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That one hurt

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* All this talk about Cutler’s poor performance and early exit misses the real point: It’s pretty tough to win when your entire team (including coaches) sleep-stumbles through the first third of the game.

Play calling? Horrifyingly unimaginative.

Defense? Nonexistent.

Receivers? Not open.

Offensive line? Pathetic.

Special teams? Stopped.

Frankly, I would rather just forget yesterday even happened and go on with my life.

You?

…Adding… Class move by Gov. Pat Quinn…

Before the game, the governor hosted six veterans and military service members for lunch on the near South Side at Connie’s Pizza.

The service members praised Quinn for his work on behalf of veterans, and he responded in kind.

“I think the family of Illinois is united behind the Bears today, but I think it’s also important that we remember those who can’t be at this game. They can’t even be at home watching the game; they’re deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world,” Quinn said.

The governor said the Bears allowed him to buy two tickets for the game and he donated those to two service members at the luncheon.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:13 am

Comments

Pitchers and catchers report soon.

Comment by Leave a light on George Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:14 am
Agreed
Yep
Clearly
Indeed
No doubt
Forgetting it now thank you.

Comment by Bitterman Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:19 am
The 4th quarter was worth watching. Before that must have been warmups.

Comment by John Bambenek Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:20 am
What happened yesterday?

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:22 am
Cutler’s absence undoutedly hurt the Bears, and the fans let him know about it. However, it’s not like the rest of the team did their jobs. I gotta think that Cutler’s injury was/is somewhat serious….he’s a competitive guy that wants to play every down, especially in the NFC Championship game. Cut him some slack, at least until we hear the injury report.

Comment by unspun Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:22 am
Worst single moment: Urlacher trying to run around, rather than through, the QB on his interception return. And he still got tackled.

Comment by Jasper Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:22 am
Yeah, this wasn’t the quarterback’s fault. Lackluster play by the O-line was maybe the biggest issue. Of course, the Green Bay defense played very well.

Comment by Deep South Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:24 am
I agree with Jasper. On that play Urlacher should have tried to knock the stuffing out of Rodgers, however you can’t blame him for trying to get to the end zone because the defense needed to get us points.

Comment by Siriusly Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:28 am
The best part of the game was that my beer stayed extremely cold.

Comment by hank Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:28 am
On the bright side, all those Republicans can go back to hating All Things Chicago again.

Comment by Jasper Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:28 am
the offensive line has been pathetic for awhile now. the bears have to draft real lineman who can play in the nfl. mike tice did a great job piecing together a line but that won’t get you through the playoffs.

and i agree with deep south, credit is due to the packers, who put together two good games against the bears in the last month…

Comment by bored now Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:29 am
It’s hard not to think of the “if only” moments. The biggest one for me is, if only the Bears beat the Packers in the last regular season game and knocked them out of the playoffs. But I guess with the way things yesterday, someone else would have beaten the Bears.
Go WHITE SOX!

Comment by Because I say so Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:30 am
Until the fourth quarter, Urlacher seemed to be the only Bear doing anything worthy of the playoffs. I’m still miffed he got stopped by Rodgers, but, really, that’s why he’s not on offense.

Comment by Dan Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:30 am
Cutler must be hurt. There is no way at this level he didn’t want to play.

While losing is disappointing, I think most of us were surprised to be in this game at all so the season must be considered a success.

More importantly, the Bears are a team on the uptick and should continue to improve next year.

Comment by What's in a name? Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:30 am
well said

Comment by FredformerAnon Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:31 am
If the Bears had flat out dominated the season, I would be more upset. Instead, some weeks they stumbled their way to victory, caught opponents when they had players out, and got the benefit of many calls.

Now that the Bears season is over, all I can say is, pitchers and catchers report Feb. 17, Go White Sox!

Comment by Concerned Voter Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:32 am
Kind of reminded me of the Quinn campaign, except for the final result. Bad decisions, dithering, poor game plan, late rally.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:35 am
Kind of reminded me of the Quinn campaign, except for the final result. Bad decisions, dithering, poor game plan, late rally.

Ha… thats a great comparison.

Comment by dave Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:36 am
Lovie and Angelo need to go. They Bears draft picks have been awful for the last 10 years. That’s why we have an offensive line that is 90 years old or back-ups for any other team. You can’t pay all the dough for a quarterback like cutler then not give him an O line. We also have horrible receivers.

Comment by View from the Cheap Seats Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:36 am
Poor coaching decisions. Why is Todd Collins a 2nd string QB? The guy is just brutal! Call a timeout in the 4th quarter to call an end-around to Earl Bennett….EARL BENNETT? You’ve got to be kidding me!

Comment by Stones Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:38 am
Twitter says that that Cutler tore his MCL. That is not an injury that you “go ahead and play on.” Heck, he isn’t God’s gift to football.

You can’t expect backup QB’s to warm the bench all season and then, go in and do anything. Play them, use them, save the #1.

Comment by PPHS Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:41 am
What was with the timeout and then calling a reverese to our slowest WR to the short side of the field on 3rd down of the final drive? Terrible, the fourth down play did not make any sense either. Give it to your best offensive player (Forte) and see what he can do, he was having a good game. As my Mother would say after seeing my report card - Disappointing.

Comment by Obamas Puppy Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:47 am
Sometimes, you watch a game with certain expectations and what you think will develop on the field never happens. I really thought that the Bears might receive a boost from one of their most valuable players, Robby Gould. As it turned out, he never was a factor on the field, apart from kicking two extra points. The Bears seemed to stall on offense close to mid-field several times, but never managed to get within safe kicking distance to attempt field goals.

I did not think much of the Bears after the preseason ended and the team looked awfully shaky when the regular season began. The officials stole one game from Detroit for an early Chicago victory. As the year progressed, the Bears seemed to feast upon mediocre teams that they had the good fortune to play at precisely the correct time when these opponents were struggling.

A friend of mine nailed it on Saturday when he said that if Cutler failed to perform or went down, the Bears would be in serious trouble. Who were these guys anyway? While Haine showed flashes of talent as a substitute quarterback (his interceptions were excusable — he was forcing passes in a desperate bid to make things happen), Collins looked totally clueless. In one camera shot, I saw Collins on the sideline reading the Bears playbook. I mean, C’mon! It’s the NFC Championship Game and your number two quarterback (no longer, I suspect) does not know the #$*%@ playbook?! Once again, this suggests to me that the McCaskey gang went cheap on personnel again.

I told several people that the Bears needed to win it all this year because the team is probably going to slump in the near future. Some of the most talent players are all a year older and nearing the down sides of their careers. Some can still play, but they will be older and slower. For the 2011 team, it would be an accomplishment to be in the running for the NFC Wildcard. I do not see this same team competing for the division title next year unless some big roster changes are made.

One of my concerns, given how the Bears run their front office, is that they award new contracts or contract extensions to everyone from Lovie Smith on down for the team’s performance in 2010 and end up stuck with some of these people as the team begins its downward spiral. Chicago fans will end up waiting a few years for roster changes to be made since McCaskey will not eat contractual mistakes and the fans will have to suffer watching some over the hill players.

Aaron Rodgers did not have an especially good day, but it was enough. This game reminded me of the Green Bay victory over Philadelphia that was sealed by a late interception also. Both games could have gone either way had a play or two developed differently.

I suppose the low point of the day for Chicago was when Hester looked to have been tackled by his own man on a return or when he slipped and fell on the crummy Soldier Field turf on another kick. When will the Bears insist that the Chicago Park District hire some professionals, like the groundskeepers from the White Sox, to maintain the field? The grass at Soldier Field is a joke.

Brian Urlacher being tackled by Aaron Rodgers after making an interception was another ugly play. Urlacher would have had a “Pick Six” otherwise and the Bears needed those points.

Thanks to Rich for allowing us to vent!

Comment by Honest Abe Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:47 am
Kudos to Quinn, Rich hit it on the head it was a class move. Who would have ended up in those seats in Blago was still here?

I am sure Blago had seats the last time the Bears got this far, does anybody know who used them? (He probably didn’t pay for them either.)

Comment by What's in a name? Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:52 am
Would really like to see what would have happened if the refs would have correctly overturned the INT by Cutler at the end of the first half. Either the Bears score or Cutler goes down with the knee in worse shape.

Comment by Logical Thinker Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:56 am
I knew with the opening drive the Packers gave. It was all over for the Bears. That’s what it is all about, the better team winning, not propaganda! Go Packers

Comment by doug dobmeyer Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:58 am
1 for 10 on third down conversions. After all these years they reverted to that?

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:59 am
They did better after Cutler left. I’d rather have Haney in there. He did Ok. He wasn’t calling the plays. Martz is a little too smart for his own good. I’m glad they were even playing in the game. I had them picked for 8 and 8.

Comment by Bill Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:00 am
Stones nailed it, the timeout and end-around to Bennett on Third and 3 at a critical juncture was probably the worst play call of the season. It had no chance, the Packers had the line stacked, Bennett isn’t exactly a speed merchant, and they then Hanie throws the pick.

Comment by Thoughts... Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:05 am
Yeah, Doug, that Packer team is an offensive juggernaut. What did they score yesterday against that weak Bear effort, 60, 70 points?

It was a joke that the Bears were still even in the ballgame in the final minutes.

The Steelers are going to smoke them.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:09 am
The injury to Jay didn’t bother me that much. QBs get injured in playoff games and don’t come back in, just ask Tom Brady and Carson Palmer. But having a terrible backup (Collins) and having him throw three straight times rather than running it really irked me. Also, our lack of talent at WR showed yesterday. Yes, Jay overthrew Hester a few times, but the fact that Knox didn’t fight for the underthrown interception at the end of the first half is something that will always haunt the Bears until they get talented WRs. Knox just ran a straight line and didn’t even attempt to fight for it.

Comment by Davey Boy Smithe Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:13 am
I can understand not being able to play because you were hurt, but Cutler did NOTHING to help the backups in the game. He sat on the warming bench and sulked. Nice Leadership.

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:29 am
Pitchers and catchers report in three weeks.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:34 am
As a Packer fan, it is nice to not have absurd facebook comments coming from Bears fans.

As for Cutler, he played a terrible first half. I imagine he was really injured, and Hanie said this morning that he was helping him thoughout the second half.

I would blame Martz more than anyone. The Packers D is not good at defending the run, and they only ran Forte I believe 15 times. Should have tried to grind it out more in the first.

That being said… Go Pack Go!

Comment by UISer Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:35 am
The whole Cutler thing is an unknown, and it is ill advised to comment on until the real facts are known. However that being said there are cases where QB’s from other teams in that Division have played with a fractured foot and other like injuries. I think that was the standard the Bears fans were looking for yesterday.

I do agree that it appeared as though the Bears coaching staff came ill prepared for the game. This is the second time that a time out was called that interrupted what might have been the beginning of a drive. And then not to call a time out with a rookie QB on the field when they were so close to scoring again.

The defense played very well in the third quarter and prevented the game from being a total blow out. But there are four quarters in a game and you have to play them all.

Other than Urlacher, in the third and fourth quarter; Marinelli, through most of the game; and Hanie,through his whole time on the field; I did not see the emotion I expected to see in a NFC championship game from the Bears.

Comment by Irish Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:37 am
What I took from the game going forward was that Hanie has potential. It appeared to me that he moved the ball and accomplished more during the time he was in than Cutler or Collins. Yes. He was intercepted; but, the last time, he was under the gun and had to force it. It was too far with too little time to run so he had to pass and he had to pass quickly.

Classy move by Quinn. I don’t agree with how he’s done everything; but I do have much more respect for him as a person than for any of his recent predecessors.

I’m not a Steelers fan; but agree that the Packers need to bring their best game if they hope to have a chance against them.

Comment by Logic not emotion Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:39 am
Horrible call on end around in the 4th quarter on 3rd and 2. Collins as the back-up? Don’t the coaches watch these guys throw the ball in practice? Unbelievable. Regarding Cutler, he looked like he was quitting before halftime. He had his head down most of the time in the 2nd quarter and looked beat. I don’t know the extent of his injury, but he sure didn’t look that interested before the injury and just sat on the bench and sulked after the “injury”. He reminds me of Jeff George - a lot of talent, but just can’t get it done. Trade him now, while you can still get something of value in return - hopefully a good offensive lineman or a stud, go-to receiver.

Comment by Holdingontomywallet Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:48 am
Good point UISer
“The Packers D is not good at defending the run, and they only ran Forte I believe 15 times. Should have tried to grind it out more in the first.”

Looking at the stats, Bears ran 38 passing plays, 24 rushing plays (which counts 2 runs by Cutler and 1 by Hanie). They should have been more balanced.

Comment by Concerned Voter Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:51 am
My biggest regret of the season is that we did just well enough to get stuck with Lovie for 2-4 more years! UGH> I felt he should have been fired and I still do. Everyone is nailing it. That 3rd down call was one of the worst I’ve seen this year, and I’ve seen some STINKERS.

That said, I do give Lovie credit for swallowing his ego (as opposed to what he did with Ron Rivera) and bringing in all those ex head coaches for key positions. That was clearly a key to this team’s turnaround. But game decisions? He sucks!

Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:54 am
LeCharles Bentley evaluated Jay Cutler’s performance online for FanHouse. He did not jump into the injury/toughness controversy. He said that he thought that Cutler is a good quarterback, but he seems to be lacking in the leadership qualities necessary to elevate the game of his team mates on offense. Bentley pointed out that whenever things are not going well, Cutler oftentimes appears to be sullen and silent as he roams the sidelines. His body language sometimes projects an air of defeatism.

I think that there is some merit to those comments. The ability to lead is what separates some good to great quarterbacks from others who are technically proficient but incapable of winning the big games.

As mentioned earlier, Chicago could of knocked Green Bay out of the postseason by winning the last regular season game, but the team played poorly at Lambeau Field. It was disappointing for all the hype that this NFC Title Game received that the Bears never seemed to be as fired up as the Packers. Lackluster is the best way to describe Chicago’s two latest meetings with Green Bay. I have to give the Packers credit for advancing to the Super Bowl by winning three straight road games during the playoffs. That is not an easy task.

Okay, on to hockey, basketball and baseball. I am done with this topic.

Comment by Honest Abe Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 10:55 am
Miserable, just miserable.

Martz….fire him. bad play calling, especially on the last drive. that poor kid Hanie did not deserve to be given that nonsense. sure, he had difficulties but I actually think he was gutty in his performance.

Lovie….no extension, should leave now too. Martz works for you, not the other way Lovie. You saw Martz call almost exactly the same nonsense a couple of weeks ago on a closing drive and you watched him do it again. no sense whatsoever. and you let him put Collins in and that is just a disaster.

Angelo…not only fired, but perp walked in front of season ticket holders. No O line, I could hire a better O line. Performance of the OLine in the Seattle game is no indication of success. I’ll bet Maine South would do well against Seattle. No backup QB, not this season, not last season. No good QB coach….Clements, hello…..and no, Collins in as backup does not qualify as a QB coach. And, no, signing JPep does not qualify as a triumph to get you to continue on, Jerry. You paid him lots of money, so what? if any third grader had the money they would know to hire JPep as a first move going into the season. Angelo is a disaster.

and note to the fans burning Cutler’s jersey….you are idiots. the aftermath, calling him out in sexist terms, the blamestorm, the accusations, totally idiotic. Be critical of his play in the first half, sure, but anything else is not appropriate. I’m angry too. it’s cold, we lost to the freakin’ Packers. it was a year anyone could win especially with the Cheatriots out. but be normal in your ire.

Dunn……. with the Bears….moving on to the Sox.

Comment by amalia Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 11:00 am
“Angelo…not only fired, but perp walked in front of season ticket holders.”

Best comment on the board…

Comment by Holdingontomywallet Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 11:05 am
Howie Long hit it on the head in the post
game comments. If Jay Cutler wants to be considered a star quarterback in the NFL he needs to change his attitude. He has the skills and talent but he is not his team’s leader and he has to be. Instead of sitting on the sidelines sulking he should have been up and trying to lift his team to play better, cheering them on. I’s no wonder that the team had no life; if you looked at the sidelines all you saw were deadpan expressions. There was no life!

Compare that to what you see from Favre, or Rodgers, or Payton Manning. (I think Eli has the same problem as Jay and it shows in the team’s play.) Look at the enthusiaism Jim McMahon brought to the game. QB’s have to be able to motivate their team and Jay does not have that.

Comment by Irish Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 11:08 am
@HOTMWallet…merci.

and thanks to rich for the forum to vent.

and oops to me cause I forgot to say props to Quinn on that ticket move with the vets. maybe a group should go up to Wiscy and help with the food bank.

Comment by amalia Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 11:10 am
Kept waiting for Hester to bust one. Never happened. Kind of like State govt.-wishing for miracles.

Comment by Soccertease Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 11:12 am
OK, people, we have several other stories posted. Let’s get back to work.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 11:15 am
amen.

Comment by Ahoy Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 4:22 pm
Sorry, one more thought….hate the result, but love the idea of Pat Quinn working in some Wisconsin soup kitchen for losing the bet.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 24, 11 @ 9:42 pm