Look kids, Big Ben... Parliament

‘ello gov’nor!  Time to sip a spot of tea and take in the Bears from London on Sunday.  The Bears made the horribly poor tactical decision of flying in days later than the Bucs, so expect a sluggish, sloppy game.  I’ll stick with my original prediction of a Bears victory, but the results won’t be nearly as attractive as last week’s steamrolling of Minnesota.

The one question I have for Chicago media is why does Roy Williams keep popping up in interviews and quotes everywhere?  He has accomplished nothing for this team, yet he always seems to be the voice of the team.  There are plenty of players worthy and deserving of a Q&A session, so give someone else a chance to utter clichés.

Look for Matt Forte to score the Bears only TD on foreign soil, but me thinks it will be enough against Tampa Bay who will have feasted on a little too much fish and chips to manage double digits.  Like the 1983 White Sox, these Bears will try to do a little “winnin’ ugly.”  Here’s hoping they don’t embarass themselves in front of the locals. 

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Cutler deserves this entire box for last week's effort

It’s painful to say, but reality is reality: the Detroit Lions have more talent and depth than the Chicago Bears.  We already know that the Packers are deep as well (look no further than last year’s Super Bowl win despite a plethora of injuries), but this Sunday’s matchup against Minnesota is a winnable one.  Sure, Adrian Peterson will be on display, but in recent years, the NFL has shown that elite running backs don’t necessarily translate into elite teams.  Detroit’s depth got to the Bears, as it seemed they trotted out an endless supply of fresh defensive linemen in the second half, all of whom overmatched Chicago’s front line.

This week, however, if Jay Cutler can get a little protection (an enormous “IF”), the Bears have a fighting chance to score a few times down the field and hopefully prevent some of the big plays while on defense.  For starters, the recent demotion of both starting safeties should help, but it might also help to actually make an effort to tackle a receiver or a back rather than simply running alongside trying to punch the ball out for 30 yards.  When it works, great.  When it doesn’t, it causes more trouble than it’s worth.

Kudos should go to Jay Cutler for last week’s gritty effort in the face of constant silver and blue.  Scrambling for his life, Cutler managed to escape unharmed and mistake free, albeit with another loss.  Of course, this is no surprise, because as readers of this website are well aware, trading for Jay Cutler ensured that mediocrity was the future in Chicago for years to come with very little left in the way of player development.  Perhaps the guy paid like a #1 receiver who is actually a #3 receiver at best can return a kick or two and return the Bears to .500 for a week at least.

From gossipcop.com

Ever since Jay Cutler put on a Bears jersey the first time, this site made it perfectly clear that Chicago wouldn’t be able to get to the next level because Jay was a “fine” QB but not a franchise QB and, more importantly, without any help surrounding Cutler, the Bears were destined for mediocrity.  Here we are, years later, and nothing has changed.  When you trade away first round picks and have a history of difficulty in developing draft picks in general, the only way to improve the team is through free agency.  Julius Peppers was a great signing, but a lack of money and available free agents severely limits the strategy.  Other limits are self-inflicted, like paying Devin Hester as a prime receiver when he is only a special teams marvel.

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In the end, what you have is a team with enough talent to squeak by a bad team with a star like the Carolina Panthers.  What you also have is a team with enough weaknesses to allow themselves no mistakes if they want to avoid losing to bad teams like the Carolina Panthers.  In short, what you have is a mediocre team.  If Coach Green is around, you might put a hand on his shoulder and assure him that they are who we thought they were.

Will this mediocre team prevail against an upstart Lions team?  We’ll find out Monday…