No more X's and O's ....Just Whys???

     I'm not frozen anymore. I can feel my feet again. But I'm still a pretty numb over how the Bear's season ended. I was lucky enough to attend what may turn out to be a 'once in a lifetime' event; Bears vs. Packers for the NFC title in Soldier Field!! The ticket stub, now a souvenir, is resting, in peace,  in a plastic sleeve alongside my Superbowl XLI ticket.  I still can't believe it happened. While the end of the game was nailbiter exciting, thanks to Caleb Hanie, the prospect of what could have been, slipping away, still stings. A slew of questions linger; Cutler, the oddly placed timeout, the end around to Earl Bennet???   Having had a ligament tear in my knee before,  I know how painful the injury is how and unstable your knee joint is afterward. I simply cannot believe, despite his lack of personal charm, that Cutler did not want to get back in and try to win this game. These kinds of matchups are what every kid dreams about. The silver lining to Cutler's now categorized, grade 2 MCL tear, is how his teammates rallied to his defense. Olin Kreutz, arguably the toughest guy on the team said he could see how "wobbly" Jay's knee was as he ambled back to the huddle. Brian Urlacher, the heart of the team, alluded to his toughness and how much the guys on the team like him regardless of how Chicago's media portrays him. (Urlacher knows firsthand how easy it is to get yourself on the wrong side of the press in Chicago!!) The injury while painful both literally and figuratively now, may prove to be the rallying point for next season. The fans and media as well as other NFL players may be giving Cutler a verbal beatdown for not playing the second half, all saying what they would do if they were in the game. The hard fact is none of them were so none of them can really know what they would have done. ( Take it easy, Deion!!)  My point here is; his teammates are behind him. Ready to follow a leader they all trust, a QB who was sacked 57 times, but still found a way to lead his team to the NFC title game. With his teammates on board,  Jay Cutler can become an elite QB in this league. The guy took a beating all year and only missed a game and a half! That being said, I still believe his emotional maturity to be an issue. I still believe he needs that 'spiritual kick' to head. It'd be nice to see him crack the occasional smile, loosen up a little at the podium, reel off a joke or two, and act like it's fun to be a starting QB in the NFL!! (It's got to be, how could it not??) If that happens, hopefully before this September, then look out, the Bears will be back as strong contenders, with Cutler leading the charge, to make it to Indy, (yes, XLVI is in Indy)  in 2012.
      The other two questions I posed are actually more troublesome than Cutler's knee. The oddly placed timeout. Third and three with under a minute left in the game, the Bears hand off over left tackle through a huge hole in the Packers D line....whistle....penalty?? false start??  illegal motion?? No, a poorly placed time out called by Lovie Smith!!  (not the first time he's done this!) Arrrrrgh!! The Bears would have had an easy first down near the 20 yard line with 2 timeouts left and 40 seconds plus on the clock. Instead, the Bears braintrust outsmarted themselves once again and called for an end around run to Earl Bennet. This play took far too long to turn upfield resulting in a two yard loss and 4th down and 5 coming up. The next play, Caleb Hanie throws the game ending interception to Sam Shields and the Packers go to Superbowl XLV. So close, yet so far away. Why the timeout?? Why did Mike Martz try such an elaborate move? We still had a shot!!

     I'm still not and may never be a wholesale chugger of Lovie's 'were gonna look at some film'  koolade. I may be pining for the glory days of  "Da Coach"  and his gum tossing, clipboard snapping, middle finger flipping style of coaching. I want a coach as well as a starting quarterback who act like they give a damn and display that  where we can see it. Give us this and we Bears fans will jump off cliffs for you!! I know Lovie may never do this. Maybe I'm the one who needs to mature a little bit (or alot)  and accept this dynamic. Failing that, here's hoping Lovie Smith and Mike Martz learn from these 'boneheaded' mistakes and "mature" alongside Jay Cutler this offseason!!  Go Bears in 2011!!    Dave Kuhlman    dave@onyerleft.com