Been a while since I wrote about football, and I wanted to get on this
Thursday nite, but things’ve been pretty damned busy with film stuff,
particularly as interest is heating up around my Visions of Sarah script, so
I hadda put everything off until tonight.
You know, it’s funny. In the off season, you would have thought that Chicago
fans had been given the proverbial keys to the kingdom when the team pulled
the trigger on a trade for the so-called missing component that the Windy
City hasn’t had since Sid Luckman. A franchise quarterback. When Jay Cutler
whined his way out of Denver, the Bears unloaded then-QB Kyle Orton, who had
fallen out of favor with the Soldier Field faithful, along with two first
round picks and a third rounder, in exchange for the Broncos’ starter with
the strong arm who was widely considered to be untouchable prior to hiring
Josh McDaniels as their new head coach.
Well, after the trade, all I read on the boards and sites like
ProFootballTalk.com, etc., was whining out of Denver fans who thought
McDaniels was destroying the franchise from within, and Bears fans beating
their chests as the de facto team-to-beat not just in the NFC North, but for
the whole enchilada come February.
What a reality check both fan bases have gotten. I hop on the boards after
Cutler throws 5 interceptions against an anemic 49ers offense (anemic is
probably kind-they flat out sucked), and all I see is excuse after excuse
after excuse. The Bears have no offensive line. They don’t have the
receivers. Devon Hester is a converted kick returner turned wideout, so
Cutler needs better talent to make him successful. The running game sucks.
Etc. Now, you might find this strange, , but Cutler didn’t have a winning
record in Denver, either, guys, and Denver has a great offensive line and
great wide receivers and a reasonable running game. Well, of course, point
that out and plenty of bandwagoneers will cite the lousy Broncos defense.
And true, they weren’t good. But those self-same Bears fans who were seeing
visions of Lombardi trophies dancing in their heads *had* a solid defense.
In fact, if you go back and look at how some of the talk went, the Bears
were going to be an impressive offensive machine simply because of Cutler,
and the defense would make the Bears Super Bowl contenders.
How many teams have a great offense and great defense at the same time? Not
many. The contenders will be the teams who are solid on both sides of the
ball (Minnesota, the Patriots, the Steelers), but c’mon-suddenly savior Jay
can’t do anything unless he’s got both a great offense and defense? Huh? If
that’s the case, why did Chicago sour on Kyle Orton so fast? And, why give
up your 2010 draft for Cutler if you need so much help on the offensive
line, in the secondary, and at receiver? Everybody knows you can only do so
much in free agency, so if Cutler was worth so much, how did Chicago expect
to address all their other pressing needs when they gave up all that to get
him?
Answer’s simple: Cutler is overrated, Chicago isn’t winning, and Denver,
which rebuilt it’s D in the off season, now has a 6-2 record with Orton, and
three numero unos to play with and a lot more room under the cap than they
would have paying Cutler. Don’t get me wrong, Cutler may eventually win with
Chicago. But go back to the day after the trigger was pulled on this trade
and see if *anybody* thought Denver was getting the better end of it. My bet
is you won’t find many columnists who thought McDaniels would not only
succeed, but would be currently sitting in 1st place in the AFC West while
Chicago flounders with a losing record in the NFC North. How’s crying your
way out of Denver look now, Jay?
Something else that kinda surprised me (though perhaps it shouldn’t have
knowing the passion of football fans), is how the Green Bay Packers faithful
turned on future Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Here’s a guy who two seasons
back, took them to within a play of the Super Bowl, rung up a 13-3 record
without having a running game until week ten, a largely rookie receiver
corps, and still, got them *that* close to the promised land.
Now, suddenly, he’s shit? You’d think, reading the Pack fans’ comments,
that Favre was only in GB for a cup of coffee stint instead of two Super
Bowls, several MVP awards, and virtually every significant passing record in
NFL history. And, now that he’s beaten the Pack not once, but twice, and
pretty convincingly both times, the cheeseheads are making even more excuses
than the Bears supporters. Rogers doesn’t have the offensive line. The coach
sucks (as if Brad Childress is suddenly Chuck Noll). The defense is porous.
Receivers are dropping too many passes.
Uh, let’s review. Favre skips training camp, plays one preseason game, is
coming off surgery on his throwing arm, and racks up a 7-1 record. Rogers,
taking over for Favre last season, took a 13-3 team that went to the NFC
title game, and they wound up 6-10. Rogers put up impressive numbers, no
question. But…where was he in all those close games late in the 4th
quarter when the numbers really meant something? How many come-from-behind
drives did he lead with pretty much the same team Favre took into the
playoffs, with a lot more experience than when Favre led ‘em? How many of
those close games did Rogers pull out for his team by putting them into
position to win in the last few minutes?
Answer: Not enough. So the Pack goes from playing in the NFC championship
game to watching the playoffs on TV. Now, Favre’s stuck it to them not only
in Minnesota, but on the frozen tundra of Lambeau. And, like with Cutler,
while Rogers may yet prove to be the right guy for the pack and the future
of the franchise, there’s no denying that many Wisconsinites have been
asking, “What if…?” about last season. Did they really need to force Favre
out in order to make the move to Rogers right then? And, even if the answer
is yes, why was it necessary to try and force Favre to quit, as opposed to
just cutting him loose? Fear of the backlash, perhaps? Maybe. In fact, that’s
my bet. But given that, and given how Favre’s performed since and how the
Pack has fared…how good’s the decision to let Favre go look now, McCarthy
and Thompson?
I get a kick out of reading the message boards on a few football sites, but
this has been a particularly fun season to check in on the NFC North boards,
especially as the Bears and Packers fans play Twister with logic (or simply
hate), as concerns the state of their respective teams. Neither the Bears
nor Pack have been officially eliminated from the playoffs, and stranger
turnabouts have occurred. But right now, both teams look equally
unimpressive, and if Cutler continues to lead the league in picks and Rogers
is on his back or holding the ball like a statue in the backfield as
drooling linebackers blow through the A gaps, the best chance for each to
make the playoffs?
Madden 2009.
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Check me out on Twitter, where I talk football, filmmaking, my desire to
see the Ft. Hood shooter die in unendurable pain before trial, and other
stuff. Follow at:
http://www.twitter.com/josephmonks
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Currently listening to: This Corrosion by Sisters of Mercy
