The St. Louis Rams are coming to town with no more answers than the Bears.
Q: When was the last time the Bears played a December game at home without any playoff ramifications for either team?
A: Dec. 10, 1989, when the 4-9 Lions beat the 6-7 Bears.
Q: What is the Bears’ December record since winning the Super Bowl in 1985?
A: A depressing 16-23, which means the Bears are not the polar variety.
Q: What’s the Rams’ story?
A: Youth and poor football. They have five rookies starting on offense. If that’s not a record in the modern era, it should be. It might be enough to get coach Rich Brooks fired.
Q: But why is he on the hot seat if they have so many young players?
A: Good question. The Rams obviously tossed this year away to experience when they traded defensive tackle Sean Gilbert to the Redskins in order to draft Lawrence Phillips. When they had to turn to rookie quarterback Tony Banks after the Steve Walsh experiment failed, Brooks had no realistic chance to win.
Q: How good is Banks?
A: The second-rounder from Michigan State was the first quarterback selected in the draft. He has a good arm, good mobility, and not much of an idea of what he’s doing yet. This makes him dangerous because someday he looks like he might figure it out.
Q: Where does he rate compared to other passers this year?
A: He’s the only rookie playing regularly. His passer rating of 69.1 ranks him ahead of Jim Kelly, Trent Dilfer, Dave Brown, Rick Mirer and Frank Reich. His 12 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions is quite comparable to the 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions thrown by the Bears’ Dave Kreig, who at age 38 does know what he’s doing. Imagine Kreig’s head on Banks’ body Sunday and you will see one very good quarterback.
Q: What is Phillips doing?
A: He is the only rookie among NFC leaders, but his 501 yards puts him far behind the Oilers’ Eddie George and the Dolphins’ Karim Abdul-Jabbar in the rookie class. Phillips’ 3.2-yard average is among the worst in the league. His long run is only 22 yards.
Q: Who is their best rookie?
A: At the moment, neither Banks nor Phillips but receiver-kick returner Eddie Kennison, who leads the league in punt returns with a 17.8 average and two touchdowns. He also is big-play threat at wide receiver.
Q: Do they have any players with experience?
A: Receiver Isaac Bruce has accounted for 53 percent of his team’s passing yards, which means Banks to Bruce is pretty much their game plan. If the Bears put Donnell Woolford on Bruce all over the field, Woolford is likely to get more action than he’s seen lately.
Q: Didn’t their safety, Garry Lyle, used to play for the Bears?
A: Their free safety is Keith Lyle, who leads the NFC in interceptions with six. He is Garry’s son, for Bear fans who fear they are aging just from overexposure to their favorite team.
