The Bears’ glorious Indian summer came to an abrupt end last Sunday with a 41-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The resurgent Bears hoped to clinch first place in the Central Division of the National Football Conference with a victory; instead, they finished the game humbled and hurt, with old wounds reopened. The game lacked the free-falling feeling of collapse common to the Bears’ other notable defeats of recent years–the back-to-back playoff losses to the Washington Redskins, the 41-0 thrashing at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in 1987, the magical replay defeat in Green Bay last season, and the miserable second-half failure against the Redskins almost exactly a year ago when the Bears could have regained a tie for first place in the division at 7-5, a loss triggering Mike Ditka’s sadly accurate “we may not win another game this year” diatribe.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The Bears may be 9-2, a shoo-in to win the division (their magic number remains at two with five games to play), but worries persist. The primary concern is their age: age across the offensive line and age in the defensive line. Problems manifested themselves at both areas Sunday. The offensive line was lackluster for the second straight week. When the linemen did trap–one of the Bears’ favorite techniques, in which a guard or tackle pulls out, indicating a sweep and luring his defender across the line of scrimmage, only to have the runner shoot through the very same hole in the line–the Vikings were through the hole and to the runner before he had a chance. The weariness of the offensive line showed itself especially on one second-half play, when the Vikes’ Joey Browner rushed Jim Harbaugh on a delayed blitz and ran right past Jimbo Covert. It would have taken a fine play, but Covert could have lunged and cut Browner’s legs out from under him, protecting Harbaugh. It’s the sort of block he makes all the time on defensive linemen on the Bears’ square-out pass patterns. He didn’t make the play this time, however, and Browner sacked Harbaugh head-on.
The Bears’ mix of age and youth, experience and moxie, which has been so promising thus far, appeared on Sunday to be only a double liability. While the veterans on the offensive and defensive lines struggled, Jim Harbaugh confirmed fears that he is not a come-from-behind quarterback; that is, his inexperience and his tendency to get flustered became apparent when he was forced to pass upfield against a Minnesota defense that was amply prepared and eager to rush the quarterback. The Bears’ young defensive secondary also had an awful day: Donnell Woolford returned from an injury, only to sustain a pair of stupid, costly penalties early on and, later, a sprained ankle.
The question remains, however, what does the outcome mean about the Bears? Was it simply an off day, or is this how they’ll play against quality opposition? The Bears’ victory over the 1-0 Packers in the second week remains their only triumph against a winning team all season. The Bears play home-and-home games against the Detroit Lions, and they get to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home, so they’ll eventually clinch first place; that’s not in doubt. Their poor performance last Sunday, however, adds importance to their game next week at Washington and their regular-season finale later in December against the Kansas City Chiefs. Those games would have been pride-only affairs if the Bears had defeated Minnesota. Now, they’re additional tests as the Bears try to prove they are not making the playoffs simply on the basis of a weak schedule.
