Lovie Smith has already instilled fear into the hearts of the Green Bay Packers organization. His bold proclamation that the Bears would beat the Packers drove the Packers to fire their defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell. The bold new offense Lovie will employ must have Mike Sherman scratching his head, wondering what he can possibly do to stop a vaunted Bears offensive attack, or at the very least, a vaunted verbal attack.
Truthfully, the Packers’ decision to fire Donatell exemplifies what is right about the Green Bay organization. The Green Bay defense had declined over the course of Donatell’s four-year reign, but a big failure in a big game probably cost Donatell his job. The Packers righted a wrong in a hurry, but that wasn’t the case with John Shoop and his week-after-week wrongs, year after year.
As for Lovie Smith, I hope he does the job. It doesn’t matter if he looks passive, doesn’t throw his headset or that he’s a good choice because he’s African-American. Smith himself said it’s what’s inside that counts (Tribune, Jan. 16), so let’s see what the man can do against those frightened Packers.
