The past twenty-four hours have been pretty difficult for Chicago Bears fans. It started with the team’s most lopsided defeat in six years, and continued with the overwhelming (but not unexpected) wave of overreaction to the game by fans and beat writers alike.
It is no easy task to try and say a positive word about the team after that defeat. Quite frankly, I hate that I feel obligated to do it. But I do, and I will, because it appears that I’m the only Bears fan whose reason and logic have not completely abandoned them.
First, a (true) cliche. A team is never rarely as good as it looks when it is winning, and never as bad as it looks when it is losing. A 45-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (who, by the way, I picked to turn it around this year and go 9-7, thank you very much) is not an accurate indicator of the quality of this team. That game was an aberration; an ugly, awful, cringe-inducing, soul-crushing aberration. But it is no more and no less representative of the 2009 Chicago Bears as their 48-24 dismantling of the Lions, their exciting 25-19 comeback over the Seahawks, or their 17-14 triumph over the defending Super Bowl champions.
In fact, each of their six games has taught us something about this team. In Green Bay, against Pittsburgh, and in Seattle, we learned that they’re capable of coming back from a deficit and taking a lead late in the game. In Green Bay and Atlanta, we learned that despite valiant fourth-quarter surges, they can be beaten on the last drive of the game. Against Detroit, we learned that they are fully capable of completely dominating an inferior opponent. And against the Bengals, we learned that they’re capable of laying an egg.
This is not the same team I picked to go 11-5 before the season. The offensive line is considerably worse than I anticipated it being. The biggest strength of the defense – the linebackers – has suffered a remarkable number of injuries. Brian Urlacher may no longer be the best player on the Bears’ defense, but there is no question he’s at least second-best, and still just as important to the effectiveness of the unit as anybody else on the field. His immediate understudy, Hunter Hillenmeyer, also has missed playing time, and has been forced into multiple positions due to injuries to a third starter, Pisa Tinoisamoa. Depth at the running back position has been greatly diminished due to injuries to Kevin Jones and Adrian Peterson. While injuries to depth players shouldn’t matter too much, the inability of the starter at that position – Matt Forte – to play effectively only highlights the injuries.
Where Frank Omiyale was expected to be a rather significant upgrade at the left guard position, he has been a tremendous disappointment. Where Orlando Pace was expected, if healthy, to perform at an above-serviceable level, his play has been poor. Where Greg Olsen was expected to take a step from solid tight end to Pro-Bowl tight end, he has not. And so on.
Despite the injuries and ineffective performances, this team has managed to win three games, including one against the defending champs. They have had moments of brilliance. They are not the 11-5 team I was expecting, but they are not the 5-11 team many are now fearing.
Take a deep breath, Bears fans. Exhale slowly. Relax. And remember: it was one game. Only. One. Game. Do not throw out the baby with the bath water.