- Oakland Raiders: The only reason I placed this team out here is because their inconsistencies are what is killing them right now. The same inconsistencies that “plague” the Bears and what hinders their ability to move onto the post-season and a Superbowl ring. I’m sorry, I must have dreamt that they won the NFC North title last year and went on to the NFC Championship game (let’s not get into what happened in that game, I’ll save that for another article). There is also the fact that the Bears have had more winning seasons over the past 5 years than the Raiders have had, but I think that margin will thin with what changes have been made to the Raider’s personnel. Oh and also, Oakland lost to the Denver Broncos.
3- Dallas Cowboys: Romo throws too many picks, can’t produce in the clutch and is more recognized for his accomplishments off the field than on. Isn’t “America’s Team” supposed to win? Jerry Jones doesn’t have a Matt Forte, a Brian Urlacher-Lance Briggs tandem or a Devin Hester (although he is a hard find on most teams), just DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten and if he ever gets healthy again Miles Austin, some games. Many argue that the Wide Receivers in Chicago are sub-par, however, they seem to be more reliable in clutch situations than Tony Romo. Bear’s fans would argue that adding Roy Williams, a veteran will help the young corps learn and grow better than Martz can coach, especially since Williams and Martz have a relationship and history has shown that the McCaskey’s won’t fire their Offensive Coordinator until after the Superbowl so there is room for growth and excellence within the young group.
4- New England Patriots: How many people just told me to “bite my tongue” for saying such a blasphemous thing? Let’s be honest, the New England defense allows more yards per game than the Bears can even imagine. Granted the early part of the season would have argued against that, Chicago has gone back to the way things were and out-perform New England even with those numbers included in the average. Tom Brady has been throwing an un-characteristic amount of interceptions, and Cutler has been thinking on his feet, getting out of trouble spots and just got his Vandy-buddy back from injury. Wes Welker is the only playmaker on the offense and after being well known for coming back in a fury, the Pats seem like a wilted bag of lettuce after the 2-minute warning.
5- Kansas City Chiefs: I think there is a problem with consistency somewhere when you have back to back loses against the then winless Dolphins and the Broncos.
So there you have it, take it for what you want but these teams have more Chicago Bear problems than the Chicago Bears themselves. While the real Monsters of the Midway have been showing impressive signs of progress towards a post-season, these teams listed above have been punching their ticket home after some forgettable games against some forgettable teams.
***I understand that since this article many things have changed so I would like the readers to keep in mind that this was written in Week 8 of the season and not today.
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