Giving the Devil His Due
Over the past 6 years, I've been the biggest Bear Basher out there. I've always felt that their success in this millenium has had at least as much to do with fortuitous bounces as with the Pro Bowlers they've had on defense. Indeed, in a few cases I think that those lucky twists of fate were what made a couple of those players into All-Pros. For instance, Nathan Vasher catches a field goal that was only missed because of near-hurricane-force winds, runs it back for a fluke TD and suddenly, he's the best thing since sliced bread? Puh-leeze. The 2006 version of the Monsters of the Midway, however, has me singing a slightly different tune.
What's different? The easy answer is the offense, and that does have a lot to do with it. I'm not completely sold on Rex Grossman yet, but he's easily the best QB they've had since Mike Tomczak (actually, he's probably also their best since Jim McMahon, but I just wanted an excuse to type "Mike Tomczak"). The leads and confidence that the offense have given the Bears' D allows the latter to play the aggressive, ballhawking style they love.
Also, they seem to have a kicker they can rely on when the offense stalls. Wow, that sentence really hurt! I mean, seriously, Robbie Gould is a Michigan alum who plays for the Bears; is there any football player I have more reason to loathe right now? And, can you believe I'm compelled to feel this way about a KICKER?!
OK, Kirk, breathe. That's better. Anyway, I guess the Bears have a solid team. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't remind you that if Steve Hutchinson didn't miss his block on the Chester Taylor fumble, Chicago would be tied with my Vikes for first right now. I'm just saying.
What's different? The easy answer is the offense, and that does have a lot to do with it. I'm not completely sold on Rex Grossman yet, but he's easily the best QB they've had since Mike Tomczak (actually, he's probably also their best since Jim McMahon, but I just wanted an excuse to type "Mike Tomczak"). The leads and confidence that the offense have given the Bears' D allows the latter to play the aggressive, ballhawking style they love.
Also, they seem to have a kicker they can rely on when the offense stalls. Wow, that sentence really hurt! I mean, seriously, Robbie Gould is a Michigan alum who plays for the Bears; is there any football player I have more reason to loathe right now? And, can you believe I'm compelled to feel this way about a KICKER?!
OK, Kirk, breathe. That's better. Anyway, I guess the Bears have a solid team. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't remind you that if Steve Hutchinson didn't miss his block on the Chester Taylor fumble, Chicago would be tied with my Vikes for first right now. I'm just saying.
posted by Lock Ness Monster at 5:45 PM
4 Comments:
Robbie Gould is a Penn State alum, not Michigan. Maybe that will make you feel just a tiny bit better :)
da....bearsss...
Well, that's what I get for writing an article at lunch away from my fact-checker...I mean, computer. I should have known better, though...I can't remember That Team Up North ever having a kicker that doesn't drool on himself.
I thought about Harbaugh, and he had a good year or two, which actually places him pretty close to where Grossman is now. From what I remember, the former was good at late comebacks but often was in those positions because he was also a little mistake-prone. So those two facts are kind of a wash with me. So far, I haven't seen Grossman make any big mistakes, save the pick-6 he threw to Antoine Winfield, which is why he's theoretically a little better than Harbaugh based on 6 games this season.
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