Bear Week

There will be some subtle changes to this site this week in honor of the Bears trying to avoid being the only bye-week NFL team to lose three first round playoff games. That they already are teh only team to lose two is irrelevant.

The angst this week will be spilt over Rex Grossman and his ability to win a Super Bowl this year.

This bigger question to this writer is, "Why isn't there more angst being spilt over Lovie Smith, Ron Rivera and Ron Turner and their ability to win a Super Bowl this year?"

Let's stipulate that, for the past two months, Rex has made the 2005 Kyle Orton look like a Pro Bowl quarterback. What inquiring minds want to know is, if Rex is playing so poorly, why, on third down and twos, in a howling wind, does Ron Turner send down a play that calls for a long sideline pass? Why does the team call dangerous swing passes that can easily be picked off? Why does the defense play a lax zone?

If this team wants to win a Super Bowl, they need more than better play from Rex Grossman. They need smarter coaching.

It's too bad Jerry Angelo seems to have taken in-game performance off the table as a motivator for Lovie Smith getting his contact extension. Lovie did a piss poor job last January in being so inflexible in the defensive coverage on Steve Smith in the Bears' playoff loss to the Panthers. If Lovie shows his arrogance again, and another home loss occurs, he should not get an extension and have to live out his contract through the 2007 season.

Until you win a playoff game, you have very little to be arrogant about. Lovie needs to recall that Dave Wannstedt has more playoff wins as a Bear head coach than he has.

This is a franchise that has been an impotent home playoff team the last 20 years as the record shows:

1986 – First round (bye week) home loss to Washington
1987 – First round (bye week) home loss to Washington
1988 – First round (bye week) home win against Eagles; Home loss to San Francisco
1990 – First round home win against Saints
1991 – First round home loss to Dallas
2001 – First round (bye week) home Loss to Eagles
2005 – First round (bye week) home Loss to Carolina

That's 2 wins and 6 losses in a league that the home team wins over 50% of the time. Push that to 2 and 7 and a lot of people will question if Lovie Smith and his coaching staff are "Point C" kind of guys.