It is with no small bit of irony that the Bears turned to Anthony Thomas in the third quarter Sunday. Who knows what might have happened had they turned to him in the first quarter? Who knows what might have happened had they turned to him in the first quarter of the season opener in San Francisco? Who knows?
It’s too late to have a winning season, and it may be too late for Thomas or anyone to save coach Dick Jauron’s job.
The Washington Redskins are an eminently beatable team, but the way the Bears dominated in the second half makes one wonder why they didn’t run Thomas earlier and more often all year.
Thomas, for one, wants Jauron to get another chance to make him more of the main man. “I don’t have any say-so; the people up front make that decision,” Thomas said. “If I did, he’d be here.”
Thomas carried 32 times for 141 yards as the Bears came from behind to beat the Redskins 27-24. It leaves the Bears 7-8 going into the season finale at Kansas City.
The 12-3 Chiefs clinched a first-round bye Sunday night when the Colts lost but still could have something to play for. If the Patriots are upset at home Saturday by Buffalo, Kansas City will be the No. 1 seed if it beats the Bears. If the Patriots win, the Chiefs will be the No. 2 seed and have nothing to gain against the Bears, raising the question of whether they might rest some starters.
An 8-8 finish may not be enough to save Jauron. General manager Jerry Angelo may put more weight on a five-year record that includes only one winning season.
And it may not be enough to save guard Chris Villarrial, a huge cog in the running game. Villarrial will be a free agent after the season and wants to come back, but the Bears are loaded with young linemen and may let him leave. Villarrial returned after missing two games with strained ribs. And with Villarrial teaming again with center Olin Kreutz, Thomas and the Bears running game thrived.
“Chris is really an outstanding guard–solid, tough, very strong,” Jauron said. “He helps us experience-wise, and he and Olin communicate very well.”
Washington went into the game with the NFL’s 27th-ranked rushing defense, so the Bears’ big day is no shock. But the Bears showed again that when Kreutz, Villarrial and Thomas are healthy, the Bears can run and win.
That trio has been intact for only eight games, and in two of them, Kreutz played with a sore ankle. In the six games in which all three were healthy, Thomas had all four of his 100-yard rushing days and the Bears went 4-2.
“I think he’s the best right guard in the NFL, and I’m being honest,” Kreutz said of Villarrial. “He’s a horse in there. Put him next to [right tackle Aaron Gibson], who can move anyone off the ball, and you’re going to get running yards.”
The Bears got 191 of them Sunday. “The offensive line brought their A game today,” Thomas said.
It didn’t look like there would be a clinic in running the football at halftime, when the Bears had rushed for only 53 yards and trailed 17-10.
But in the third quarter, they gave the ball to Thomas 13 times and he gained 66 yards, including a 3-yard TD run that gave the Bears a 24-17 lead.
“We wanted to warm [Thomas] up, at the same time, we want to keep Rex [Grossman] in the game because he’s a playmaker,” Jauron said. “We walked a fine line in the first half. In the second half, we said we’re going to keep giving it to Train until they prove” they can stop him.
And the Redskins couldn’t. It was Thomas’s biggest running day since the last game of his rookie season in 2001, when he rushed for 160 yards in a victory over Jacksonville.
“I’ve always been a big believer in Anthony Thomas,” Jauron said. “He’s faster than you think he is. He’s capable of making the big run. He’s a tough guy. He wants the ball when the game is going to be decided, and I love that.”
The Bears had to adjust on the fly to run the ball, though, but that’s been the story for the offensive line all season. Left tackle Mike Gandy couldn’t play because of an injured shoulder, and his replacement, Qasim Mitchell, suffered a broken leg midway through the fourth quarter.
So left guard Steve Edwards moved to tackle, and Terrence Metcalf replaced him.
Somehow, it wound up a good day for the line.
The line passed the credit around, also including beleaguered offensive coordinator John Shoop. The Bears came out passing, and Marty Booker beat Champ Bailey and caught a 59-yard TD pass from Grossman for a 7-3 Bears lead.
“Give Shoop credit for the idea to back them up a little and take some shots,” Kreutz said. “And with Grossman’s arm, we can do that.”
A healthy offensive line and a young quarterback with a gun of an arm are things the Bears might have more regularly next season.
“We started slowly, and we know that,” Thomas said. “It’s more about pride now. We want to go to .500 and get something started for next year.”
Ah, next year. Who knows who’ll be around?
