Rebound game reflected character of Bears
November 25, 2008
BY MATT BOWEN
Editor's note: Former NFL veteran Matt Bowen is a Glenbard West grad who earned a degree in journalism from Iowa. He frequently analyzes Bears games for suntimes.com/sports.
We all know the Rams are an atrocious football team, but the way the Bears started the game Sunday speaks volumes as they move forward into December — when the real season begins.
As Bears fans, you should take pride in how this team played, especially after what happened last week in Green Bay. I wasn’t concerned with the final score or stats from the Edward Jones Dome. What I was looking for was some response from a team after an emotional letdown and embarrassing performance from the week before.
I think it is safe to say that we got exactly that, and more.
The way the offense and defense of the Bears started the game is the story here. I’m not even concerned with how they did it, but I did like seeing the creative nature that allowed them to get Devin Hester into the game plan. The reverse to Hester, followed by seeing him align in the shot gun to take a direct snap is good coaching, and good football.
More importantly, they scored on the first drive and never looked back on offense. They pounded the ball down the throats of the hapless Rams because they could, and when you know that as a team in this league you pour it on. No one feels bad for the Rams (not even their own fans), so why not take advantage of it and use this game as a sort of emotional springboard into next week and beyond?
On defense, the Bears came out and pressured Marc Bulger, knocked him out the game, and showed the NFL that they can play at a high level. If anyone needed to have a big performance this week, it was the Bears defense. Our job as members of the media is too point out the obvious, the lack of production, and the overall poor play of this high-priced defense.
But, I didn’t see any of that Sunday. I saw a defense that tackled well, got off blocks, and arrived at the quarterback with some swagger — something I haven’t seen for weeks. I loved the way the Bears pressured the quarterbacks on Sunday. The zone blitz schemes they employed in the first quarter showed me that they are far from finished as a unit. Like I always have said, when you challenge a defense, offense, and even special teams, players usually respond. Don’t kid yourself, they hear what we have to say and they do read the papers.
I’ll be honest, the Bears really needed this game, but I was unsure if they would play at this level of intensity. Games like the one they came off in Green Bay can cripple football teams. Finger pointing, position changes, etc. I’ve been there on teams that lay an egg against a division opponent in November and then watched as the locker room fell apart the following week, followed by fights on the practice field. It can happen, and it does happen.
This didn’t happen with the Bears. If anything, it lit a fire under this Bears team, angered them, even challenged them to come out on Sunday and just flat out pound the Rams. I believe we have to tip our hats to the coaching staff of the Bears, because this team was well prepared to play — compared to the Green Bay game. They had a game plan and stuck with it. Got the ball to their playmakers on offense and allowed them to hunt down the quarterback on defense.
This is the brand of Bears football I expected to see all season long. The good thing, maybe the best thing, is that they played this style of ferocious football on the eve of the playoff push. Sometimes we forget that this team is in first place.
Sure, it hasn’t been pretty up till now, but the opportunities to continue to play at a high level are there in the remaining five weeks. So, forget who they played, because it really doesn’t matter. This game wasn’t about the St. Louis Rams. I know they are terrible. It was about the Bears playing their own style of football.
A style that needs to continue down the stretch.
