I was deeply saddened by yesterday’s game. I thought I could keep a safe distance emotionally and let the game play out in front of me. I couldn’t. the first quarter – that brutal first quarter wherein the Bears could have been done three touchdowns – took the life out of my Sunday. Then something happened.
Somebody woke up the Chicago Bears.
They were flying around the ball on defense. Hitting everything they threw on offense. Blocking and tackling with a ferocity that’s been missing throughout the 2009 season. Jay Cutler to Devin Aromashodu looked like the real thing. I thought they were going to win. I was sure they were going to win.
Then our head coach lost complete control, making decisions I couldn’t believe a head coach would make. (I’ve never been angrier watching this team than those two timeouts pointlessly burned on a ridiculous, impossible challenge.) Our quarterback and receivers – thirteen games into a season – still had no idea what they want from each other. And a game the Bears should have won drifted into the loss column as so many during this Lovie Smith era seem to do.
It is time to make a change, Chicago Bears. If the McCaskey family didn’t know Saturday night when they went to sleep, they know now. The Bears don’t need a new offensive coordinator or offensive line coach. They need a new head coach. A new direction in locker room. If that means a new general manager and president, so be it. The league’s most storied franchise can tolerate this no longer.
I’ll be in the stadium when (if) Brett Favre comes to town in two weeks. It should be the last game Lovie Smith ever coaches in Soldier Field for the Chicago Bears.
