A more pathetic display I’ve never seen…….

Dude, I’m tellin ya………….

First off, I want to send my deepest condolences out to the family of one of my very best friends. They lost a close member of their family this past weekend and obviously are in serious mourning. My thoughts are with all of you guys and I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m thinking of you and will say a prayer for your loved one. God bless.

On a lighter note, don’t forget the huge show coming up for the Dick Ourada Band. It is just about one month away on:  Saturday, November 28, 2009 at Rolling Lanes in Countryside, Illinois.  Everyone who is anyone will be there. Make sure you aren’t a nobody.

Now then, on to that debacle we call a pro football team here in Chicago and that laughingstock that they put forth yesterday afternoon out in Cincinnati. What horseshit. Although that may be a little too complimentary for the effort they put forth.

As you know from prior posts, I’n not exactly on the Jay Cutler bandwagon. I don’t completely dismiss his talent and think he’s the worst QB we’ve had. Not by a long shot. But I found these stats interesting in yesterday morning’s Chicago Tribune sports section. Keep in mind that these numbers were prior to yesterday’s comedy of errors.

Here were Jay Cutler’s ranking on some of the most important stats for a QB. The ranking is compared to all other NFL quarterbacks:

Passing yards                                                 1,201           Rank: 16th
Passer rating                                                    86.9            Rank:16th
Completion %                                                   64.9%         Rank: 15th
Completions of 20+ yards                                19                Rank: 9th
Passes for 1st downs                                        58               Rank:  17th

Entering yesterday’s game, Cutler had 10 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions.

After his 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions yesterday, those numbers now stand at 11-10.

What a stud. What a superstar. Let’s rush out and give him another two more years and 30 million dollars on that contract extension. His numbers, which all dropped even further on the NFL rankings yesterday, suggest that we don’t even have a QB who is among the top half of the league. Meanwhile the guy we used to have is up to 6-0 out in Denver. Let’s not even discuss the draft picks we gave up along with that guy. And Cutler was getting all sorts of credit for leading two comeback victories—-including one over defending champ Pittsburgh.

Let’s look at that picture a little more closely. First of all, you only have to make comebacks because you haven’t scored enough to win the game in the traditional manner. A comeback in the final two minutes means that you were being beaten after the first 58 minutes. And out of the Bears six games thus far, we’ve entered the 3rd quarter with 12 points or less in 2/3 of them. I’m not talking about points at halftime….I’m talking about when the game is three-quarters over. You are almost always trying to come back in games if you are only scoring 12 points in the first 45 minutes every time out. There’s no honor there.

And if the Pittsburgh placekicker could have made just ONE of the two field goals that he missed, the Bears wouldn’t have won that game. Cutler and the 17 points he led us to wouldn’t have been enough.

So what do we have? A blowout win over the (1-5) Detroit Lions, an early Christmas gift from Pittsburgh, and a win over the (2-4) Seattle Seahawks who were playing without their own stud starting quaterback.

I don’t want to put all the blame on Cutler here, though. I simply just don’t buy his “franchise player” recognition from the media and the team personnel. But the defensive line just went its second straight game without a sack. That’s eight quarters and counting, guys. Of course perennial Pro Bowler and seeming future Hall of Famer (that’s sarcasm, folks) Tommie Harris missed both games. The King of the 9-Game season is back to his old tricks. But it’s not like you hear his name much when he plays anyway.

But the defensive line HAS to put some pressure on the other QB and help out the defensive backs….because these are some of the crappiest defensive backs in all of football that we have. These guys couldn’t cover a decent high school wide receiver. They get beat so bad, by such wide margins, and with so much regularity, it really is completely unacceptable. We don’t seem to have one guy who can cover a top wide receiver.

I have to admit that after the Bears had climbed to 3-1, I complimented them in this forum on making me look like an idiot to that point. My original prediction of 8-8 (at best) was looking bad. But now we’re back to .500 at 3-3 and we still have two dates left with the Minnesota Vikings who stand at 6-1 and look great. At least next week the Bears play an even shittier team than Seattle and even Detroit in the (1-6) Cleveland Browns. Now if we lose to the Browns, fold up the tent and start watching the best team in town more often. The Bears will be done. Playoffs? Don’t cross your fingers. If we indeed lose to Cleveland this coming Sunday.

You remember the best team in town? The Blackhawks. Yup….the team that won 2-0 on Friday night and looked really good doing it. The team that is sitting atop their division right now. The team that is almost ready to get superstar Marian Hossa back in the coming 30 days or so.

Start watching these guys as much as you can. The Bears make you wait all afternoon to score 12 points or less in 3 quarters and then try to hook you back in with a fourth quarter comeback. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. And in the end, it all adds up to an 8-8 record.