The 1-minute-3-second brain cramp the Bears experienced Sunday was not even close to the longest in recorded human history. Carmen Electra was married to Dennis Rodman for 10 days.
The Bears tried their best to take the focus of their 20-17 loss to the Panthers off that ugly 63-second stretch late in the fourth quarter.
And it was hard to blame them for it, given that the other 58:57 was filled with fumbles, dumb penalties, badly missed tackles and overthrown passes.
On the other hand, feel free to blame away. The Bears were on their way to tying a game they had once owned, but then reason went on vacation.
The biggest blunder was Kyle Orton’s decision to pass to Marty Booker on third-and-1 with 2:02 left in the game and the Bears on the 50-yard line. To his eternal regret, offensive coordinator Ron Turner sent in a running play for Matt Forte with an option for Orton to pass if the quarterback saw something from the Carolina defense he didn’t like.
Orton saw a safety come up, unwisely chose Door No. 2 and saw his pass in the flat to Booker almost get picked off by Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble. In Chicago, that play is commonly referred to as a “John Shoop.”
The situation screamed for a run play. What happened to getting off the bus running?
“I should have just called a certain [run play], run it up there and get the first down,” Turner said.
Asked if he was surprised at the call, coach Lovie Smith said, “Yes, and surprised it didn’t work.” Note the honesty and then the almost immediate support of his players. That’s dexterity.
But there was still hope, wasn’t there? It was fourth-and-1. The Bears had Forte, who already had rushed for 92 yards on 23 carries. The week before in his NFL debut, he had run for 123 yards. What, the Bears worry?
They gave the ball to fullback Jason McKie.
He disappeared under a pile that looked suspiciously like the Panthers’ Julius Peppers and Thomas Davis. No gain. The Bears’ explanation was that they had plays they liked against certain formations.
Suggestion: fewer explanations, more Forte carries. The kid is strong and confident. If you asked Chicagoans whom they would want holding the football with the game on the line, no one would vote for McKie. The scary thing is that 12 percent would vote for Michael Jordan.
“I want the ball every play,” Forte said. “You know I want the ball when it’s fourth-and-1 or when it’s first-and-10. I want the ball all the time so I can make a play.”
And just out of general principle, the Bears get demerits for burning three timeouts on their defensive series just before they got stupid on offense. Two timeouts to stop the clock with less than three minutes left in the game, we get. The third one with 2:37 left just before a Panthers punt? What was the point, especially with the two-minute warning approaching?
This was a painful loss for the Bears, not because it hurt their season, but because it involved so many self-induced wounds. Greg Olsen fumbled twice and might have cost his team 10 points. A football in a tight end’s arms is supposed to look like a precious stone embedded in rock.
“We talk about ball security, and I didn’t hold up my end of it,” Olsen said.
The Bears had 12 penalties, the Panthers 10. Nothing says “NFL excitement” like 22 penalties. Add to that the raft of missed tackles the Bears had and you’re talking about game film not suitable for children under 13. Any kid who is forced to watch Alex Brown and Kevin Payne miss tackles on Jonathan Stewart’s 24-yard run in the third quarter might need therapy.
Aside from a nice first quarter, Orton didn’t do much of anything. No touchdowns. No interceptions. He threw for 149 yards. The entire afternoon was a far cry from the Bears’ victory over the Colts in the opener.
About last week: It mattered. Sunday’s loss doesn’t wipe out the gains of that game. The Bears don’t lose all the momentum they picked up from that victory. Yes, they should have won Sunday. Yes, they led 17-3 in the third quarter. No, it’s not a confidence-killer. If anything, this lets the Bears know the Colts game wasn’t a fluke. It lets them know they’re not good enough to be dumb and sloppy and still win football games.
This is the one that got away, though that makes it sound as if the Bears weren’t responsible for what happened. This is the one they let get away. To go from Brandon Lloyd’s 9-yard touchdown return of a blocked punt two minutes into the game to the way it ended, on a sort of team-wide loss of brainpower, shows that the team has work to do. Good teams take care of business.
But, man. That third-and-1. If the Bears had just run the ball.
“Coulda, shoulda, woulda,” Booker said. “If ‘if’ was a fifth, we’d all be drunk. That’s how it goes.”
It certainly was a sobering loss.
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rmorrissey@tribune.com
