Yesterday's NFC Championship Game appeared much closer by the score than the contest actually was. The Bears only lost by a touchdown but they were never really in the game mentally. It's just as well they lost, given the preparation the coaches made for the game. Couldn't chance a repeat of that in the Super Bowl, had they made it that far. Already lived through that 4 years ago.
The blame for the lackluster performance lies squarely on the shoulders of the head coach Lovie Smith. I would have really loved to have seen "former" applied to his title this morning. Maybe in a few days. Likely not, however. Go back 4 years ago, and last year, and the year before.
The defense - the unit that got the Bears to the finals - started off slow. They allowed Green Bay (who came onto the field prepared) to take the opening drive 84 yards on 7 plays and score. These 7 points - scored before some people were even in their seats - was the margin of victory. Why enter a game and start off slow? Where is the fire? Whose job is it to get the team ready? The players of course, but ultimately the head coach and his assistants.
A telling remark came from Lovie Smith before the game. He said "To win this game we need our stars to play like stars." Not a real great strategy. Poor actually. How about we need a great game plan (clearly was not as prepared as Don Capers and his Green Bay defense)? How about we need everyone to step up and play at their full potential? How about we need a total team performance? Didn't hear any of that - and didn't see it either.
Maybe the Bears were looking ahead to the Super Bowl, but their minds were as focused on winning this game as their opponent's and the final score reflected this.
We can say wait until next year, but with the same coach, can we really expect anything different?
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