Once again the Lions snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and now the Vikings are sitting pretty at the top of the NFC North.  The Bears at this point are relying on the Vikings losing twice, and the Bears winning out. Depending on how the “Williams Brothers” ruling comes down, and given their history, that scenario has a better chance of happening then you might initially think.

Though as I’ve said before, I have a love hate relationship with the Bears this year. In fact, let’s just go through it.

Loves:

Matt Forte – Trading away Thomas Jones still makes me sad, and had Matt Forte not worked out, the RB situation this year could have been an absolute disaster (we saw what happened in Detroit when Kevin Jones was the consistent starter)  Forte is a stud. He handles more of the offensive workload then any other player in the league, and he’s a rookie.  Imagine how much more dangerous he would be if we had a couple wide receivers, so that he didn’t have to be our leading one?  I am a little scared of wearing him down, as this coaching staff has a wonderful ability to ruin talent (more on that coming).

Kyle Orton – The last few games since his injury have been less than impressive, but he’s really only had one bad game this whole year, the Minnesota game.  And even in that one he wasn’t the reason we lost.  He has gotten better every game, and who knows what he’ll be able to do with some weapons.  I would like to see the Bears still get a QB in the draft (maybe 4th-ish round), but I think we have a pretty solid QB for a little while here, which is pretty great to see.

Israel Idonije – Talk about a no name guy who still doesn’t get any credit, but plays his absolute heart out every game.  Thanks Tommie Harris for being inconsistent and a jackass, so that Israel could show his stuff this year.

Being wrong – I’ll admit it, I was very wrong about a few things this year.  The Bears were a far better team than I thought they were, Orton turned out to be a legitimate QB, and we showed some signs of life all season (off and on).  Whether or not that’s worse than just being all out terrible, I don’t know, but I guess I’ll take it.

Hates:

This coaching staff – They can do almost nothing creative, they still have struggled to make changes on the fly, they’ve messed up Devin Hestor, and on top of it all, when we have a miserable game, they still don’t own up, and we get meaningless drivel from Lovie that makes me wanna puke.

Wide Receiving Core/ The Devin Hester experiment – Devin Hester will never be a number 1 receiver.  Plain and simple.  Stop living in a fantasy, Lovie.  Hester is a brilliant #3 receiver, and we honestly shouldn’t expect him to ever be anything more than that.  And Brandon Lloyd, just go away.  I hated this move in the off-season, and I’m seeing the clear reasons why I hated this move.  He cares only for himself, and that’s it.  Dump him.  If this team does not go out and get a serious #1 Wide Receiver in the off-season, I say we all charge Halas Hall and electro shock all of the front office.

My expectations of this Defense – It’s just not that great anymore.  We’re like #1 or 2 in the league for turnovers, but that’s about all we’ve got, we can’t stop anyone.  If I didn’t have the expectations I have, I wouldn’t be nearly as disappointed.  I hate seeing Urlacher age before my eyes, and I pray he has a Ray Lewis type bounceback, because in his top form, he’s just an amazing player to watch.  Tommie Harris has turned into a giant mouth and an invisible player this year, Ogunleye seems like he’s lost a step, as has Tillman, Vasher – I don’t know what happened to him, and Mike Brown has stayed healthy, but hasn’t really had much of an impact.  The only real bright spots on the D this year have been Lance Briggs, Idonije, and the surpring potential of Kevin Payne and Corey Graham.  And it’s less that I think these players are bad, I’m just depressed that they might be going downhill, and I don’t want them to.  So come on Urlacher, Harris, Tillman, Vasher!  Bounce Back!

New Orleans @ Chicago

All that said, I think tonight turns into a little bit of a shootout, even with the bad weather (which won’t be bad, just cold), and the Bears can’t hold with the Saints in a shootout.

I just got back from my mom’s heart surgery, and I’ll be watching the game with my dad and my (virtual) uncle Ned.  Bears, I know exactly what you could do to brighten my evening.  🙂