Beartrapped, and a day fit for a King

Well, the pictures say it all. Steve Smith tore through the Chicago Bears defense like he was invisible yesterday, and the Bears dreams of a trip to Detroit ended in sickening fashion. The Bears didn't play particularly well in any phase of the game, especially in the first half. Charles Tillman fell down on the second play from scrimmage, and with no safety help over the top, Smith broke free for a 59-yard touchdown (which raises the question, why is our second-best cornerback playing Smith with no double team coming from the second level? Why aren't we shading our safeties to Smith's side in case the corner gets burned at the line?).

Things didn't improve all that much after that. Smith finished with 12 catches for 218 yards and two scores, as well as another 26 on the ground. That means in two games this year against Chicago, Smith has racked up an almost comical 26 catches for 387 yards, two touchdowns, and well over 400 total yards from scrimmage. He is maybe 5'9", and he is the only player that the Bears couldn't stop this year. Ridiculous. I am very sad to see the year end this way. It's exactly like 2001...an overachieving team that has an anemic offense and is carried by a big-play defense lays an egg at home in the first playoff game. I hated to see the front seven disappear like they did yesterday, especially after eating the Carolina offense alive last time around. Next year seems like a long way off.

Three biggest keys to the loss:

3) Slow start on offense. If your defense gives up early points, you have to be able to answer. Rex Grossman started 0-6 and 3-14 for two yards. That doesn't get the job done.

2) We lost the field position game. When you go 3-and-out for almost an entire half, your defense is going to give up points no matter how good they are. The Bears are simply not built to play from behind. We can't afford to go down 10 early and play the whole game on our side of the field, like we did.

1) Of course, the career day by Smith. Our corners have done a great job all year containing receivers, keeping everything in front of them, and avoiding the big play. We didn't do that yesterday, and it was most certainly the reason we lost.

Well, football is officially over for Chicago fans. Although we have the championship games and the Super Bowl ahead of us, is there any team to get excited about? Does anyone care about a Denver-Seattle Super Bowl? I don't. Pitchers and catchers report in a month. I'm just waiting for that day so I can wash the taste of defeat out of my mouth and focus on a great 2006 campaign by the Cubs.




In other news, happy Martin Luther King Day. I don't have the day off of work, but many of you do and although you're probably spending it having fun, take a second to think about MLK and the uphill battle that he fought bravely for such a long time. Here are a few MLK thoughts for you, straight from the man himself:

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."

And lastly,

"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers."

My generation is really too young to truly identify with the civil rights movement in this country, but as someone who absolutely loves being a witness to history, there are a lot of moments I wish I had been around to see. Which ones would you like to have been a part of? Check out this timeline to see what went down and this list of all the historic venues of the movement.

Finally here is the site for Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, with stories, anecdotes, and lots of other information about what happened in this truly fascinating period of our history.

I hope that you all have a great day off. I doubt that anyone would deny that we still have a long, long way to go in terms of equality and civil rights in this country, but when you consider the state of affairs before Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement, it's encouraging to think about how far we've come.

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