Week 6: Bears @ Arizona - Monday, Oct. 16th, 7:30 pm CT

[Banedon]

Arizona's message board was down immediately following the game, and when I check this morning, there are about 10 pages of new threads about last night. Wow.

 

I'm thrilled we won. I'm thrilled we have a bye week. And I hope like hell that we figure out how to not do this again.

 

I'm scared of the 3 game road swing now.

[goonys evil twin]

I'm scared of the 3 game road swing now.

 

I'm not really scared. I'm pissed at the Bears. The arrogance was oozing out of Halas Hall the past week and I was disgusted with all the 16-0 talk around Chicago and the nation.

 

These idiots talked like they learned their lesson from Carolina in the playoffs, but they obviously hadn't. I'm actually hoping for a loss in the 3 game road swing to further waken these guys up to the importance of actually playing 60 minutes. I don't give a crap about historical seasons, all I care about is the Super Bowl. And their arrogance is probably the biggest obstacle to the attaining that goal right now.

 

Lovie dismissing the Cardinals as a threat was an awful mistake on his part. He should never down play an opponent like that again.

[bukie]

Well, it wasn't a 6-0 turnover differential...I almost feel like I need to be more optimistic with my pessimism.

[Banedon]

Lovie dismissing the Cardinals as a threat was an awful mistake on his part. He should never down play an opponent like that again.

 

Wow I completely missed that. What did he say?

[WrigleyinEngland]

Only just recovered over here and its now mid-afternoon!!! Late night=well worth it never gave up and niether did they!!!

[goonys evil twin]

Lovie dismissing the Cardinals as a threat was an awful mistake on his part. He should never down play an opponent like that again.

 

Wow I completely missed that. What did he say?

 

Lovie scoffed at the result of the preseason game, talked down Leinert, and gave the overall impression that he nor the Bears were concerned about Arizona. The way they came out just chucking it all over the place and with no heart on defense in the first quarter, it shows they were more interested in making a show on MNF than winning the game. The emotion Lovie showed during and after the comeback indicated to me a man who realize Brian Urlacher just covered his ass and he was dead wrong in how he prepared his team.

[Banedon]

Lovie dismissing the Cardinals as a threat was an awful mistake on his part. He should never down play an opponent like that again.

 

Wow I completely missed that. What did he say?

 

Lovie scoffed at the result of the preseason game, talked down Leinert, and gave the overall impression that he nor the Bears were concerned about Arizona. The way they came out just chucking it all over the place and with no heart on defense in the first quarter, it shows they were more interested in making a show on MNF than winning the game. The emotion Lovie showed during and after the comeback indicated to me a man who realize Brian Urlacher just covered his ass and he was dead wrong in how he prepared his team.

 

I'd heard him blowing off the preseason game, but not so much the Leinart thing. In any case, Lovie and Turner both had this team poorly prepared for this game. And clearly the comments about preseason meaning nothing was used as motivation, since Denny was still going off about it during his little tirade. It's one thing for the players to believe the press. It's another for the coach to believe it.

[goonys evil twin]

I'd heard him blowing off the preseason game, but not so much the Leinart thing. In any case, Lovie and Turner both had this team poorly prepared for this game. And clearly the comments about preseason meaning nothing was used as motivation, since Denny was still going off about it during his little tirade. It's one thing for the players to believe the press. It's another for the coach to believe it.

 

Even if it's true that they were plain vanilla in that preseason game and they were going to throw a whole bunch of stuff Leinert's way to confuse the hell out of him, there's no reason to talk about it before the game. NFL talent is so similar, that any team can step up and win with proper motivation (and coaching).

[Magnetic Curses]

i don't know if i lost respect for denny green or if i ever had it. he composed himself the way a child composes themself. i have no problem with emotion, but to behave like phil helmuth after taking a bad beat is ridiculous.

 

yes, the bears played badly on offense, but it was mostly because turner decided that he wasn't ever going to run the ball.

 

the cardinals decided to rush the QB and drop everyone else back in pass coverage, nobody was left to play the run, yet turner kept throwing it. hopefully he's learned that we're a running team first and a passing team second.

 

i'll give the cardinals credit, they played inspired ball in the first 3 quarters by springing a defense that the bears obviously were not ready for. the good news is that we won.

[BigbadB]

After watching last night's game, I'm even more convinced this team needs to lose a game to get some focus back. Teams consistently fall into the trap that they are unbeatable. Not only does every team want to beat one of the last remaining unbeatens, they want to beat the best team in the league.

 

It's one thing for the player's to get egos. It's another if the coaches, themselves, need a wake up call.

[Banedon]

I'd heard him blowing off the preseason game, but not so much the Leinart thing. In any case, Lovie and Turner both had this team poorly prepared for this game. And clearly the comments about preseason meaning nothing was used as motivation, since Denny was still going off about it during his little tirade. It's one thing for the players to believe the press. It's another for the coach to believe it.

 

Even if it's true that they were plain vanilla in that preseason game and they were going to throw a whole bunch of stuff Leinert's way to confuse the hell out of him, there's no reason to talk about it before the game. NFL talent is so similar, that any team can step up and win with proper motivation (and coaching).

 

I'm not a fan of Lovie's post-game comments that the Bears are a "team of destiny".

[gflore34]

Most definitely, the Cardinals were better prepared and came out to play but, after the first quarter, the Bear defense stepped up.

 

Cardinal Offense:

1st Quarter - 7 1st Downs, 107 total yards

 

Next 3 Quarters - 10 1st Downs, 197 totals yards

 

If Lovie and Turner wouldn't have gotten caught up in trying to put on a MNF show and Rex hadn't gone into total gunslinger mode. The Bears might not have needed two scores by the defense and a special team score to win.

[Jon]

Due to some miscommunication on their end, I don't have work today. That gave me the time to sync up the audio from WBBM to the highlights: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_n0ppcjM4a0

[David]

Due to some miscommunication on their end, I don't have work today. That gave me the time to sync up the audio from WBBM to the highlights: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_n0ppcjM4a0

 

Wow.. Joniak didn't seem as crazy as usual... :shock:

[UMFan83]

Lovie dismissing the Cardinals as a threat was an awful mistake on his part. He should never down play an opponent like that again.

 

Wow I completely missed that. What did he say?

 

Lovie scoffed at the result of the preseason game, talked down Leinert, and gave the overall impression that he nor the Bears were concerned about Arizona. The way they came out just chucking it all over the place and with no heart on defense in the first quarter, it shows they were more interested in making a show on MNF than winning the game. The emotion Lovie showed during and after the comeback indicated to me a man who realize Brian Urlacher just covered his ass and he was dead wrong in how he prepared his team.

 

You are right, listening to his interiews during the week, he definitely was saying different things then he said before the Buffalo game. Its hard not to let it all go to your head if your a player and you are being told how great you are and people are telling you that you are going to go 16-0. The thing is, even after the game, the players were sounding really cocky.. . I don't even know if they learned anything.

[thedaymen]

I don't think the Bears won last night, I think the Cardinals lost. Just a pitiful showing by Green and his coaching staff once the game became 23-3...they're offensive play calling was beyond bad. Green can pound the podium all he wants, those antics are just to try and cover up the miserable job he did coaching.

 

On another note, didn't Barkley say that 20 points wouldn't be enough to win the game and he make some sort of "bet" with Kornheiser? Does this mean Barkley will be doing MNF games from now on?

[Banedon]

I don't think the Bears won last night, I think the Cardinals lost.

 

The Cards did their share, but the Bears still caused 2 fumbles and had a punt return. None of those were "gives" by Arizona. It wasn't like someone had butterfingers...those were legit takeaways and great "plays".

[bukie]

I don't think the Bears won last night, I think the Cardinals lost.

 

The Cards did their share, but the Bears still caused 2 fumbles and had a punt return. None of those were "gives" by Arizona. It wasn't like someone had butterfingers...those were legit takeaways and great "plays".

 

The takeaways were skilled. The returns for TDs were a bit lucky. Not having to rely at all on the offense to come back from 20 down was also a bit lucky. :)

 

Rex has been playing with fire for weeks now, throwing ill-advised passes that were fortunately dropped by defenders. This week it caught up to him, so I do hope that he learns from this and is willing to throw some shorter passes to open receivers.

 

Also, the line really needs to give him better vision and time than they did last night.

[thedaymen]

I don't think the Bears won last night, I think the Cardinals lost.

 

The Cards did their share, but the Bears still caused 2 fumbles and had a punt return. None of those were "gives" by Arizona. It wasn't like someone had butterfingers...those were legit takeaways and great "plays".

 

Granted...but if Arizona had continued to play with the same gameplan on offense post 23-3 as they did pre 23-3 they would have won the game.

 

This "Team of Destiny" garbage that goony is talking about is spot on. If you play for a team and feel good about last night's win, its going to come back and bite you.

 

Hopefully, they take something from the butt kicking they got the first three quarters (minus 5 seconds), especially on offense.

[Banedon]

I don't think the Bears won last night, I think the Cardinals lost.

 

The Cards did their share, but the Bears still caused 2 fumbles and had a punt return. None of those were "gives" by Arizona. It wasn't like someone had butterfingers...those were legit takeaways and great "plays".

 

The takeaways were skilled. The returns for TDs were a bit lucky. Not having to rely at all on the offense to come back from 20 down was also a bit lucky. :)

 

I'm not discounting luck last night. There HAD to be a good amount of luck for things to fall the way they did. But it's not like that was the first time Hester has done that. We got him specifically for his ability to do what he did in the 4th quarter last night.

 

We could be as lucky as we want, but you still have to have the skill to take advantage of those lucky breaks, and the Bears did that.

[Banedon]

Granted...but if Arizona had continued to play with the same gameplan on offense post 23-3 as they did pre 23-3 they would have won the game.

 

There's a reason why Arizona is 1-5 right now. :P

[Flames24Rulz]

I'd heard him blowing off the preseason game, but not so much the Leinart thing. In any case, Lovie and Turner both had this team poorly prepared for this game. And clearly the comments about preseason meaning nothing was used as motivation, since Denny was still going off about it during his little tirade. It's one thing for the players to believe the press. It's another for the coach to believe it.

 

Even if it's true that they were plain vanilla in that preseason game and they were going to throw a whole bunch of stuff Leinert's way to confuse the hell out of him, there's no reason to talk about it before the game. NFL talent is so similar, that any team can step up and win with proper motivation (and coaching).

 

I'm not a fan of Lovie's post-game comments that the Bears are a "team of destiny".

 

Team of Destiny, huh? I still think Arizona's comeback against the Viqueens on week 17 three seasons ago was the biggest comeback that I have ever seen. It pushed the Packers into the playoffs and I'll never forget that "Team of Destiny" identity that was established with us that year. It didn't really work out for us, seeing we lost in the divisional round.

 

Arizona is a bad team. Leinart looked great out there, but the Bears defense stepped up when they wanted to and they got the job done by forcing two huge turnovers and returning them for TD's. Then Arizona had the stupidest decision in the world to kick it to Hester. Grossman already had 6 turnovers and looked pathetic out there. So why would you kick the ball to a guy that the Bears drafted, solely on his ability to return kicks and punts?

 

Then of course Neil Rackers decides that he's from the University of Illinois and decides to suck just like everything from U of I the past week.

 

Yeah as you can tell, I'm a little upset. Anytime you have a chance of winning money on a Monday night game and you lose it like THAT really sucks. But congrats on the win :wink:

[Banedon]

The thing is, even after the game, the players were sounding really cocky.. . I don't even know if they learned anything.

 

During the postgame on CSN, Tommie Harris was "strutting" his fashion sense for Jerry Azumah, since Zoom gives a fashion award each week. I love Tommie, but he didn't do much at all last night, and I would've liked to see a bit more of a humble attitude immediately after that game.

[soccer10k]

I don't think the Bears won last night, I think the Cardinals lost. Just a pitiful showing by Green and his coaching staff once the game became 23-3...they're offensive play calling was beyond bad. Green can pound the podium all he wants, those antics are just to try and cover up the miserable job he did coaching.

 

On another note, didn't Barkley say that 20 points wouldn't be enough to win the game and he make some sort of "bet" with Kornheiser? Does this mean Barkley will be doing MNF games from now on?

 

Barkley said the Cardinals were going to "shock the world" last night.

 

EDIT: As for the first part of your post, I completely agree. The Cardinals didn't play like they wanted to win the game and seemed to be playing not to lose after they got the 23-3 lead. That's what led me to ask the question "anybody see a 24-23 finish" after the Bears cut the lead to 23-10. The Cardinals didn't look good in the second half. The completely changed their game plan and that is the reason they're 1-5 this year.

Edited October 17, 2006 by soccer10k

[goonys evil twin]

I would've liked to see a bit more of a humble attitude immediately after that game.

 

The immediate reaction doesn't matter much to me. They did pull off a pretty crazy comeback that warrented some sort of hysterical celebration.

 

What I want is for these guys to realize what they did wrong this week, and then prepare properly next week. And I want Grossman in the video room every day.