I really have not looking forward to talking about this game. Never has there been a Bears game where my pre-game hopes and excitements were met as the game started, and never have they faded so quickly. Our team is on life support and suddenly we are one loss from having the plug proverbially pulled. The prospect of us escaping the next two games unbeaten is slim, let alone winning out on the season. After last nights game Denver looks good. The Giants have proved that they can be dominant at times. Washington looks all but done, but I don't know if we can beat them on the road. We should get Minnesota, but Green Bay will be tough with them jockeying fro home field advantage with the Cowboys. Then New Orleans could be fighting for their playoff lives at the end of the season. We do not have an easy road by any stretch of the imagination.
However daunting out schedule looked, I have never been so giddy about an offense like I was this week. It really set in when the game started. I couldn't wait to see Grossman back in action. I can't help it. I have always been a fan of his, but then as the game started the unthinkable happened. Benson went off and I couldn't get over it. He ran like a possessed man. Suddenly, he looked as if his ability to doge two defenders and out-run a defensive back were quite tangible and not a mere figment of our imaginations. His run was a nut shot to Seattle, but unlike Bas Rutten, the Bears couldn't finish the job.
Furthermore, more players and personnel keep attaching themselves to the hate train. What is the hate train you ask? I will tell you. It is a monstrosity in my mind that is fed by the insubordination and shenanigans by any given member of the Bears organization. The train has grown large, especially this week with the coaching staff leading the charge. I will get to that later time, because I don't like to start with the negative aspects of a game. In fact, its almost too much for me to deal with. After the jump we will look at the game.
In the first quarter we started off well offensively. It was the first time we got an offensive touchdown on our opening possession since Walter Payton was running around. Seriously, that first run to Benson was sick. First our line pushed Seattle's front seven out of the way in a fashion that resembled electronic football. After that Benson broke tackles and outran the Defensive back for the TD. I couldn't believe it. Then he soon after ran for 20 yards in the same quarter. Inconceivably, he only had one run in the second quarter, apparently because Ron Turner thought that Adrian Peterson was Bensons backup and not the other Adrian Peterson that currently resides on our team. Grossman wasn't horrible, but didn't start out hot in the first half either. However, I beg of you; why does he have to if Benson ran wild and Peterson also ran the ball in before the half was over? We started out hot and couldn't capitalize. That was the one thing that was maddening about the first half. It's not like we couldn't run the ball, because we were. Then we tried the play action later in the game, but we ran the ball and passed well in the first quarter and if it wasn't for a John Gilmore penalty in the first we might have been in business and up 14 to nothing.
Then we put in Peterson in the second quarter. Listen, I have been a supporter of Peterson and down on Benson throughout the year, but Benson was hot like a space heater. You have to ride the hot hand in that situation. In any case the second quarter we had two 3 and outs and then finally scored with about 1:16 left. Our offense dropped 17 in the first half and still we were stuck in a tie because of our defense.
Speaking of the defense... They lost the game for us. It is just plain and simple as that. No one stood out and made big plays, and even players like Tillman got torn apart as the game went on. I really can't say much more because nothing special happened. Then in the third when we needed them they couldn't stop the Hawks. Finally, in the third Ogunleye and Urlacher teamed up to get a turnover, but when Berrian seemed to get the first it got overruled and Benson was stuffed big time. The game went down hill from there. The teams traded field goals to begin the fourth, but Seattle never should have gotten that FG to begin the quarter. That was unacceptable, and our defense gave up another big play.
The game wasn't pretty at that point and I would have settled for a score. Finally, when it seemed that we were marching down the field with Grossman he made a mistake. He scrambled like Michael Vick and didn't tuck the ball. Patrick Kearney (was he that good that game, or was Fred Miller just that bad?) made a huge play, and blindsided him to strip the ball and sealed the win. Before Grossman got blindsided he was playing great and making clutch throws to Berrian and Muhammad, but that fumble was too much to bear. On the next possession the hawks got the FG and essentially sealed the game.
This game drove me up the wall, and I can't stand the way it ended. I am done with our coaching staff. Part of me wants to give them some sympathy, but the other half realizes that Babich isn't Rivera. In addition, I realize that Turner benefited way to much from our defense and Thomas Jones last year. This year our D can't get it done and our O is average at best. Never have I been as upset with a player as I have been with Fred Miller. He was horrible yielding 3 false starts, and essentially letting Patrick Kearney take over the game. He stood there... STOOD THERE on plays. Most notably when Grossman barely escaped a sack, and He STOOD there as Grossman got hit by someone else as he made the throw. He is a bum and typifies our old, old line.
My faith in the season is fading fast. This was a big game, and our offense actually put us in position to win the game, and we crapped the bed. I am thrilled with the play of Benson, but befuddled as he only got 11 carries. I was happy with Grossman throwing the ball and managing the game and especially enabling Peterson to get that one TD run. However, the line was horrible as usual, and I would rather have John "Big Booty" St. Clair on the line opposed to Miller at this point. We are talking as if we can win out and as if we can make the playoffs. Statistically we are still in this, but things aren't looking good. Lets hope that we can win at home this week and bring some purpose back to this season.