KC Johnson says the fans went from cheering the cold to cheering the (gasp!) offense.
Mike Green got a second chance and made the most of it. It certainly helped that most of Vick’s passes didn’t end up anywhere near his receivers (which is were Green usually is).
Orton handled his demotion with class. Hopefully he’ll shave now.
Jim Mora Jr.’s little sideline tantrum and the general chippiness of his team was an encouraging reminder of how the Bears had to “settle” for Lovie when Mora went from the Niners to Atlanta while Jerry Angelo was chasing Nick Saban around Louisiana.
It’s decisions like cutting Bobby Wade and Chad Hutchinson and switching the Rex at the first moment he was ready that remind us that Lovie (and Jerry Angelo, to be fair) won’t hide behind the status quo.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to make more awkward puns out of Rex’s name. “Rex in the City?” Wow. That’s just awful.
Handsome Mike Mulligan says Rex gave the offense a spark. They’ve had spark before. It usually preceeded them bursting into flames.
Groucho wonders if anybody’s really ready to take on Ron Artest.
Nomar’s a Dodger. I hope for his sake that the move to first base allows him to stay in the lineup. But given his laundry list of injuries in recent years, I just don’t see it.
The Wizard of Roz wonders if Orton’s not at least a little relieved to be relieved. If he is, he ought to shave his beard into a Matt Clement goatee.
The insecure ’72 Dolphins can rest easier tonight.
Kenny Lofton has apparently agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Dodgers, and Reggie Sanders could sometime soon, too. This team is going to kick ass in the over 40 winter league.
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers are likely to non-tender Dan Kolb. Nice trade, then.
Looks like Peter King couldn’t be troubled to watch the Bears’ game before he wrote this week’s Monday Morning QB.
You’re not reading Matt Turvey’s Behind the Boxscore, but you should be. So go do it.
America’s finest news source with a “Weekender” feature on Britney and her baby.
The quote from Grossman that says it all: ”I was lucky. But I feel I deserve a little luck.”
Indeed, he did. I can’t wait to unwrap part two of the Favre Farewell Tour on Christmas. If the game at Soldier Field was any indication, it’ll be the best gift I get on Christmas Day.
The defense looked great – and I think that last night was a good reason for the NFL to consider frigid northern venues for Super Bowls all the same. If dome teams can survive the playoffs, it clearly works to their benefit to play indoors. Bring Indy to Chicago – see what happens!
I can’t wait for “Jacked Up” tonight to see Green’s hit – or any of Urlacher’s. Bear Down!
I loved Paul Maguire’s repeated yells of “Somebody’s gonna get killed out there!” every time a Bear defender would make a hard hit. It might be the first thing he has gotten right all year.
Brian Urlacher is a tad over rated, and don’t think the fact that he’s white has nothing to do with it.
Did someone say over-rated?
Uh…no.
Did you see how well Orton executed that play action and completed the pass in the flats for zero yards?! This kid is just getting better and better. He’s almost at Brett Favre level.
“He made just enough plays, he almost always avoided the huge screwup and the Bears won, and won, and won, and won and won, and won, and won. Eight in a row.”
That’s seven “wons” in a row. AH HA HA HA!!!! (Lightning cracks)
I know a lot of people slam on the ESPN NFL announcers, and for good reason, but they were not THAT BAD last night. Joe Theismann’s Bill Clinton-ish support-opposition-support routine on Grossman aside, that was one of the better calls we have gotten for an NFL game all season. It wasn’t great by any means, but the announcing didn’t have to be great for it to be an improvement.
Someone also said “a tad” as in: phenomenal player? yes; unstoppable force of nature? no. Oh yeah, you’re over-rated too. And by “you” I mean both the player whose name you are using, and the practice of assuming celebrity names to make attempts at being clever.
I am dellusional. I think my team played as physical a game as the Bears last night. I seriously think they dominated the game. I am as dumb as my dad. How long until I’m out of a job?
Walleye Ogunleye and Alex Brown are a Bermuda line segment.
No, I’m not a celebrity, but it would be nice if I died.
Urlacher versus a hurricane?
And the hurricane is named… Urlacher.
Who cares? Either Hurricane Me or Mini-Me would come along and stomp on the winner.
Urlacher made Vick quit…….end of story…period. Loved the shot of Vick on the heated seats with his offensive coordinator sitting next to him…..Vick staring off into space and nodding his head as if he was listening. The only thing Vick was thinking of was getting the hell out of Chicago.
A tad over rated because I’m white? Rush Limbaugh, is that you?
No, he said white, not black.
Pete King….yikes. What a a fat turd. He didn’t even watch the game…frigin cowheaded bag o turd.
I love that wurd…turd. I’m a frigin Islamic poet.
It’s true at the end of the first half, there was a sense of shit there goes a season of one playoff game and lets go home boys. But as the stadium announcer had said Sexy Rexy was hitting the field and wasn’t being carted off, it was as if the second coming of Christ hit the field. Sure Rex came in with a hunger to play, but he proved also why he should be the starter. No one is saying he is Joe Montana, but he definitely is no Kyle Orton. Kyle has done just enough to keep us winning games the defense has dominated, now we need Grossman to do what he can to move the chains and bring the defense in well rested to keep hurting people. Rex will open up the run game just by him being on the field. Why is that you ask? Quicker release, more accurate with the pass, confidence in throwing the pigskin and finally he will actually throw the ball to Moose! That means defenses will have to stop bringing 9 men in the box and start watching what Grossman will do. Then TJ will be able to run even more effective than he has this season without a passing threat. This team was great to watch last night, Vick just couldn’t wait to get on a plane where hopefully his airline attendant wasn’t named Urlacher. These Bears will only go as far as the offense can take them, even if the defense is so dominate opposing teams offense quit at the end of the 3rd quarter.
“Urlacher spent so much time on Vick that he’s probably got herpes today.”
There’s a pretty good chance that I already had herpes, but that’s still pretty damn funny.
If you have herpes, Brian, it’s not from me. I only gave you the clap.
Vick/Urlacher last night was like the first Matt Foley skit “we’re gonna be buddies, we’re gonna be pals. Everywhere you go, I’ll be there. There’s you, there’s me. There’s you, there’s…. ”
Now, if only #3 (Scoop Jackson) would stop posting… and if Vick would stop using those in-game photos the offensive coordinator was showing him for rolling doobies.
I obviously wrote my article before the sunday night game. Also, I am fat.
I’m the true leader of this ball club. I saw that Lovie didn’t
have the cajones to put us out of our misery and bench Orton,
so I instigated a “heated” arguement on the sidelines (for everyone
to see) between Orton and me. Mission acomplished.
“Urlacher spent so much time on Vick that he’s probably got herpes today.”
You rang #23?
You did, and you shouldn’t a did.
The Bears are the Monsters of the Midway. Why Midway? It’s a tough hood. One of the toughest. Full of brothas. You ain’t see that on the northside. You ever flow Southwest? They fly outta Midway. Midway is a blue collar airport. I fly Southwest, it ain’t easy. We ruff riders.
Not sayin’ ESPN’s cheap…
The Bears is the Bears. They ain’t called the Northwoods Turkeys.
For a reason.
Bears are big, brown and bad. Like Midway. Bears do it gruff, tall, and dark. They hunt in the night, not like no light skin turkey. Not like no hillbillies.
Or suburbanites.
The Sox was drummin, now the Bears be coming. Yeah, I like that.
Urlacher spent so much time on Ron Mexico that he probably has herpes.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, so they say.
Oh, yeah, Andy, I disagree. Last night’s telecast set new all-time highs for ass-hattedness in my house. Could they flip-flop any more about the concept of subbing Grossman? I lost count at seven. Stoopid fucking twats.
I am a word. I don’t require a hyphen or need to be split into two words.
Rating Urlacher as a legitimate MVP candidate is overrating him. It would be a surprise if he won Defensive Player of the Year with 6 sacks and 0 turnovers.
If that’s going to be the criteria for Defensive Player of the Year, then the great Deltha O’Neal is going to win. Who would you rather have? Brian or Deltha?
Delta Burke….maybe
I know who you’d rather have, and you’re a racist! It’s gotta be O’Neal.
“No one is saying he is Joe Montana, but he definitely is no Kyle Orton. ”
Don’t underrate Grossman. I am not prone to drinking the kool-aid and I would have agreed with you before last night. Still essentially a rookie, right? This team could be unbeatable with him. Better than the Seahawks/Bengals level teams. With Grossman moving the offense, they are the Patriots.
A couple plays after Grossman comes into the game, he hits a receiver for 8 yards on first down. The guy two seats to my right yells “2d and 2? 2d and 2? I haven’t seen that in three years.” Not sarcastically – joyfully. The dam broke. It was like you took Joe Montana in his prime and put him down back there. It was Christmas in the freezing cold. I was at the fog bowl too. This game will be talked about more and there will be more lying sacks of shit saying they were there.
If he stays healthy.
Lovie’s the anti-Dusty.
And those of us that were bashing Urlacher last year were only doing so because we’re racist. At least according to Baker we would be.
BTW, Andy, Phil Rogers’ fact-checker wanted me to tell you that the Bears were 9-4 with Orton, not 10-3.
Good piece. Go Bears.
Actually, Mike, it is I who would be labelling you a racist for doggin’ Urlacher, ’cause that white dude play like a brutha.
Dusty only IMPLIES that ‘yall are racist when you boo the brotehrs. I basically SAY it, ’cause that shit sells.
Quoth #3/#9 –the one ever so humbly calling him- or herself “Common Sense”: “Oh yeah, you’re over-rated [sic] too. And by ‘you’ I mean both the player whose name you are using, and the practice of assuming celebrity names to make attempts at being clever.”
Hmphf. New around here, Mr. or Ms. Sense? First-timer, perhaps even? Do a little bit of scouting –you’ll learn the ropes (and –by the way, and since you seem a rather presumptuous prat, what with both that moniker and your evident predilection to lecturing peers– there’s no need, from the standpoint of proper punctuation, for that comma to be placed between “using” and “and”; any standard grammar and usage text or dictionary with a usage guide will back me up on that). Ignorance being bliss and all, I’m of little doubt that for now, most would prefer to be afflicted with me than you.
Now, then: well hit on all points, Andy. Not to pile on the lad or to gloat or anything –we’re all Bears fans here– but I’ll say again that I just don’t think that Kyle Orton has the tools required at this level, period. It’s no sin on the man; it’s just the way that I see it, based on years of watching the quarterback play at this level, and we’ll find out whether I’ve got it right or wrong in good time. In any case, he’s to be applauded for, eh, whatever exactly it was that he did to end up as the “winning quarterback” in nine of thirteen starts as an NFL rookie. Good on ‘im, aye?
If we go strictly by the numbers, Rex himself wasn’t any great shakes, but it’s for certain that I (and countless others) liked what I saw. Again, it’s about the tools, and Rex has got ’em –almost certainly not the JoeMontanaDanMarinoBretFarv-type tools, but enough to get the job done for many years in this overexpanded, capped-out league, given a sustained period of good health and an offensive line worthy of the name. In any event, I’d settle gladly for Trent Dilfer-type tools (circa 2000) at this point.
As for this “overrated” crap, look: any hyped individual commodity playing in a team sport can be made to appear overrated when surrounded by garbage teammates and forced at all turns to exceed one’s brief. It happened to Urlacher in 2002 and again last year, and it’ll happen again the next time the front four don’t earn their keep and half of the defense goes down for the year. Lookit BretFarv, f’r cryssake –sure, his skills have diminished before our eyes, but the funny thing is, that’s the chief tangible difference between the same ol’ BretFarv and the guy out there wearing #4 anymore; he doesn’t get away with it quite as he used to, but of more immediate importance are the facts that his line utterly blows and that his “skill position” guys have gone down in droves (and, for the record, I’m loving every last damned second of it). It ain’t hard to argue that this Packers team would be in much better shape in the wins and losses columns, if not necessarily in serious playoff contention, had things happened differently –and BretFarv likely would be worth three or four wins all by his very ancient and creaky lonesome.
In conclusion, think of one thing: verifiable statistics may refute the notion that “the team that’s playing hot in December, headed into January, is the one to beware in the playoffs,” but maybe not this time. Just stay tuned, and mark my words –this one is going to get one hell of a lot more interesting before it’s all over with. I’m living proof enough that it doesn’t take a genius.
re #15: Vick obviously has a disadvantage in cold weather.
I think Brett was crying on the sidelines right before they pulled him. He might have just made his decision to retire at that moment. God, I hope so.
I’m a “dwarf”? The Bears roster says I’m 6’1″, 218. Sure, those things lie, and I’m certainly no Big Huge Wall Of Quarterback like that seasick lap-dance junkie up in the Twin Cities. But I’m a big, strappin’ young boy. Achondroplasia is not in my genome.
Last night was obviously Douchebag Night at the comments.
Donnut boy agreed with me today.
should I be proud…or sick to my stomach?
Playoffs?………Playoffs?
I am coming to Wrigley to revive my career. I am going to show everyone that I can be a much better hitter than .250. Me and Corey P. should get along great, we both want to play an outfield position for this team, we both bat lefty and we both love to swing at balls that are down and away for a call strike 3. I am telling you Cub fans, if you thought you had enough of Corey wait until the end of July in 06′ when I have 150 SOs. But I will have a better OBP than him, I can take the occasional walk. Is #11 taken?