Bears Players Quitting on the Field Is Completely Inexcusable in the NFL
Published by Matt Bowen on November 10, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Compete. Run to the ball. Play with technique.
And have some pride.
Really, that’s all it takes when you line up to play in the NFL. Give yourself a chance to win and act like a pro on the field.
Don’t loaf. Don’t take plays off. And don’t shut it down for the night when the wheels start to get loose on the national stage.
The Green Bay Packers are a better football team than the Chicago Bears. We all know that. It starts at the top with the head coach and filters down throughout multiple key positions on the roster.
More talent, more speed, more playmakers.
But that doesn’t mean you pack it in for the night when Aaron Rodgers starts to beat up on the secondary or Clay Matthews continues to whip offensive tackles before planting the quarterback to the ground.
“You could tell that they kind of laid down a little bit,” Packers receiver Randall Cobb said after the Packers 55-14 victory.
Yikes.
That’s embarrassing to hear an opponent talk like that after a ball game, to essentially call you out and question your willingness to compete.
It’s OK to get beat in the NFL. Hey, it’s OK to get run out the stadium sometimes. It happens. Go back home, get on the tape and make the proper corrections to get better as a football team.
But I didn’t see that last night watching the Bears play.
They looked disinterested on the field and played with lazy, sloppy technique in basic schemes that are installed on the first day of mini-camp.
That was a broken team, a defeated group waiting for the clock to run out so they could get back on the plane for the short trip home.
“The way we played, no one really thinks we’re a good team,” quarterback Jay Cutler said. “So we have to stay together and keep working.”
That’s what we all expect to hear from the quarterback after a loss in the NFL. Work hard, make corrections, improve, etc., etc. A carbon-copy statement that is associated with any rough night in this league.
But that sounds like an empty comment given the lack of effort I saw on the field Sunday night paired with the second straight blowout loss for Marc Trestman’s team.
Take a look at the loafs on the screen pass to Eddy Lacy, the free releases in Cover 2, the busted coverages in the secondary or the turnovers that seem to follow Cutler wherever he goes.
That’s not competing. Heck, that’s not professional.
During the second half, the Packers played the game with smiles on their faces. And I don’t blame them. It’s fun to play this game when you know your opponent is defeated on that field.
That’s when you pour it on and run it up.
“Our biggest thing was about finishing,” Packers tight end Andrew Quarless said. “I say put ’em in the dirt, finish ’em. Lay ’em down. So that’s what I was saying.”
The Bears have some players on this football team. And the contracts reflect that given the new money they handed out this offseason to upgrade the defensive line while putting their long-term trust in the quarterback.
But regardless of what we may think the Bears have in terms of talent (or coaching), the tape doesn’t lie when an underachieving 3-6 football teams quits.
Seven-year NFL veteran Matt Bowen is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report.
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