Yes, the Bears are the only team with holes as well. All other playoff teams, especially the NFC ones, just don't seem to have much wrong with them on paper.

No other team except NY has the QB problems the Bears have. Without a dominate defense, Train-Rex is doomed.

I agree, the Bears are done. Clearly, they have once again managed to be the most overrated team imaginable, and will once again be a quick out in the playoffs. I'm actually seriously considering putting $100 up against them before even seeing their opponent; that way, when they lose (and believe me, they will), I'll have some consolation, rather than simply having my week ruined like the Bears did last night.

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I was actually really happy after the Dallas game; I love to see Dallas lose, and their home loss to Detroit demonstrated a certain level of ineptitude that gave me confidence as a Bears fan; then I saw the Bears play.

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I wouldn't even say they're overrated. Since the Arizona game, the national media has been all over the Bears pointing out their flaws, which many Bears fans wrote off as east coast media bias. It seems to me that maybe the national media dopes were onto something all along.

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"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

Would you want Rex over Romo? I can't think of any QB in the playoffs that is worse then Rex.

INT's are bad, but stupid INT's are worse. All of his INT where really bad decisions, mixed with bad execution. The last Bear's QB who had a 0.0 rating was cut. Rex has had 3 below 10.00 and one of them was 0.0.

From what I've seen from both most recently, you would take Romo, but that's like choosing shit over diaharrea.

To hell with the national media; I was once again fooled into believing this team was good. I'm sick and effin' tired of the Bears' successes being a mirage. Clearly, that's the case this year. They suck, and suck hard. Literally, I'm confident that any of these playoff teams will beat them handily.

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And another goddamn fumbled snap! What is with Rex and the inability to handle the snap? 4 turnovers by a single player in one half? That's not a call for a cutting, that's a call for euthanasia.

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Bears peaked too early. If they were playing now like they did the first 5 games of the year, they'd win it all. Now? 1 and done.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

You'll get your way sooner than later, methinks. Chalk up another QB on the giant "Bears QB Failure" board. Too bad they're not 3-13 and in position to pick up a QB in the draft (though, I'm not exactly knocked out by Brady Quinn; I'm sure the Bears will have their signature blowup next season and will finally have realized Rex suck donkey balls in time to go ahead and try to get a real QB).

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I posted on this forum that it didnt matter if the Bears lost 40-0 against GB, the only goal was to keep everyone healthy. Please, that game New Years Eve meant absolutely nothin. Im not sayin that the Bears are locks to go to the Super Bowl but lets see what happens in the playoffs before we jump off the edge.

Like I said in the other thread: what kind of competitor takes the mentality that a game "means nothing?" A shitty competitor, that's what kind. Getting rolled by a shit team, who's your greatest rival, at home, in what may be a hall of fame QB's last game, and looking bad in every single phase of the game while doing so, should tell you all you need to know about the likelihood of success for this team. The only thing approaching the joke that was that game was Dallas getting beat at home by the Lions; but Dallas at least nearly won (and I'd be a worried motherfucker if I were a Cowboys fan; up until they play the Bears, if that happens, anyways).

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I can't wait to hear irvin's attempt at defending his beloved cowboys now. I absolutely loved that game. When Romo got blindsided and fumbled the ball, I was laughing. Romo's a fortunate kid. But playtime's over now. I hope the Eagles kill 'em. But...I wouldn't mind if the Eagles got beat up just a little bit in that game.

Have you guys thought about letting Orton try for the starting job again? He didn't have games as bad as Rex has had; and he seems more durable. I can't remember if the kid could scramble though. I just remember him being a bit more efficient when he needed to be. I could be wrong.

Oh, I'm right there with you, Zack. I was in such a good mood at that point in the evening. God I love watching the Cowboys lose. Romo fumbled a couple of times, IIRC; it's nice that the national guys will be forced to back off the rhetoric a bit. Did you see how they tried to gear it up like crazy when he picked up that fumble in the endzone and completed the pass? God, if they had gone on to win the game we'd never had heard the end of it.


I think they'll certainly have to consider it at the start of next season; I don't see them picking any QBs up in the draft this off-season, and I believe Rex has all but proved beyond reasonable doubt that he's not the star-in-the-making they thought he was. That being the case, they should have a honest open competition at the start of next season; no more handing Rex the keys. They have 3 QBs with starting experience; one of them is bound to not be total garbage, right?

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MARTY!

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

Even though I believe that the Bears have little to no chance at winning the Super Bowl (due to the strength of the AFC), I still can't count them out COMPLETELY in simply getting there. While many of the weaknesses on this team were amplified this past game, I still have to look at this as pretty much a complete fluke (for the lack of a better word). Even when Rex has been bad in the past, the defense was able to step up and at least make a game out of the debacle. This past game was absolutely meaningless (apparently in the players' minds, too) and such a performance will not be seen again this postseason.

If nothing else, Bear fans should be happy that such a game occurred on the last game of the season and not on the first postseason game. Afterall, they can't possibly play much worse than they did on NYE.

I agree; there is the chance that both opponents' jets will crash on the way to Chicago.

Seriously, as piss-poor as the competition has looked, and boy has it looked piss-poor, the Bears have out-garbaged them all. Near losses to Detroit and Tampa, and now this? Ho-ly-shit. I wouldn't bet the Bears against our Crown Point High team who had a pretty good year.

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Was the Bears near loss to Detroit worse than Dallas' actual loss to Detroit? Or Seattle's actual loss to the Niners? Or the Giants' actual losses to 6 of the last 8 teams they played, including the Bears?

I'm not too concerned.

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The near loss to Detroit, alone? No. But combined with the near loss to Tampa, and the ass beating at home vs the Packers, and the abysmal play at the most important position on the field, and the utter disappearance of the strongest element of the team's game, you bet. The Bears hung their hat on defense, and they have been mediocre at best for the last 5 weeks defensively. Rex just posted a 0 QB rating, and the backup threw two picks in relief. Hester badly muffed a punt....


Then I declare your tolerance for concern is great indeed! After watching the Bears on Sunday night, I literally can't envision them beating any NFL team in a playoff situation; had the Packers snuck in, I'd definitely like the Packers over the Bears, for example.

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We'll be fine.

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These things aren't happening in a vacuum. The Bears haven't cared in 3 weeks. They shut down midway through the 3rd quarter of the Tampa game.

If there were a dominant team out there to face, then there should be great concern. Am I concerned that they won't win the Super Bowl? Yes, absolutely. They need to play better. But, here is who they are facing -

Dallas - who has lost 3 of 4 and has looked very bad doing it.
Seattle - who has also lost 3 of 4 including to ARI and SF
NY - losers of 6 of 8

Those teams have much more to worry about than the Bears. The GB game was obviously a team that was "mailing it in" against a GB team playing with some emotion on the Favre thing and had been playing very well (they won their last 4 games). I would also be more concerned if the Bears were playing the Packers in the playoffs than these teams, but they are not. The Packers are playing better than any of these teams.

At best NO and PHI will face each other. NO has been up and down too and I'm not sold on PHI.

With 2 weeks to prepare and rest, I think the Bears will be in good shape. They will not be facing a team like Carolina last year that was on a roll and playing well.

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Is complacency generally the hallmark of a champion?


Dallas lost to two playoff teams and then lost a close one to the Lions. But the Bears very nearly lost to the Lions (they only won thanks to Mike Williams). Seattle and NY certainly suck, but neither has a quarterback that suck as badly as Grossman. The Bears defense isn't superior at this point to either of those teams. Its comforting to imagine they just "don't mind" losing, and weren't really playing hard, but I find that theory highly suspect. I don't believe for one second that athletes that made it to that level don't mind looking like garbage and getting challenged by crap teams.


I disagree that the Bears were mailing it in. They simply suck. They give up 10 yards on every slant play run by the opposition and they suck at the most important position on the field; that's why they're having trouble against bad teams.


Perhaps, but they're just not as good as any of these teams, and they beat the crap out of the Bears.


I can't imagine where you're getting this confidence from. They haven't played so much as mediocre with any consistency in any phase of the game for the last handful of weeks. Do you think that, come playoff time, they'll suddenly be able to rush the passer? Do you think Rex will magically improve? I don't see any way they're suddenly going to turn it around with no gameplay between now and their playoff game. Every one of those teams has a passing game that has at least worked at times in the season, and the Bears have shown that they have no ability whatsoever to stop the pass of late. Further, the Bears have demonstrated an inability to score with consistency. I hope there's many like you going to the window, so I can get good odds on my consolation bet, because I see it as easy money regardless of opponent.

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If we do lose in the NFC playoffs, I think it's fair to say that Rex Grossman will play a key role...With that premise, it's safe to say that could have QB issues that go into next season.

That raised eyebrow gives me the impression that you truly aren't. You should hope your team IS however. There is plenty to be concerned about--but then again, bye weeks can do a lot. Leaving on a low note may actually help them out for their divisional game.

I think the Bears actual loss to the Packers was bad; but really, Dallas losing to Detroit is just pitiful and very funny. And I don't know that Seattle losing to the Niners is worse than the Broncos dittoing it. I know no one was mentioning the Broncos but I thought I might...for fun.

Matt, I understand WHY there would be concern. I have seen the games but I view them in a different context. If I really believed that the Bears were preparing 105% to beat Detroit and to beat Green Bay, then I would be very concerned.

But, I think they kind of prepared for those teams, but also were kind of figuring out a way to get some guys some rest, and work on some new schemes and maybe give some looks to other teams that they haven't seen, maybe not feel great about playing meaningless games on the road on Xmas eve, or New Year's eve, etc. I'm sure they felt like they were trying to beat Detroit and Green Bay. But, if really pressed whether they did EVERYTHING they could to win those games, they would have to say no or they are lying to themselves.

I liken it to the preseason when everyone was up in arms about how horrible the team looked. Then, when the lights went on for real, they started murdering people. I don't think they are as good now as they were then and if they were in the AFC, I would not be happy about this approach. But, I feel very comfortable about them beating a bad team first and preparing them to beat a slightly better team next at home.

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I agree it is not ideal, but it is also not uncommon. As Michael Jackson would say - it is Human Nature. Even the legendary 85 Bears had a letdown after the Miami loss when they had nothing else to play for - nearly losing to a bad Colts team and then looking bad against the Jets.

I seem to recall much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands at that time over "what happened to the dominant Bears?" If it can happen to that team, it can happen to this one.

This team isn't the 85 Bears but they played well up through the time they had meaningful games. I believe they can recapture that with rest and preparation - getting that edge back. We'll see how they respond.

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