Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, the man with the plan, feels your pain. He admires your fanaticism. He shares your obsession.
Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said he's not buying the concept of Jay Cutler as a Not Ready For Prime Time Player despite evidence to the contrary.
Mike Mulligan: Leave the power running game on the bus and hand the ball to Jay Cutler. That's the best solution for the Bears with seven games left in a fast-fading season. Wide-open passing games are flourishing around the league, and the Bears need to get on board. Their insistence on fitting Cutler into an offensive philosophy, instead of just letting him take over, is preventing them from joining the fun. Doubt it?
No less a superstar than Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning once was asked to explain a six-interception performance against the San Diego Chargers.
SAN FRANCISCO -- It wasn't a football game so much as a public therapy session. The Bears' crisis of confidence spilled onto the national stage on Thursday with a painful performance against the San Francisco 49ers that only a sports psychologist could love.
Tommie Harris nearly got it right with a perfunctory apology Monday, the day after he was kicked out of a game for punching Cardinals lineman Deuce Lutui four plays into a blowout loss.
The head coach of a football team has a weird job. He's the man in charge and the unquestioned ruler of his world, but the real power belongs to the players. A coach's minions determine his fate -- his subjects control the length of his reign -- if a crop fails, the king is to blame. If the defense fails, the defensive coordinator is to blame.
The Bears' acquisition of quarterback Jay Cutler during the offseason brought renewed hope and anticipated glory to a franchise desperate for both. The standard has slipped a bit during the first half of the season, with competence now the major goal of Ron Turner's offense heading into a crucial game today against the Cardinals at Soldier Field.
When it comes to offensive football, the Bears have built a dynasty of fear and recrimination. Chicago isn't just the place where receivers go to die; the painful fact is that most anyone on that side of the ball is in danger of (poor) execution.
Mike Mulligan: The progress of the Bears' defense has been treacherously betrayed by the man running it. The supposed improvement in the NFL rankings this year -- they jumped from 16th to 11th after beating woeful Cleveland on Sunday -- is nothing but a mirage. Sure, you take progress where you find it, even in a hollow run up the table to the defense's highest ranking since the Super Bowl year.
The Bears beat up a feeble Cleveland Browns team almost as much as the Browns beat up Jay Cutler on Sunday at Soldier Field. A 24-point victory didn't tell the whole story as Cutler looked more like a mugging victim than a guy who directed a winning effort.
Nobody likes a bully. There can be little appreciation for those who use strength or power to harm and intimidate the weak. Unless, of course, you're talking about the NFL.
It's always tough to win, to force your will on an opponent, but it's nearly impossible when you create a reward system based on draft status, contract numbers or personal ego. Bears coach Lovie Smith seems to understand. He was asked if he was worried about looking as if he's playing the blame game by benching left guard Frank Omiyale in favor of Josh Beekman.
Mike Mulligan: The Bears are finished in everyone's mind but their own. A dreadful defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals is sure to awaken self-doubt and invite a collapse of confidence, but the perfect elixir comes in the form of the Cleveland Browns, who turn up Sunday at Soldier Field.
The temptation is to issue a threatening proclamation of sorts -- something along the lines that if the defense suffers another collapse like it did in Cincinnati on Sunday, then Lovie Smith needs the ''Jim Zorn treatment,'' meaning someone from ownership or management has to pull play-calling duties from the coach.
The red zone turned into a no-man's-land for the Bears' offense last Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. And if the team wants to get back on a winning streak, it will need to shore up its problems in that crucial area between the 20-yard line and the goal line.
Mike Mulligan: With the Bears playing the Cincinnati Bengals and Cedric Benson on Sunday, it's a perfect time for one of those ''Where Are They Now?'' features about former Bears running backs. Benson has resuscitated his career and ranks third in the NFL in rushing this season. Matt Forte ... whatever happened to that guy?
