You can usually fool yourself into having hope in the NFL.
There’s a three-game cushion built in, minimum, that allows you to erect for yourself a house of possibilities. And even if you know better, even if that house is made of sticks, it’s still a place to seek temporary asylum.
But there are only razed hopes for the Bears, who play at Minnesota on Sunday night after being overmatched in a 49-7 loss in the opener against the 49ers.
It’s too early to root for the right to choose first in next year’s draft, and it’s too Bengals-like, for that matter. So Chicago is left with a big lump of nothing to look forward to, unless you’re counting on the new Soldier Field to keep you energized for the whole season.
But not even a renovated stadium can mask what this team is missing, and that’s talent. Go ahead and listen to the Bears talk about the lack of execution in San Francisco, about the failure of coaching and the breakdown of communication, but the primary problem is that they can’t match up with most teams in the NFL.
This just in: Not good.
Coach Dick Jauron has been the cigarette butt to which everyone has wanted to take a heel, and oftentimes for good reason.
But general manager Jerry Angelo somehow has managed to avoid similar treatment. Imagine the look on Jauron’s face in the preseason when Angelo informed him the Bears were trading defensive tackle Ted Washington to New England for a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft.
Gee, thanks, Jerry. I lose my best defensive lineman–a guy who stops up the middle so Brian Urlacher can get to the ballcarrier quicker–and you give me a fourth-round pick I’ll probably never get the chance to coach.
With Angelo allowing Rosevelt Colvin to sign as a free agent with the Patriots in the off-season (caused, in part, by an earlier Angelo paperwork error), Jauron can now give you a pretty good definition of the term “piling on,” also known as being Angeloed.
The offensive line is a mess of injuries, and because the Bears had no depth at those positions, they’re in big trouble.
Whether Kordell Stewart can play is almost immaterial, because now he’ll never get the chance to show his true ability. They’ll need to send rescue workers and search dogs just to find him under the pile of pass-rushers.
As they prepared for Sunday’s game, the Bears talked about the importance of establishing a running game, but just to be clear, no offensive line, no running game.
Still, there were these priceless words of wisdom from noted philosopher/offensive coordinator John Shoop:
“One thing I said to the offense is an old proverb: If you dwell on the past, you’ll lose an eye,” he said, “but if you forget the past, you’ll lose them both.”
And if you dwell on the present, you’ll wish you were brain-dead. This brings us back to Angelo, the builder of this team. And to think the people who designed the new-look Soldier Field are being derided as bad architects.
This isn’t just an offensive line problem, folks. That’s the convenient excuse, the one that says the Bears are victims of bad luck with the injuries to Rex Tucker and Chris Villarrial on the line. The secondary looks overmatched, and hardly a whisper was heard from the defensive line against the 49ers. Nothing running back Anthony Thomas has done since his rookie season would give anyone confidence even if there were an offensive line blocking for him, which there isn’t.
The much-maligned Mark Hatley built the team that went 13-3 in 2001. Angelo, an accidental beneficiary, stumbled onto that success and has been taking a crowbar to it ever since. Imagine being the guy who put together the current team and having to watch it every week.
Wait a second. Imagine being us and having to watch this week after week. No, there ought to be a greater punishment for Angelo than having to witness the carnage on a weekly basis.
Maybe he should have to line up at left tackle.
It’s interesting, though not surprising, that most of the heat is being placed on Jauron. Things go bad, and the coach goes. That’s sports. But if this season goes down the disposal, and it certainly seems to be swirling toward the drain, then Angelo should carry just as much culpability. But guess who will be the one losing his job?
When you hear Urlacher talk about a great Bears practice last week and hear him say that “guys weren’t screwing up as much,” the immediate reaction is to blame Jauron for not preparing his players properly. But who chose these players? And why are there 10 rookies on a 53-man roster?
It’s hard to coach when your roster is filled with below-average talent and young players who don’t have a clue yet.
Where is the hope? Probably holed up somewhere watching the pennant races.
