Well, after watching Harris get toasted all over the field against the Bears last night, I know completely understand why the Packers let him go.
I really hope Al can eventually get it together, because he was a great Packer and a class act...but I just don't know if anyone at that age can do what he's trying to do.
I went with a couple buddies to Soldier Field last night. The Bears have a party once a season in the United Club area for club season ticket holders to watch an away game with some free food, etc... a nice perk for paying that seat license.
I do find it funny how the Bear fans (not my buddies) were so pumped up about the Bears defense.
Even the local news sports announcers talk like they beat Pennington and Henne at QB when it was the 3rd string QB with 4 days to prepare.
Hopefully Philly will be healthy on the 28th.....
Knowing the Bears luck, the Giants will injure Vick, Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and at least one Eagle starter on both the offensive and defensive lines. Then the Bears will stomp Kolb and the injury riddled Iggles into the dirt, and the super bowl cries in Chicago will really start getting loud! (Aaaah the joys of living in Chicago).
Seriously though, I have almost complete faith that the above scenario, or something similar to it, will happen.
The Bears must be blessed by the football gods. How else can one explain the Calvin Johnson catch being overturned, the refs calling 18 penalties on the Packers, and the Bears entire starting team remaining almost completely intact so far this season.
And if that weren't enough, in the last 3 weeks they played the 0-7 Bills, a Vikings team that hasn't had a road win since last October and was missing all 3 starting WRs, and then a Miami team with a 3rd string QB who lost his #1 receiver and starting center in the 1st quarter.
The way things are breaknig for this Bears team is eerily similar to the 2005 season when they lost to the Colts in the SB. Even Hester has regained his form on special teams...who knows, maybe it's the Bears year!?
Just as the Packers have regressed back to the mean--and have won some games after every possible thing going wrong--the Bears will regress to their mean--which is about 9-7..the calls and injuries will even out....they have a good defense and Forte/Tylor are good---but Cutler behind that line is a disaster waiting to be exploited by average teams.
I'll tell you what, that game against Miami was a joke.
I especially liked the part where the Bears all did that "World Champions - on three" cheer, before the start. LMAO
Al Harris looked old, slow and confused. Even when he had a clear path to his man, he was late getting there. It's a shame, but he just might not even come back fomr this.
I said during the game that if the Bears had been playing US, instead of the Fins, they would have been totally screwed.
As good as Miami's defense is, they aren't anywhere NEAR the level of the Packers'. And the Bears' offense ... well ... let's just say that the offense I watched would have had trouble against any local high school team! Cutler probably would have been sacked 6 times and thrown 4 INTs had they been playing us. Miami has NO offense what-so-ever with Tyler Thigpen playing at QB. He might get better with a year of experience, but anyone who plays them now, who has even a medicore defense will look like world beaters. The Bears have a decent defense, but it looked world-class when going up against the likes of Miami's O-line. I think Urlacher was behind the LOS more than the Fin's RBs! LOL
I'm not looking for the Bears to go much farther. They haven't had anyone big go down yet. That's usually all it takes and now is the time of year the teams start hammering a little harder.
The biggest positive thing I've seen with the Pack is tha they have been making screw-ups all along, but they have constantly found ways to correct them. The biggest thing we needed was our offense to start clicking again, and it appears we finally have it back on track.
Our Defense has given-up a lot of yards, but mostly, they play on the opposite side of the field. If the other teams DO get across the 50 ... they either hold them to a FG or take the ball back before they can score. I remember one year when Favre had 'stupid' yardage, but we still lost too many games because we just couldn't score against most defenses.
Another little factoid is that last year our offense turned the ball over 16 times and the defense allowed 10 (ten) TDs. This year, we've turned it over 13 times, but the D hasn't allowed a single TD!