Bears : A Tie For First?

[Pagan]

Lovie Smith says Bears on equal footing
5 & 5 Bears, Vikings & Packers "even" with 6 games remaining.


The Chicago Bears are in NO way on equal ground with their NFC North conterparts.

Heres why:




The Bears: The pass defense is horrible, (30th) near bottom of the league. The run defense has been in the top 5, but after mixing it up to try to shore up their near-nonexistant pass defense -it too looks frail.
On offense the Bears hit gold in the 2nd round with RB Matt Forte, he runs, he blocks and catches a lot of passes. Turner calls Fortes # quite a bit (60% of the time) but, as in recent years, he seems to give up on a successful running game to soon. As seen by the Bears ranking of 21st in the league in rushing yards.
Kyle Orton has been one of the very few (pleasant) surprises on this Bears team and seems to be a lock for a well deserved contract extension in the offseason. The Bears a peewee league thin at the WR possition and have been resorting to passing to the RB's & TE's almost exclusively. Of the "Big Three" the Bears only clear advantage on offense is at TE.



The Vikings:They have one of the best rushing attacks in the league (averaging 150 yards a game), and one of the best defenses in the league. Theyre 2nd in the NFL against the run and know how to get after the QB.



Packers:The Packers have the best WR corps in the NFC by a long shot, and they have a very capable QB in Rogers throwing them the ball #3 in passing yards. Defensively they are great at shutting down the pass 3rd in the NFL, but sloppy in run defense (27th). <- Of course this only matters when you decide to actually RUN on them more than pass. Theyre also 4th overall in scoring points.


I guess the Vikings are very similar to the Bears, but after watching the last game I'm going to have to give the edge to the Vikings right now.
With the Packers, as much as I hate to say it, they're simply a better team. We share the same record, so "technically" were tied- but as far as talent- or how that talent has been playing all year, I'm not hopeful.

pagan

[Ormazd]

9-7 will win this division, so the tiebreakers will be crucial.

[UOK]

hell 8-8 may win the division. 7-9 may win the division.

Which is fucking horrible.

[Otis Day]

Technically if the season ended today we lose out to Pack in tiebreakers. Lovie can hold on this fantasy shit as long as he wants but we are not in first realistically.

[wab]

Yeah, from a playoff perspective we are actually tied for 2nd. We have to win the division to make the playoffs because whe shit the bed against the NFC South.

[DaDitka]

No matter how ugly it was, if you would have told me (in the preseason) that after just getting waxed by the Packers we'd still be tied for first place on Thanksgiving (yes I'm already counting the Rams game as a win) I would have had you drug tested.

There was a lot of good that came from the game….

Babich is probably gone,

Mike Brown will probably hang them up….

The O-line was finally exposed for being as bad as they’ve been all year despite what the media tells you.

Rex learned that the coaching staff prefers a Kyle Orton that can’t drop back from center or plant his foot over a completely healthy Grossman.

The D line showed that they should be sponsored by Tampax because they couldn’t show up even after complaining (crying) all week for being called on the carpet by the local media.

On a good note, Brian did get a pick and got some pressure on Rogers a couple times.

I would try to spew sunshine and rainbows about how this game was just the wakeup call the team needed, but that’s not the case. It should however serve as a wakeup call to management that our O-Line, D-Line, and safeties simply are not NFL quality and any denial in the offseason will lead to only further frustration next season.

[Ormazd]

Vikings @ Jaguars and Packers @ Saints this week. If the Bears can pull off a win against the hapless Rams, they could well be back in first alone.

[gaba]

I don't give two f*&Ks that we're "tied for first." We're also tied for third. Big f*&king deal. Doesn't matter anyway. Lucking into the playoffs doesn't mean this team can actually DO anything once they get there. Making the playoffs is not a worthy goal. I'd rather stay home than watch another one-and-done.

[Ormazd]

Even though we're disgusted right now and feel they're underachieving, most people picked the Bears to finish third in the division. Making the playoffs would be a nice result, IMO.

[gaba]

If you told me in September that they'd be finishing 3rd, I'd be surprised, but not pleased. "Better than expected" doesn't automatically mean "good."

[swami]

Even though we're disgusted right now and feel they're underachieving, most people picked the Bears to finish third in the division. Making the playoffs would be a nice result, IMO.

It's a nice thought, but you have to account for variable change. If I bought a scratch-off lottery ticket with no expectations of winning and made $10 off it, I'd be happy. If I were told before I bought it that I would win, but didn't know the amount, I'd be disappointed if I only got $10.

The same is true of the Bears. If you knew they were going to be in the driver's seat for the division 9 games into the season, you'd be a lot less happy if they pissed it away in the last few weeks and won only 8 games.

I'd bring up a second point that it's not only the losses, but how the team's lost. They blew a few games early on and laid an egg against a huge conference rival in a game with playoff implications. If that's not a lack of focus, drive, etc., then I don't know what is. That's something that comes from the top though.

[Beardude]

Vikings @ Jaguars and Packers @ Saints this week. If the Bears can pull off a win against the hapless Rams, they could well be back in first alone.

Watch it Buster !! You're ruining the pitty party !!

[gaba]

I'm not sure what you just said swami.

Beardude, are you saying you're HAPPY with this team?

[swami]

I'm not sure what you just said swami.

Beardude, are you saying you're HAPPY with this team?

Basically, I'm saying that I don't like to base my expectations for this team in retrospect. I'm not basing what I expect of this team now on what I expected of it before the season. A lot has changed since then.

[Ormazd]

All I'm saying is this team isn't as good as they looked against the Colts or as bad as they looked against the Packers. The rest of this season is going to be a bumpy ride.

[gaba]

Basically, I'm saying that I don't like to base my expectations for this team in retrospect. I'm not basing what I expect of this team now on what I expected of it before the season. A lot has changed since then.

Okay, then I agree with you completely. Just because I expected this team to be 4-12, doesn't mean I'm happy with these 5 wins. Maybe they're not as good as they looked in some of the early games, but they are still better than I expected. The offense has looked freaking amazing (by Chicago standards at least) and the special teams may be struggling but they can still make some plays. The defense though... the defense has dropped the ball and they're not even kicking it around. They're just staring at it and waiting for someone to pick it up for them. This defense is a bad joke that stopped being funny about a month ago. F*&king pathetic. I don't care if Orton somehow managed to drag this team (kicking and screaming) to 10-0, I would still be PISSED about how this defense is playing.