Bears-Cards Postgame Thoughts

• That might've been the most ridiculous comeback in NFL history, wow. Many Bears fans likely changed the channel or turned off their TVs during the second half, but I kept watching until the end, because I just had this weird feeling. A weird feeling that, if they could keep the deficit at 20 or less, they could still come back and win the game. The same feeling I had during the Notre Dame-Michigan State football game a few weeks ago. The same feeling I had when Illinois beat... Arizona (coincidence?) to advance to the Final Four in 2005.
• Despite what you may hear from any of the team's players or coaches, the Bears started to believe the hype and took the Cards lightly. If the Bears had come out and played like they are capable of from the start, they might not have blown out the Cards, but they likely would've won by double digits.
• Let's not go overboard here with the criticism of Rex Grossman. I heard some people, including Super Bowl XX MVP Richard Dent, say that the Bears should've thought about replacing Grossman with backup Brian Griese at halftime during the second half. Nothing against the Sackman, but I think the team did the right thing by sticking with Grossman. Even at the risk of losing the game. Yes, Grossman often refused to take what the defense gave him and forced some balls, but he played better than anyone could've imagined in the first five games. Then, at the first sign of adversity, you want to pull him? How else is he going to learn? This is your franchise QB, the one you've been waiting for for decades. He is going to have good games and bad games, but he is not going to learn how to fight through adversity if he doesn't get a chance to do so. Sometimes he will make the brilliant throw, sometimes he'll make the "what was he thinking?" throw. It's a simple issue of higher risk, higher reward. You have to take some risks if you want to score a good number of points. As bad as he looked Monday night, this experience will help him down the line.
• Another thing people are overlooking is that the team's offensive struggles weren't all Grossman's fault. First of all, there were at least three (if not four or five) dropped passes by the WRs. I know that hard hits jarred a couple of those balls loose, but that is no excuse. Secondly, the offensive line was terrible in the first half, allowing constant penetration that led to both of Grossman's fumbles. Third, offensive coordinator Ron Turner turned in his worst game of the season. He has looked like a genius for most of the season, but he does have a tendency to get too pass-happy and get away from what has worked. It also happened in the Minnesota game earlier this year, but Grossman was able to recover and throw the game-winning TD pass. I have no problem with the bomb Turner called on the first offensive play, but a hyper Grossman (he often is hyper at the start of games) overthrew Berrian on what would've been an easy TD. After that happened, Turner should've tried to establish the run with Thomas Jones and give Grossman easier, more basic pass plays. Instead, two of the first 14 plays that Turner called were passes, and Grossman quickly got flustered. For the entire game, Jones got 11 carries. Cedric Benson got one. Fullback Jason McKie inexplicably got one on first and goal from the three, the worst play call of the night. Also, the quick slants that Turner repeatedly called were getting their WRs lit up. When your offense is struggling, go back to the basics and stick with what has worked in the past.
• ESPN analyst Joe Theismann was really starting to get on my nerves as the game went on, but at least he jinxed Neil Rackers before he attempted the potential game-winning 40-yard field goal. Just before the ball was snapped, I believe Theismann said, "Rackers has not missed inside 50 yards this year." Perfect.
• I also heard Dan Jiggetts on Comcast SportsNet Bears Postgame Live say that the Bears' defense did its job in the first quarter. That is simply not true, they did not show up in the first quarter. He tried to blame the defense's struggles on bad field position due to the offense, but the Cards drove 12 plays, 77 yards on their first offensive possession of the game. Just marched right down the field. The Cards' other TD drive, on their next offensive possession, was aided by a short field after a Grossman interception, but the defense has to pick up the offense sometimes. Make a play, tackle somebody, get off the field. Instead, Brian Urlacher missed Anquan Boldin (who runs like a RB after the catch), and there was no one behind Urlacher to make the tackle before Boldin scored. Missed tackles were a big problem until the fourth quarter and have been a problem at times this season. There is always a desire to go for the killshot, but you have to wrap up. The defense started to wake up in the second quarter, started to play in the third quarter, and then started to look like the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter.
• Even though I've been a lifelong Bears fan, I have never been the biggest fan of Urlacher. Part of it is because of the off-the-field personal issues that he struggled with in the past, and part of it is because I sometimes felt that he didn't hit hard enough and got blocked too often. In the fourth quarter on Monday night, I gained a new appreciation for Urlacher. It seemed as though he made every single tackle, like there were two or three of him out there. He took over the game and seemingly willed the defense to go to another level. His strip of Edgerrin James was so vicious that I don't think any RB in the league would've held on to the ball. It was one of the best individual defensive performances I have ever seen.
• What makes the Bears' comeback even more amazing and improbable was that they had backup strong safety Todd Johnson playing nickel back for much of the second half after starter Ricky Manning Jr. got hurt, and they had third-stringer Cameron Worrell playing at strong safety for most of the fourth quarter after starter Mike Brown got hurt. Johnson usually only plays nickel back in the team's "heavy" (run defense) package.
• Devin Hester... wow. I thought that Glyn Milburn was a pretty good punt returner for the Bears several years back, but Hester is already arguably the team's best punt returner since Gale Sayers. He has the blazing speed that returners need and the strength to break arm tackles like the one the Arizona punter tried to use on Hester's 83-yard TD return. What a great weapon to have.
• Despite what some people may say, losing is not the best learning experience. The best learning experience is almost losing, then coming back to win in dramatic fashion. You know that you played badly, should've lost the game, and have a lot of work to do, but you still won the game.