The Rookies

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"That's exactly what WE look like!"

Speaking Sputnik

Fire Lovie Smith.

These three words have been murmured throughout Chicago this year, the one that many fans believed to be the year that the Bears would bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Halas Hall. The once-vaunted Bears defense is now a shadow of its former self, less aging star linebacker Brian Urlacher. Both Carson Palmer and Kurt Warner expertly picked the defense apart, exploiting fundamental flaws in the Cover-2 scheme, and Michael Turner, Cedric Benson and Tim Hightower have proven that the Bears are frighteningly vulnerable to the run.

Bears fans aren’t murmuring anymore.

This week, Jay Cutler played like the Bears had wanted—with a quarterback rating of 98.3. The offensive line gave Cutler enough time to find open receivers downfield (and Devin Hester demonstrated that he is a legitimate number one receiver), and Matt Forte did not play atrociously. The problem is that the Bears do not have the personnel to come back from a 27-point deficit. Jay Cutler is very good, but if you ask him to throw 47 passes, he will be intercepted at least once. The Bears’ speedsters do not have the size of a Larry Fitzgerald, who enjoyed a very successful day. The philosophy behind the Bears’ underpowered offense is that the defense will force enough turnovers to keep the opponent from putting up 41 points and help the offense along the way.

The defense is not doing this.

Lovie Smith was one of the best defensive head coaches in the NFL, but the Bears have given up 45 points to the Bengals and now 41 to the Cards. He called the plays in both of those losses. While certain other losses were not Lovie’s fault, his defensive scheme isn’t working. Either he changes it (he won’t) or he, GM Jerry Angelo and Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner need to get the hell out of town. The defense is the problem with this team. My thoughts? I am sure as hell starting Frank Gore next week. I’m just saying.

The Packers looked uglier.

Rock

Just when I thought the iniquity of mediocrity couldn’t get worse, the Packers lose to the Bucs.

The Packers have never been good at either the Old or New Sombrero, and the offensive line has nothing resembling a consistent lineup at this point, and Aaron Rodgers still has no idea how to throw a football away. But losing to the Bucs? The winless Bucs?

Allowing a blocked punt touchdown? Allowing rookie Josh Freeman, who couldn’t beat out Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson in training camp, to engineer two fourth-quarter touchdown drives? Allowing a team that hadn’t put up more than 21 points in a game this year to cobble together 38?

Allowing probably isn’t the right word. It has become clear that this team cannot dictate terms consistently. They win when given turnovers (four picks from Jay Cutler against the Bears) or given enormous talent deficits (Lions, Browns, and Rams), and lose when facing good teams (Bengals and Vikings).

Except, of course, for this loss against the Bucs. Green Bay’s mediocrity is the sort that makes even the bad games against bad teams unpredictable and unwatchable. At least this Sunday confirmed for me that there will only be eight more sessions of this sort this season: There is no way these Packers go to the playoffs.

I see London, failing at a glance.

Minda

NFL fans should get out of bed Sunday morning and have a glimmer of hope for a win, right? I’ve heard the three magic words my whole life: Any given Sunday.

I really don’t believe in them, though. Maybe it’s 21 years of being abused by the Royals, but I just don’t expect the Chiefs to win. When they occasionally do, it’s a lovely surprise, but to expect them to do it is a fruitless endeavor.

And so it went today, as the one-win Chiefs visited Jacksonville. Once again, Ryan Succop tried to see how many of his teammates he could lift up and carry on his back. Coach Haley was in on this game, too, sending Succop out to try and kick a 56-yard field goal against the wind in the final seconds of the first half. Apparently that kamikaze mission had more chance of success than having Matt Cassel air one out and hope someone caught it, which is an extra layer of sad. If you can’t trust your QB to even try a desperation heave to the endzone, how are you still an NFL team?

At least things got interesting in the fourth quarter. The newest Chief, Chris Chambers, had two TD receptions. KC even got a two-point conversion to pull within three points with a few minutes left. But making the score close was still not enough to give me even a glimmer of hope that my team would pull out a win.

Some Sunday, I hope to be able to wake up and think the day might possibly, maybe, PLEASE GOD, end with a Chiefs victory. Until then, every Sunday feels like watching that team that plays across the road from Arrowhead. And don’t KC fans already suffer enough from those guys?

On to the links now…

Buch tells a long story about stories, but it’s only 83% as long for American readers. (Sporting Madness)

This week’s Reckoning. (Style Points)

Spencer’s essential Alphabetical. (SB Nation)

An examination of the zeitgeist. Sort of. (The Phoenix Pub)