Rock's Rant: The Bears Still Contenders In NFC North. REALLY!!
One thing that I believe Bears fans are forgetting following a 17-14 loss at the hands of the Washington Redskins is the Bears are still in first place in their division. Really! I'm serious! Check the standings!
After a game that featured seven punts, four interceptions, two fumbles and one touchdown on the offensive side of the football it is tough to remember that at the bye week the Bears have a winning record and are in first place. Even with Lovie Smith apologizing for his stupidity on challenges and Jay Cutler taking blame for interceptions that are not his fault, the Bears are still in first place.
However heading into the second half of the season, how can Bears fans have hope that their team can indeed do any better than what they have seen the first two months of this 2010 NFL season? We have seen fast starts and great defensive play but yet the lucky breaks have seemed to stop breaking the Bears way lately. The win over Detroit on a "technicality." The win over Dallas looks worse and worse with each loss by the Cowboys. The win over the Green Bay Packers because of 2 billion yards in penalties charged to the green and gold....yet we only won by a field goal. The win over Carolina....yeah, don't need to say much more on that.
The losses however look more impressive than the wins on the Bears schedule. How is that possible?
Jay Cutler sacked nine times and concussed in a loss in New York. Losing to a Seattle franchise that hadn't won outside their division on the road in two years, and going 0-12 on third down to boot. Then this past week losing to a Washington defense who was ranked last in the league, yet DeAngelo Hall was turned into a hall of fame relic.....or at least his jersey was.
4-3...better than expected? Maybe, but the future only looks as bright as the rest of the division looks bleak. As bad as the schedule looks moving forward with the Chicago Bears, they do have four games against their division. I believe if the Bears sweep the division, that is their only hope of making the postseason. Beating a under-performing Vikings team twice, Detroit on the road and an extremely injured Green Bay team to wrap up the season could indeed put the Bears over the top even if they struggle with the rest of their schedule outside of the NFC North.
I still believe this division is the Bears to lose. I don't think that is a stretch at all because they are by far the healthiest team in the division as far as their starters go. If they continue to stay healthy and with each game gaining more experience in an offensive system like Mike Martz'....the Bears could still head to the playoffs.
It can't get any worse, so might as well enjoy the ride. This division may be the worst in football, but it will be fun till the very last week of the regular season.
-RoCk
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