Letters to the Editor
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Da Bearss
That was an ugly game. Still, it proved one thing: Dennis Green can not coach. Those who live here in MN knew that already, of course.
And it hinted at another: On its own, the Bears' defense is good enough to beat at least some NFL teams. When the offense shows up, as it didn't last night, they can probably beat anyone.
Still, as they say, "On any given Sunday (or Monday?)..."
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If my grandmother had wheels...
...she'd be a race car! VROOM VROOM!
Come on, King, give yer grandma some oomph!
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Cardinals crapout
I'm wondering if Denny Green's second half strategy was an attempt to boost the confidence of his offensive line. Sometime to the effect of: "I'm putting this on your backs, guys. Carry us home."
I say that because it's clearly the Cardinal's O-line that is holding that team back. They are perhaps the worst unit on any team I've ever seen. They can't run block to save their lives. Anyone who watched last night saw Edgerrin James take a hand off and immediately see a white jersey in his face. (Or only slightly better, the back of a red jersey being shoved backwards.) I don't think I've ever seen a running back produce 50 measly yards on 34 (!) carries. I know the Bears are good, but come on. Any kind of a push should have allowed the Edge to average more than 1.5 yds a carry.
The pass blocking was only marginally better. As long as the Bears didn't blitz, Leinart at least had a few moments to scan the field. But, for most of the night, blitzers came free with disturbing frequency. And what in the heck was Oliver Ross thinking on the first fumble that Chicago returned to make the score (23-10)? He didn't even bother to look to his right even though there was no tight end on that side and even the running back was set up on the string side.
I turned off the game at that point sure that the Cardinals were going to find a way to blow it. It was really ironic that just before that disaster, the network had played a clip from the miked-up Leinart in which he was commenting that the Bears were still waiting for the Cardinals to make a mistake! With that O-line, it was only a matter of time, Matt.
Memo to Denny Green: Fire every O-line player you have and start over.
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Columnist Smackdown: Kaufman vs. Easterbrook
Following is a paragraph from Gregg Easterbrook's ESPN column, Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Note that this and Kaufman's columns were posted less than 30 minutes apart. The Cardinals ran it up the middle too much and are idiots, or the Cardinals are idiots for not running it up the middle enough? This kind of thing can only be decided properly in a no-holds-barred deathmatch.
Easterbrook Quote begins:
Yet it's not enough to say that mere Cardinal-ness cost Arizona this game. Blowing a late 20-point lead is not easy: Dennis Green and his coaching staff worked hard to blow the lead. Consider the situation at the start of the fourth quarter. Arizona led 23-10 and had a first-and-10 on its 23. At this point, the clock -- not the Bears -- is the opponent; just keep those numerals on the scoreboard declining and victory is likely. Yet after the first play of the fourth quarter, Arizona called timeout. On the possession, Matt Leinart threw incomplete twice, stopping the clock twice more. On its next possession, still leading 23-10 and now with 10:53 remaining, Arizona went run, incompletion, incompletion, stopping the clock two more times before punting. TMQ's Immutable Law of Doing the Obvious holds: Sometimes all a team needs to do is run the ball up the middle for no gain, and everything will be fine. Had Arizona not called a timeout in a clock-killer situation, and had the team simply run up the middle for no gain on these four plays Leinart threw incomplete, probably there never would have been a winning 83-yard Chicago punt return with 2:58 to play. The clock would have expired and the contest would have ended with Arizona leading.
End quote.
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The Old Nursery Rhyme
Hickory Dickory Dock, when you have the ball and the lead in the 4th quarter RUN OUT THE CLOCK. I have to disagree with King on this one, not only should Arizona have been running the ball up the middle on first down, they should have been doing it on second and third down as well, and the game would have been over. Instead, Green and his staff inexplicably call pass play after pass play in the fourth quarter, thus giving Chicago plenty of time to get back in the game. I guess they never payed attention when Mom was reading them Mother Goose...
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King is "happy to see gutless, conservative football turn a sure win into a loss"
And I am so, so, so happy to see a sports columnist, who gets paid to talk and write about that which most of us can only do as a hobby, go winless in picking football games. Nothing personal, King, but it's just so very satisfying. Call it schadenfreude, that's Ok.
But you're not alone. For those of you who aren't godless heathens who listen to the Howard Stern Show on Sirius, there is also a football picking contest going on there. Artie Lange, who knows quite a lot about sports, is in last place, behind a crossdressing lunatic jogger, an angry, mentally ill woman who can't name 3 NFL teams without a list in front of her, and a mildly retarded man named Bigfoot.
Keep trying, though. You'll get one right eventually.
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Denny Green was right
I'm not sure how you lay this at Green's feet. His team was up 23-10 with FIVE MINUTES REMAINING. The reason for this, without question, was the running game. If James hadn't fumbled the ball the Bears would have gotten the ball back with three minutes remaining still down two scores. This was hardly bad play calling.
Putting the ball into a Bear's swarming secondary that has a fantastic turnover differential, where it could be picked on a deflection or otherwise, would have been risky. He had the clock and he used up the time.
Green ate up huge chunks of clock by executing a running game that required two fumbles, an 85 yard punt return, and a missed FG chip shot by a stone cold pro bowl kicker to beat. How the heck is that Green's fault?