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d00kd00k · 01-14-2007, 09:00 PM

just wanted to put a topic out there to share thoughts about this game and next week's matchup against the saints.

bears made some mistakes today, but got the win which was huge....as they got the "one and done" monkey off their back.

rex showed up which was nice. he was a little off w/ his accuracy as the game wore on, but he was effective overall. once again my concerns are mostly on the defense. horrible game for our defensive line and we let a guy w/ no lateral mobility (alexander) run for over 100 on us..need to get all of that sorted out this week or sunday will be ugly.

to all of the people out there that get veins popping out of their forehead when discussing lovie smith's contract extension...can any of you provide me with a logical explanation as to why lovie called a timeout with two seconds left in the game?

i was at the game..there were 18 seconds left on the game clock when tank sacked hasselbeck. if the bears wanted the ball back, why wouldn't you call the time out immediately after the sack, make them snap & punt to hester. calling a timeout with two seconds left was borderline retarded and showed lovie still gets a little tight in crucial moments. the timeout gave the seahawks a chance at (a) a potential game winning td pass - as they were at midfield - or (b) a pass interference call that would've given seattle a chance to lineup for a potential game winning field goal.

i was absolutely dumbfounded when lovie called that timeout. his clock management choices and challenges at times are very...challenged themselves.

bMaGs · 01-14-2007, 09:02 PM

i wanna enjoy today, and wait to worry about next sunday.

d00kd00k · 01-14-2007, 09:03 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bMaGs @ Jan 14th ) [snapback]1861421[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

i wanna enjoy today, and wait to worry about next sunday.
[/b]

understood, i just had to get that lovie thought out there so i didn't forget as it was seriously mind blowing.

URL54MVP · 01-14-2007, 09:05 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(d00kd00k @ Jan 14th ) [snapback]1861424[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

understood, i just had to get that lovie thought out there so i didn't forget as it was seriously mind blowing.
[/b]

It was completely retarded, I said the same thing in the game thread. I could see taking the TO right away so that they would have to punt to Hester but with 2 seconds left was insane. All I could think of then was some miracle BS pass for a TD better not happen!

imported_Megatron · 01-14-2007, 09:09 PM

The defense worries me, A LOT!

drkcldrsn · 01-14-2007, 09:10 PM

well what pissed me off was the fact that after stopping them on the forth down with 2 mins left in the game Turner calls 3 straight passing plays (after Benson was running well) taking no time off the clock giving the ball back to seattle with a chance to win....I was screaming my little head off wondering why they didnt run at least once with Benson (heck even Jones had some nice runs)....ah well....

drkcldrsn · 01-14-2007, 09:15 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Megatron @ Jan 14th ) [snapback]1861438[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

The defense worries me, A LOT!
[/b]

and now they get to face the number one O in the NFL....Weeeeee....

**lostfan** · 01-14-2007, 09:16 PM

I think Lovie was thinking about punting to Hester, and he wanted that to be the last play of the quarter, and called the timeout and proably though "oops... aww ****" but it was too late. I think the entire NFL world saw the time ticking down and wanted to know what the hell Lovie was doing. He thinks too much sometimes (remember those bizarre challenges, I think against Minnesota?)

bears51 · 01-14-2007, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Bears flawed, even if they don't see it
By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN.com

CHICAGO -- So Bears cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. was standing in front of his locker after Chicago's 27-24 overtime win in the NFC Divisional playoff, and he was talking about how difficult the last 12 months have been for him. I'm a sucker for a heartwarming overcome-adversity story, so I clicked on the digital recorder.

"I would say the last year has been a drastic change for me as far as signing with the Bears, then with the off-the-field issues (he pleaded no contest to a felony assault charge), getting married, having a kid, moving to Chicago, buying a Bentley ... it's crazy," he said.

It is, isn't it? I was just telling the ball and chain that very thing a few days ago, when we were at the Ferrari dealership picking out ostrich leather seats for our new 599 GTB Fiorano.

Oh, my gawd. You see, this is the problem with a lot of the Bears. Manning signs a five-year, $21-million free agent deal and buys one of the most expensive cars on the planet -- and thinks he's had it rough. Bears quarterback Rex Grossman watches his team eke out an overtime win against a Seattle Seahawks team with a loan officer in its secondary, and he says, "Our whole team just played great."

Huh? These are the Chicago Bears we're talking about, right? The team that scored three points in the second half. The team that fumbled four times, that threw one interception (and it could have been more), that starts the wrong guy at tailback (memo to Bears: more Cedric Benson), that calls a timeout near the end of regulation, which gives the Seahawks a freebie attempt to win the game. Those Bears?

Nothing against my favorite Bear, but Grossman might need a little more padding in his helmet. The Bears didn't play great. They played with heart, with emotion, with desperation at times, but they weren't within an L ride of great. I'm not even sure they were the best team on the field. But they won, and that counts for something, such as their first NFC Championship appearance since the 1988 season.

All those outside the Chicagoland area who still think the Bears are the best team in the NFL, please raise your hands. Take your time. I can do a Sudoku or count the ways the Bears could have lost to the Seahawks.

How about this: all those outside the range of Mike Ditka's cigar smoke who still think the Bears are the best team in the NFC, please raise your hands. No rush. Manning Jr. and I are busy discussing various benefit packages for our chauffeurs.

If the Bears have proven anything about themselves in the last two weeks, it's this: they're beatable, maddeningly inconsistent, and resilient. But of the four teams remaining in the playoffs, the Bears are the most vulnerable.

They have talent. Talent isn't the problem. The problem is you don't know what you're going to get. Good Rex or Bad Rex? Good defense or Bad defense? Domination or frustration?

"The most important thing is that we won," said Grossman. "I don't care how we do it, I really don't. This is an unbelievable situation we're in right now. We're in the NFC Championship game. If we win one game we're in the Super Bowl ... two wins away from having a ring on my finger for the rest of my life."

That's one way of looking at it. I prefer the other way, the one where we hold hands with football reality.

Grossman sees another step toward Super Bowl XLI. I see the Seahawks self-destruct in the fourth quarter, thanks to one of the worst interceptions ever thrown by Matt Hasselbeck, followed later by what appeared to be a busted play on third-and-one, followed even later by a bobbled snap by Hasselbeck on a failed fourth-and-two attempt at the Seahawks' 45, followed even later by Hasselbeck's failure to unload the ball before getting sacked. Give the Bears enough chances (give any team enough chances) and they'll finally figure it out.

That's what the Bears did in overtime. They held the Seahawks on a third-and-two from Seattle's own 48, watched Ryan Plackemeier shankemeier a punt 18 yards, and then drove just far enough for Pro Bowl place-kicker Robbie Gould to ease a career-long 49-yarder over the crossbar.

"I didn't even watch the end of it," said Gould, who knew it was good when it left his foot.

"I didn't want to watch it," said Grossman, who didn't sneak a peek until after it cleared.

Grossman is the guy who, after the regular-season-ending loss at home to Green Bay, told a Chicago Sun-Times reporter that he didn't exactly over-prepare for the Packers. He might as well have said that he wears a cheesehead to bed.

But Sunday at an unfilled Soldier Field (an embarrassing 6,659 no-shows on a surprisingly tame 32-degree January day on the lakefront), Grossman kept his screw-ups to a workable number. He threw an interception in the fourth quarter to cornerback Pete Hunter, who about a week ago was working as a loan officer. And he almost threw another one three drives later, but tailback Thomas Jones knocked the tipped pass to the ground before defensive tackle Rocky Bernard could grab it.

Of course, Grossman also threw two long passes that belong in a Canton exhibit. His 68-yard touchdown throw to Bernard Berrian in the second quarter and his 30-yarder to Rashied Davis in overtime were both placed on the receivers' palms. NFL Films will love them in slo-mo.

"He's been roasted the past couple weeks over all different kinds of things," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "He is our quarterback. When you push him against a wall he knows how to come out fighting. There was a lot of pressure on him and our entire football team and I thought they handled it well."

Smith got that part right. There's pressure on the Bears.

"It's scary, man," said Manning Jr. "It's a scary feeling. We got to win this game. If we lose this game -- if we blow this game -- it's going to feel bad."

Instead, they get to stay home and play America's sweetheart, the New Orleans Saints, for the NFC Championship.

"For us, the Bears, today was just meant to be," said Gould.

Next week, who knows? But that's the Bears for you.

Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at gene.wojciechowski@espn3.com. [/b]

bears51 · 01-14-2007, 09:25 PM

Will the Bears ever pound the ball with Benson?? The Hawks D line was undersized and Benson was running stong on them all game. I dont understand why the Bears didnt just pound the rock down their thoughts and wear the Hawk D out. Also the int by Rex was Moose's fault, even though the media will probably make it seem like it was all Grossman. And how we miss Tommie Harris.

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