December 22, 2014: A for Effort

I’m not sure if it is just me, but it looked like the Bears actually tried for the most part on Sunday vs Detroit.  At the end of the day it wasn’t good enough, but I could get behind an effort like that.  I would expect an effort like that every week.

Is it just that we’ve watch uninspired play all year long that any sign of life catches my interest?  I’m not sure, but that has to be a part of it.  Another part of it was the QB play.  Not saying Jimmy Claussen is the answer, but he’s everything Jay Cutler is not.

Claussen is a typical Bears QB; he’s the type of guy we’re used to seeing behind center, and I’m not saying that’s a good thing.  He’d be a backup on most teams, and was on this team, until the franchise was benched this past week.  He is the exact opposite of the franchise, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.  Listening to Trestman talk about him before the game, he talked about his great footwork; something Jay totally lacks.  He talked about his grasp of the playbook and ability to run this offense; something which Jay appears to be lacking.  He talked about his above average arm strength, which would be a knock on Claussen, but a strength of Cutler’s.  What I saw on the field was more telling…

Here was a guy who walked up to the line of scrimmage with a purpose.  I think we actually see the Bears run a little hurry up, which I can’t ever remember them doing with Cutler, because he just moves too slow prior to the play.  I saw Claussen show a lot of emotion… something I would expect to see from our QB, our leader.  He was shown high fiving every one of his offensive lineman after the TD; not sure I saw Cutler ever do that.  At the end, when he got his bell rung, he popped up and was ready to fight; more fight than I’ve seen out of Cutler for a long time.  Heck, even when his benching was announced this week, Jay was like whatever.  Claussen seemed like the leader on that field, even though he was a backup, playing in his first game; that wasn’t just my Cutler negative bias causing me to see that, was it?

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Detroit looked sloppy, that doesn’t surprise me.  In a year where we’ve gotten blown out left and right, this team, this playoff team, barely beat us and our backup QB.  They turned it over.  They played dirty.  They are going to get their asses kicked in the playoffs… just you wait and see.  11 wins, 12 wins… it doesn’t matter; they’ll be outta there, and I’ll be smiling.

As far as the Bears go, what did we really expect today?  I didn’t think they’d win, or win next week for that matter, but… I have to say I was satisfied with the effort.  I am a silver lining guy, that looks for anything positive, and for one week late in this 2014 train wreck of a season, I saw the Bears try.  I’m not sure what all the reasons were for this, but it definitely didn’t hurt that Mr. Nonchalant was sitting on the bench.  At the end of the day, having our franchise QB sitting on the bench did not factor into the outcome, and this is both a good and a bad thing.  It’s a bad thing because we committed to him long term.  It’s a good thing because maybe we’ll have the balls and find a way to move on without him going forward.  Maybe he was the problem all along… at least that’s what the coaching staff will try to sell you.

I love how FOX showed Cutler hugging Claussen coming out of the locker room; staged for sure.  I also loved how they panned to Cutler after both Bears TDs.  Cutler has been the center of attention throughout his Bears career, and he will remain so as long as he is here.  I hope that’s not much longer.  I hope it’s not that much longer for the entire coaching staff and GM either.  I love the effort today, but it’s too little too late.  It made me feel good for a minute, but it doesn’t change what needs to happen here…  8 days until the firing and the busy Bears offseason begins.