Bears Blitz

Published by BabylonDon on September 23, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Memo to Nation’s headline writers:

There. To the best of my knowledge, I got in the first egregious play on words using all three of these players. I know the names Knox and Gould have been gnawing at you. But it’s over now. So let’s get past it all you “Punsters of the Midway,” and talk football.

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I know there are a lot of Chicago fans out there who read that headline and screamed, “But Forte hasn’t done anything yet! He’s in a sophomore slump, and he can’t see the field!” First of all, stop screaming at your PC. It’s unseemly, and you’re spraying spit all over the monitor.

Bears fans have a habit of scratching through silver linings to get a better look at the cloud. Wednesdays are particularly hard, as the football news cycle inexorably turns from game day highlights towards next game’s predictions.

It’s when the euphoria wears off, and the reverse-alchemists come out, using statistics to turn our gold (even our Gould) into lead.

I read a column this week in one of Chicago’s two main dailies that argued the Bears should have gone for the first down rather than kick the (game-winning) field goal against the Steelers Sunday. The theory is that it proves Lovie Smith doesn’t trust Jay Cutler.

And aren’t amazing finishes, what the Bears brought Cutler to Chicago for, in the first place?

No. They brought him here to win football games. Which he did. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers, reigning Super Bowl champions and perennial NFL powerhouse. A week after the Steelers outlasted Tennessee, to win in overtime.

What madness would cause Smith, Turner, et al. to decide to just chuck one out there, and see what happens?

The Bears are not going to stop being the Bears. They’ve changed their weapons, not their base philosophy.

Which brings us back to Forte, and the latest sign of the upcoming apocalypse. He has a 2.2 yard rushing average, after two games. If you write “two, point two” on your bathroom mirror and say “The Bears get off the bus running” three times, the ghost of Brian Piccolo will appear and stiff-arm you into the tub.

The Bears offense has a lot of spiffy new gadgets that they’re still discovering. Like your mom with her first cell phone, there’s going to be a period of adjustment while they figure out how things work. It’s primary function won’t be forgotten.

Look for Forte to run the ball more, as soon as the Bears get their first lead in a game. This team has always run defenses down by coming up the gut, over and over. They don’t need to do that these days, so they’re trying to work out Forte’s role in a system where he doesn’t have to be the bull. He may even become a better back for it.

So relax a little Chicago fans. Two games is too soon to try to find the doom spelled out in the tea leaves. Just drink the tea.

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