To call it a “must win” for either team might be giving a little too much credit to a contest so unappealing that the most compelling matchup is between the coaches.
And even that angle has become stale.
Still, it makes Sunday night no less important for the New Orleans Saints and even more so for the Bears, playing at home for the first time in three weeks and still searching for their first victory in the sixth week of the season.
“Until you lose maybe eight games, you’re not out of the playoffs,” Bears quarterback Rick Mirer said. “And we haven’t put that out of the realm of possibility if we can get hot and win a bunch of games. But we have to win one before we can win 10.”
Heightening the urgency is this: Of the Bears’ remaining 10 opponents after Sunday, only St. Louis (2-3) is below .500.
But the pressure may be heaviest on Mirer. As he starts his third straight game, his job has been in doubt because he has led the offense to a total of six points and no touchdowns. The Bears have been without a touchdown the last 11 quarters. For Mirer, perhaps more than any other Bear, Sunday night looms as critical. He knows it’s time to show progress.
“It’s been time,” he said, “and that’s happening. There have been things that have gone good and bad along the way, times where I’ve made mistakes and it has cost us. But we keep fighting and going along. Believe it or not, I feel better about what we’re doing. Sometimes it doesn’t always work, but I’m seeing a bigger picture. And the more reps, the better.”
Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, although making a commitment to Mirer in the form of saying his “intent” is to keep him in place as the starting quarterback, also let it be known that his patience is beginning to wear thin.
“Rick has to go out there and play better; he really does, and he knows it,” Wannstedt said. “We need to see some progress at a lot of positions, and obviously, the focus is going to be on the quarterback when you’re making a change. The quarterback is going to have to make two or three plays in every game. That’s the difference between winning and losing.”
It will help to have guard Todd Perry back in the lineup, although he is not counted on to play more than three quarters.
“We look at it that we’ve stopped ourselves offensively,” Perry said. “It’s a situation where if one guy breaks down, the line breaks down or the receiver doesn’t get open. It’s not one thing that’s stopping us. The encouraging thing is that a lot of it is correctable.”
Mirer said it often comes down to not pressing.
“There are times I feel poised and comfortable and you stand in there and throw and catch and do it the way you draw it up,” he said. “And there are other times where I’m thinking too much or trying to do or see too much and not really seeing the simple stuff, just seeing the coverage and working the right side and making an accurate throw. To me, it feels like I’m close, but it looks like you’re so far away.”
He readily acknowledges that the Saints may provide the Bears with their best opportunity to break through.
“We knew we had a bunch of tough teams early, but that doesn’t mean you can accept not winning them,” Mirer said. “And this is not to say we don’t play good ones the rest of the way, but the Saints are kind of in the same position we’re in. They feel this is one they need to win, and we desperately need to win one ourselves.”
The 1-4 Saints have had their troubles, but a defensive line anchored by tackle Wayne Martin makes them respectable.
“I think the Saints are similar to us in that their defense is playing well of late and their offense is what is holding them back,” guard Todd Burger said. “We feel the same about our team. Eleven quarters without a touchdown is just really pathetic.”
Despite the bleakness of the situation and the obvious frustration involved, the Bears are putting up a brave front.
“If guys were going to pack it in, we would have already done it by now,” Perry said. “But the guys haven’t done that, and I don’t think they will. That’s a credit to the character on this team.”
Mirer said: “There’s no way of anyone lying down and saying we’re getting ready for next year. That’s just not at all what anybody’s talking about.”
