Or is it???
You don't know it yet, but the dealer who owned that dealership was Chicago Bears' General Manager Phil Emery. And that so called "best" salesman? That's right. It was Bears head coach Marc Trestman. Together they suckered you into buying this beautiful looking, high powered, sexy sports car that is called the 2014 Chicago Bears football team. What they failed to do was show you that this particular sports car actually had quite a few faults with the engine not performing up to par, wheels keep falling off, and other parts just seeming to get damaged in the dumbest ways. Of course, those parts are supposed to represent the players if you didn't get it yet. So ladies and gents, welcome to the nightmare.
Unfortunately, it has become a nightmare come true for the fans of the Chicago Bears as the team heads into this Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers after having a week off to look around and see that everything with this team is not, as Aaron Rodgers would say, "G-R-E-A-T" this season. With the Bears now sitting at 3-5 in the first eight games of the season, one can only wonder just what will come next for the team with just eight more weeks left in the schedule. It is hard to say right now, but after the humiliating 52-31 loss against the New England Patriots, I think it is safe to say that a similar experience will be felt this Sunday at Green Bay.
So going back to the dream, the problems that were found with the car were things like the engine not performing up to par. An just who do you think those players could be? I know some may think that I mean the whole team. But I don't in this case. First, there is the "elite" starting quarterback Jay Cutler. Please! The most elite thing about this guy is the money he is getting paid (that would be $127,000,000 for seven years) for his barely average stats of 17 touchdowns and 8 interceptions through the first eight games. At the price tag we put on him, he should be firing touchdown passes every one in nine passes when you consider that he averages about 36-37 passing attempts per game. So that would mean that Cutler should have, at least, 4 touchdown passes a game which would put him around 30 touchdowns threw eight games this season. But that couldn't happen because Cutler continues to try to thread needles that aren't there, overthrow his targets, and make bad choices in the red zone. It's like showing that dealer and salesman that the sports car's engine is clearly not working right, but all they have to say is, "No, it's suppose to do that now. We promise it'll get better over time." Well I'm gonna be honest here, I think it's time to buy a new engine in this case.
Another player not performing is wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Last year, Marshall teamed up with fellow wide out Alshon Jeffery, tight end Martellus Bennett, running back Matt Forte to help set team records for most total yards (6,109), most passing yards (4,450), most passing touchdowns (32), and most first downs (344). This year, the Bears will be lucky if they have any receiver finish with 1,000 yards. If you look at Brandon Marshall's stats through the first half of the season, they are so shocking that it it is scary. Marshall currently has just 34 receptions for 384 yards and 5 touchdowns. Some Pro Bowl wide out we have. Just knowing how good Marshall really is and could be, his stats should be around 50-60 receptions for at least 800 some yards while scoring 7-8 touchdowns. It's strange that everything seemed fine and to be the start of something great until he decided he wanted to appear on his own show this year. Also, I hope he realizes how humiliating it is to see a star wide receiver like him have less receptions than the team's current receptions leader running back Matt Forte, who also have 100 more receiving yards than Marshall so far.
And to round off the offense, we have starting running back Matt Forte. So for Forte, I have to note that I believe he is the biggest factor in saving the Bears' offense from becoming almost non-existent. However, he is also one of the reasons why it has not been able to jump out of the gate like we all were hoping to see. So far this season, Forte has 130 carries for 562 rushing yards and scoring 3 touchdowns whilst also grabbing 58 catches for 490 receiving yards and also scoring 3 more touchdowns. Now again, I am proud that Matt Forte is keeping the Chicago offense afloat, but being the type of running back he has shown to be, his rushing yards and touchdowns should definitely be higher at around 750 rushing yards and 6-7 touchdowns. And while I like what I see in his ability to be dual threat as an option in the pass game, I just have to reiterate that Forte should not be leading this team in receptions over Marshall and Jeffery nor have more receiving yards that 6'5" wide out Brandon Marshall. What drives me even crazier one this is that Matt Forte came into the NFL one year after Minnesota Viking's star halfback Adrian Peterson had been drafted. He is slightly bigger, a few seconds slower, and just as powerful as Peterson, and yet there seems to be something missing from him this season that has been there in all the others that he has had with the Bears. One can only hope he is tuned up and ready to hit the ground running again.
As for the rest of the offense, they seem to be working out fine (with some off-the-field moments here and there). But we cannot avoid that defense. Oh, that Chicago Bears' defense. Supposedly, the Monsters of Midway were going to make their triumphant return to days of glorious tackles, sacks, and interceptions going back for touchdowns. But like all monsters, these ones remain as nothing more than a story. The defense has improved at this point when compared with the awful performance that was seen last season, but they still are lacking in so much that we thought was coming this year. Overall, the defense ranks 13th in opposing rushing yards with about 102 rushing yards allowed per game while also ranking 23rd in opposing passing yards allowing close to 251 passing yards per game (NFL.com).
So just what is up with the defense? One factor is the injuries are continuing to pile up week after week. It is so hard to tell now just who is going to be able to play or not on this team that I find myself going, "Just stick the backups in and hope for the best" all because no one on this defense seems to be 100% healthy ever. Everything seemed good until cornerback Charles Tillman was ruled out for the season. This was a huge lost the defense being that Tillman is really considered the new face of the Chicago Bears once former middle linebacker Brian Urlacher left the team and retired. Losing him was losing the Bears' true leader. I say "true" because guys like Briggs and Cutler, who are considered leaders on the team, do not conduct themselves in a manner that speaks out to the team and it's fans by saying, "We will win. There is no doubt about it!" Their attitudes are more geared towards, "Lets just see how the season goes and hope for the best" which is not what this city ever wants to see.
Quick look at the Chicago Bears' defensive players that have been hurt and/or are injured
Linebackers: Lance Briggs, Shea McClellin, Jon Bostic, Darryl Sharpton, and D.J. Williams
Defensive backs: Charles Tillman, Kyle Fuller, Danny McCray, Sherrick McMannis, Ahmad Dixon, Chris Conte, and Ryan Mundy
Defensive Line: Jay Ratliff, Jared Allen, Stephen Paea, Trevor Scott, and Lamarr Houston
Like any car parts, if they are not able to be fixed or replaced then they cause inefficiency in the engine. Two big parts of that are defensive ends Lamar Houston and Jared Allen. Now Allen is known best for his time with the Vikings, where he was asked do one thing only: get that quarterback. And so he did it over and over again in Minnesota, racking up about 85 sacks in his six seasons there. Before then, he was in Kansas City where he began to perfect his sacking technique. Now, at 32 years old and with the team he tormented year after year, Allen has recorded a measly 1.5 sacks this halfway point of the season. And then we got Lamar Houston, who started out strong for the Oakland Raiders with his ability to play both defensive end and tackle. He showed promise as a player that could either stop the run deaden it's tracks or bring down the quarterback. And being just 27 years old about to come into his prime years, the signing seemed to be just what we needed to kick start things off. But, Houston has become of those parts that got damaged in a stupid way in that he tore his ACL while celebrating after sacking Patriots backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo. All I could find was that I was just speechless. Not to mention it was his first sack of the season. Other parts that have not been functioning right are Lance Briggs, Chris Conte, and Shea McClellin from getting injured and probably not being 100% in most games. But overall, the defense just does not seem to really be on a balanced level.
So with engine parts not performing at all or getting damaged which causes them to not be able to perform at all, eventually that sports car the dealer and salesman sold you stops working and it's wheels just fall right off. And that is exactly what is going to happen here with the Bears if they cannot get themselves in the shop in order to to perfect their performance this season and the wheels on the road to a possible playoff berth. Mind you, it will not be easy but it can certainly happen if they want it. For right now, the best thing we can do is just hope for the best out of those beloved Bears of the windy city. Otherwise, the rest of this season is going to be as bad as driving that Lamborghini down Michigan Ave. in the dead of winter with a bad engine and no-tread on the wheels
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