From all over America, Bears coaches and players watched Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville. Though they viewed the big game from different venues, chances are they saw many things from the same vantage point.
Just guessing, but here is part of what the Bears might have been thinking as New England beat Philadelphia 24-21.
See what a difference a real offensive coordinator can make?
The New England offense took even fewer risks than Paul McCartney did during his halftime performance, just as Charlie Weis had planned. Picking his spots with a simple passing attack and power running game, he helped the Patriots become a 21st Century dynasty with 1970s football sensibility. Nobody knows how Weis will fare as a head coach at Notre Dame once his responsibilities expand, but winning three Super Bowls in four years without an offensive superstar makes a sound argument for valuing scheme every bit as much as talent.
Who needs a 1,000-yard rusher to get to the Super Bowl?
The Eagles lost, sure, but Philadelphia running back Brian Westbrook looked like the most versatile offensive player on the field. Westbrook led NFL running backs with 73 catches for 703 yards and legitimized the Eagles’ running game with 812 rushing yards. The Patriots rode Corey Dillon as their primary back this season but used the running-back-by-committee approach to win their first two Super Bowls this decade. Such evidence encourages a team such as the Bears, who feature Thomas Jones, a running back who has never had a 1,000-yard season.
Receivers do not need big names to make big plays
Nobody in New England was predicting receiver Deion Branch would dominate two Super Bowls in a row when the Patriots took him in the second round of the 2002 draft out of Louisville. But Branch epitomizes the type of disciplined, dangerous receiver that can excel in a passing game if he stays within the offense.
None of the 11 catches Branch made for 133 yards will become an NFL Films staple, but they came at the right spot at the right time. If Branch had not come through as he did, fellow receivers David Givens or Troy Brown would have, and none of them likely would make a Top 10 list of NFL receivers.
Terrell Owens would. His inspiring example makes for great drama and likely will lead to employees everywhere checking to see if God is affiliated with their HMO. But it also showed how one-dimensional and predictable teams that lean so heavily on one receiver become in big games.
Referee Terry McAulay sure must have had a bad day Dec. 26
McAulay, the head of Sunday’s Super Bowl officiating crew, was the man who ruled Bears receiver Bernard Berrian did not come down with a potentially game-winning 43-yard TD pass in the final minute of a 19-13 loss to the Detroit Lions. Replays showed otherwise, the league never apologized to the Bears–and gave McAulay a Super reward.
Note to Lovie Smith: See if Brian Urlacher can play tight end or David Terrell help at cornerback
Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel caught his second career TD pass in the Super Bowl on Sunday, and wide receiver Troy Brown spent his second straight Super Bowl as the New England nickel back. If the Patriots can squeeze maximum value out of two players of such importance, why can’t the Bears try maximizing the impact of two former first-round draft picks? Urlacher has dabbled before on offense and Terrell played some cornerback in college at Michigan, so neither would feel out of place.
Who is Diana Pearl and why were former Bears Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon and William Perry, as well as former Bull Dennis Rodman, in a commercial saying her name?
Actually, Diana Pearl is the name of a countertop color designed by the Houston-based home-supply company Cosentino USA. If the product holds over time as well as the familiar 1985 Bears’ pitch men and overexposed NBA bad boy Rodman, business will be booming for years.
Jerry Angelo never should have let Rosevelt Colvin get away
The Bears determined they could not afford to keep the trio of Colvin, Urlacher and Warrick Holdman in town, so they allowed Colvin to sign with the Patriots–who somehow found a way to fit him under the salary cap.
In flashes Sunday, Colvin looked like the dominant force he was for the Bears in ’02, chasing Donovan McNabb out of the pocket and stuffing Westbrook in the backfield. Of all the players now gone off the once-vaunted Bears’ draft class of ’99 (Colvin, Holdman, Marty Booker), losing Colvin might wind up hurting the team as much as anybody.
So how far away are the Bears from the Super Bowl?
The grand game turns 40 on Feb. 5, 2006, in Detroit, but the Bears are much further away than the 285 miles from Halas Hall to Ford Field. They got some good directions Sunday.
