Hope Springs from Halas

By: Dustin Beutin

There is a great danger in the human proclivity towards hope. Though it keeps the fires burning, when hope is washed away, all that is left is the stink of despair. But like a lover in an abusive relationship, humans keep finding ways to hope again, even after being crushed repeatedly by the failed realities of the cruel world.No other sporting city in America understands this like Chicago. Let’s say Philadelphia, Buffalo or Cincinnati even tried to claim that crown - the effect of the Cubs’ futility ends the argument in about a fifth of a nanosecond. Chicago fans’ have been brought up to understand that hope usually means being left falling over a cliff at the end of the season. The effect of this continual up and down is permanent nausea.

The Cubs aren’t the only guilty party, though - just the poster child. They are the ones who have caused us to think that somehow it’s okay to get passionately, out-of-our minds excited for any amount of sporting success, long before a trophy is even within grasp. It seems that when any sports franchise in this city starts to enjoy a little success, the expectations quickly rush out of the realm of realistic, faster than you can down an Old Style.

Which is why today, everyone in Chicago is staring at their coffee cups and wondering what it all means that Brian Griese is the new man under center at Halas Hall, with the record standing at 1-2. Have we hoped ourselves up just to be crushed again? Or is this the beginning of a turnaround?

This season for the Bears was supposed to be one of redemption. A chance to make right went wrong on a trip to Miami that had every man, woman and child in Chicago thinking about what they would wear to the ticker-tape parade down Michigan Avenue, only to be forced by Peyton Manning to put the wardrobe selection quietly under the bed ’til next year. We had hopes that Rex would improve dramatically, that an offense with new toys would open the field like a sea otter cracks open a clam and that the defense would crush opponents with the ease of a car running over a watermelon.

Rex Grossman regressed and is benched.

The offense looks like it couldn’t make a first down, much less a touchdown.

The defense has lost pro-bowl starters at such an alarming rate that people in Chicago are starting to whisper that perhaps there really is something to this “Super Bowl Loser” curse.

What’s worse: hope seems on the slide.

It’s time to check the facts here. Are there reasons to hope against what looks to be a season in shambles? Or is it time to let ourselves down gently before we get emotionally crushed by another failed year?

Five Reasons for Despair:

Did Lovie Smith make the right move in going to Brian Griese?
  Yes
  No, he should have stuck with Rex Grossman
  No, he should have gone to Kyle Orton
 
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  1. Grossman is gone. Yes, it means that officially, Rex Grossman’s tenure in Chicago is a disappointment. Rex can be added to a list that includes Marc Colombo, Michael Haynes and David Terrell as players that Angelo spent the all-important first rounder on, only to see them walk out the door as busts. There is an adage that teams who miss on first round draft picks are not bound for Super Bowls. If this is true, the Bears are in big trouble. Four out of Angelo’s seven first round picks have flopped off the team. Yikes. Add to that the injuries of Tommie Harris and the worries about Cedric Benson and suddenly, we’re starting to think it’s time for Bulls season.
  2. Griese is a journeyman. What does it say about a quarterback that he has bounced through two of the most potent offensive teams in modern history (Shanahan’s Broncos and Gruden’s Buccaneers) and was pushed out the door? It could mean that he isn’t a welcome locker room presence. It could also mean he’s nothing more than a backup. It could also portend that he has strange eating habits. Whatever the case, it is worrisome that the son of a great quarterback (Bob Griese) hasn’t been asked to stay, even when given the opportunity to play on teams geared towards West Coast quarterbacks; which, if anything, describes Griese. Perhaps the problem is that Brian didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps and attend Purdue. More likely, these other teams felt he was just okay and wanted to try someone with more potential.
  3. The “Offen-sieve” line. That’s right, sieve. As in, over the past three games the O-line is akin to a revolving door at a nightclub. I don’t care if Rex had ten offensive linemen in front of him, he wouldn’t have made great throws; but it is extremely bothersome that a line with this much experience can’t find a way to pick up blitzes. What’s more telling is that opposing defenders and coordinators are whispering that the Bears offensive line isn’t cutting it - that they’re weak, especially at tackle. It becomes believable when you consider that this group is old enough to require Ensure at the dining hall. This shouldn’t be happening with a veteran group if they are up to snuff. Maybe they aren’t.
  4. The schedule. The next three games for the Bears are at divisional opponents. This is not the time of the year you want to be forced into trying something new. If the Bears lose two of these games, the season will turn into a wild-card chase, as either the Lions or the Packers will be running away with the divisional crown. That is not a pretty picture. Most of us already want to gag listening to the media kiss Favre and Martz’s collective rear-ends. Watching them win the division would be like watching someone set fire to your favorite pet.
  5. Injuries to the defense. If someone had told you three months ago that the Bears would seriously be considering starting a game without Nathan Vasher, Lance Briggs, Mike Brown, Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek, you would have thought it meant the Bears had locked up a playoff berth and were resting their starters. Instead, it means that the Bears may be facing a harsh reality: if the offense can’t get it together, the defense currently doesn’t have the star-power to carry the team. And that inability may last all season if Vasher, Briggs and Harris can’t get back on the field for a significant period of time. All teams suffer injuries; not all teams lose four pro-bowlers in three weeks. Sheesh.

Five Reasons for Hope

  1. Griese. Riddle me this: name one of the AFC’s Pro Bowl quarterbacks in 2000? Brian Griese. That’s right, on Sunday at Detroit, the Bears will put a one-time Pro Bowl quarterback under center. When was the last time you could say that about this team? Okay, so Kordell Stewart was a pro-bowler at one point too, but let’s keep that to ourselves. Say what you want about Griese’s journeyman status, he has seen real success in the past. And the fact that he was pushed out the door in both Denver and Tampa Bay? The retort should be, “how were those teams after Griese left?” The answer: Tampa was AWFUL last year, and the Broncos listed in the first year after Griese. Brian Griese comes from a pedigree of great quarterbacks, he is a former pro-bowler, he has played for great coaches who historically impart great wisdom to their QB’s, and - oh yeah - the last time he was a starter was in Tampa Bay, where he carried a team that had no business winning games until he tore his ACL. He could be just what the Bears need.
  2. Lovie. There’s no need to debate why Lovie took his time making the right choice. Call it loyalty, call it stupidity, call it due diligence. Whatever you call it, he has rewarded the trust everyone - players, fans and management alike - have placed in him. Maybe Lovie can’t determine a great quarterback when he sees one — but obviously he can see that his team isn’t winning, and that his offense isn’t working. He has made the right choice. Coaches bound to be successful make changes when things aren’t working. Lovie had a valid reason for sticking with Grossman, be sure of that. After all, didn’t everyone think Grossman looked great in training camp? Until it was determined that Rex genuinely couldn’t duplicate those results on the regular-season field, he had to give him a shot. It’s a clear message from Lovie that he wants to win, even though benching Grossman is a blow to a great guy and a mark on Angelo’s draft record.
  3. Veterans. Sure, the O-line may turn out to be a mess. But, let’s remember something before we start calling for medication. This is the same offensive line from last year. Does anyone really believe that in just six months, this offensive line filled with veterans and pro-bowlers (and possibly two Hall of Famers in Kreutz and Brown) has gone from dominant to putrid? It’s hard to fathom, and when you find yourself stretching to believe the worst, you know you’re a Chicago fan. This offensive line is not as bad as it has looked; no way in heck. Is it old? Yes. It may have lost a step. And it is absolutely one major injury away from being a concern. But it is talented and experienced, and could be just one game from finding its form again.
  4. Wide Receivers. The wideouts looked B-A-D on Sunday night. Moose hasn’t caught enough balls and looks a bit slow. Hester, for whatever reason, is not appearing in the passing game. Berrian has a case of the dropsies, and a suddenly developed bad habit of not accepting blame. Bradley isn’t on the field. Olsen is just returned. And yet… Berrian has proven he can make a big catch and won’t continue to disappoint. Moose is a pro who has shown in his time in Chicago that he needs to be happy about his quarterback to really put himself out there (see Kyle Orton, 2004). Bradley is a run-after-the-catch receiver better suited to Griese’s style, as is Hester who currently isn’t ready to run the deep, over-the-middle routes. The receiving strength of using two tight end sets is much more applicable to Griese’s efficient, short-pass technique than Grossman’s air-it-out homage to home runs. This unit is strong, and most other teams in the NFL would give their left arm to have it. Don’t worry too much - if Griese is just 10% better than Grossman, these guys will shine.
  5. Depth, Depth, Depth (and more depth) . Angelo has built the Bears well. Maybe his first rounders are failing, and that is a concern; but, his work in the salary cap and the late rounds of the draft have given the Bears the luxury of having starting-quality depth at most positions. Very few teams can say that, and the ones who can are the elite teams in the NFL. Let’s say Griese isn’t the answer - the next guy in line is Kyle Orton, who won 10 games as a rookie and has just enough talent to probably duplicate the feat, and maybe even quiet all the people saying the Bears don’t have anyone for the future. Imagine that Vasher can’t come back - the Bears have Ricky Manning Jr., who could start on any other team in the NFL. Briggs, Harris and Brown cannot be replaced by anyone, no doubt. That just means that their replacements - all of whom are starting quality players - will bring down the level of the Bears defense from awe-inspiring to really darn good. If more injuries occur, yes it’s time to panic. But this team has the depth to keep marching on as long as the offense pulls its own weight.

So there you have it, Chicago. You can choose to let water drown your hopes, or you can fire them up again. Just remember this: if the Cubs have proven anything this year, it’s that the first month of a season doesn’t mean a whole lot. In May, everyone wrote off the Cubs for dead - now they’re almost in the playoffs.

The Bears are three games into a sixteen game season. They could go 14-2 if they win out.

Sure, reality is more like 9-7. But before you cry about that, remember that 9-7 would likely put them in the playoffs.

That’s why hope springs eternal.

Though other sportswriters in Chicago might still be unpacking their carpetbags, Dustin Beutin is a born and bred Chi-town sportswriter. Heading into the heart of the Big Ten (Purdue) broadened his sports views, and it was during the Jauron era that he lost the innocence of blind love for Chicago sports and began looking for an outlet to vent his frustration. A trip out west to USC for a Master’s in writing was only tolerable with high doses of ESPN and Dodgers games, though it gave him a respect for the national perspective. Now in the early stages of a sports-writing career, Dustin hopes to give back to the city of Chicago everything it gave him: opinions and heartburn.

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