Hey everyone, so yeah, I am still on vacation and haven't gotten around to writing anything, but Golden has volunteered his Superbowl prediction... be sure to leave comments! So here it is...
...Does anyone else feel that?... sniff… does anyone smell that? It’s coming. Even through 115° heat and an impending monsoon, I can taste the fringe of autumn... Delicious. My every sense is electrically intoxicated with the arrival of the year’s best season, and I have special reason to be extra excited this year. My favorite football team is going back to the Super Bowl. While Denny was wonderfully concise in his 10,000-word sheepish prediction of a mere AFC North Division title, I will be even more so in detailing the reasons why the Chicago Bears will be ten minutes from my house on February 3rd, playing in their second consecutive Super Bowl.
WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS:
They are in the NFC North Division.
If you’re going believe that your team is going to the Super Bowl, you have to believe that your team will be competitive in its own division. Unlike some Steelers fans, I needn’t write a tome on how this will happen. I need only to mention the opposing teams. Packers. Vikings. Lions. You can tell by the release of Ahman Green and the non-pursuit of Randy Moss that the Packers are a team that is not interested in competing right now. They are desperately attempting to rebuild. Now if the aging Desperado wearing #4 would just allow that to happen! The Vikings are a team that is very open about their rebuilding process. The fans know it, and no one is kidding themselves there. They are a team of the future, not the present. The Lions are finally making some moves to compete, but until I actually see them win some games, I will not feel threatened. I like Kitna’s spunk, though. I wish them a nice 2nd place finish in the division.
They have an excellent defense.
Everyone made a big deal about Lance Briggs’ holdout. Everyone made a big deal about Tank Johnson’s legal issues. Briggs signed a 1-year deal and is now performing for a big pay-day at the end of this season. Tank is history in Chicago and all the Bears did about that was bring in stud Darwin Walker and sign him to a big deal (a character guy, I might add), to wedge shoulder pads with a healthy Tommie Harris. On the ends are Ogunleye and Alex Brown with
12-sack rookie phenom
Special teams makes a difference.
Not only were they Goulden in the FG department, the Bears also have an excellent coverage unit. In punting situations and kick-offs they did a good job of not putting their defense at a disadvantage. And when it comes to receiving kicks. . . well, they’re not too bad there either.
WHAT I KNOW THAT YOU MAY NOT:
Speaking of that Hester guy. . .
Teams are clearly going to game-plan for the Bears’ deadly return game, but don’t believe that they can neutralize the threat of Hester by kicking the ball away from him. After some cajoling by Lovie, Devin was persuaded to join the offensive unit. . and the rest is going to be history, folks. There was some concern as to how he might struggle with learning the offense, but any doubts have been dashed in camp. He has been a blur of brilliance.
They have weapons on offense.
Aside from the addition of Hester, there are other reasons to believe that the score-board operator will be busy this season. One of the most impressive players in camp has been Bernard Berrian. Aside from being one of the fastest players on the field, he has been out-jumping and out-muscling defenders for the ball. Expect an even bigger year from him. The early reviews are in for Greg Olsen, and they are good. Very good. The Bears, realizing they had no slouch at TE with Desmond Clark, have been running 2-TE sets in practice and the defense has had a hard time dealing with the duo. In fact, the offense has been outplaying the defense in almost every scrimmage so far. That’s telling when you consider that the defense usually has the upper hand this early in camp and that the defense is pretty damn good to begin with. The Bears veteran offensive line is rock-solid. There is a question as to whether Cedric Benson can take on the work load left by TJ’s departure, and it is a fair question. But he showed some definite flashes last year, and I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
You gotta love Lovie.
That calm demeanor. That smile. That goofy clap. It feels almost sacrilege to say that this antithesis of the stiff-necked, gum-chomping, clipboard-throwing, heart attack-having Mike Ditka has won the hearts of us Bears fans. But he has. Not for the caricature that I have presented, but for his great coaching. His in-game decisions are solid, and he is not afraid to use an occasional trick play. A far cry from Jauron’s wide-open, Anything Shane Mathews Can Find Within 5-yards of the Line of Scrimmage offense. Lovie is great with his players. They love to play for him. But Coach Smith is no push-over. Tank was given appropriate support following his off-the-field issues, and was given a chance to redeem himself. Tank failed, and was swiftly let go. This is a far cry from Wanstedt’s overly loyal buddy-pal support of a team of no-talents. Lovie just makes good decisions while maintaining normal blood pressure. And he will make them all the way to this year’s Super Bowl.
No, I’m not avoiding the “Rex” question. Ok. So maybe there’s a small question at quarterback. I know that his 23-TD/20-INT stat line does not tell the crazy story of a roller coaster season for #8. To me, it’s real simple with Rex. There’s no telling how he is going to perform, so it all comes down to what you believe as a fan. You may believe one of three things: 1) He will cease his inconsistencies, revealing himself as great QB and have a stellar season. 2) He will cease his inconsistencies, revealing himself as a crummy QB and have a terrible season. 3) He will remain maddeningly inconsistent and I will be found naked in my closet, neck-dangling from a noose. There is also the rare 4th fan who believes that some weird Super Bowl curse will befall Rex and he will go Evil-Knieveling into traffic and inflaming his vestigial digestive organs, thus providing a year-long excuse for his shitty performances. Of course, that would never happen, right? Too crazy. Anyway, I happen to fall into the first camp. You may not. But you critics are correct in ridiculing me for pinning my hopes on superficial mechanical improvements. Until Rex proves that he can throw a pick and not fall to pieces over it, there is no reason for optimism. It is my hope that his newly-trained muscle memory will exceed his interception memory.
There you have it folks. Count the Bears in. And as I wrote this, I witnessed a pretty good-looking Steeler team tear up the Saints in the HOF Game. The only thing that would be sweeter than the Bears fulfilling my prediction of repeating to the Super Bowl, would be for their opponent to be Bradley Denny’s Steelers. Oooh man. Then you would see a
