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| Bears vs Packers |
No, McCown didn’t win his first NFL start in four years. But the more surprising, and perhaps significant, development to emerge from the Bears perspective in a 35-21 defeat was that their quarterback contributed more to the solution than the problem.
It has been 36 days that have felt like 36 months since the Bears have been able to say that. After five straight losses, it represents incremental progress, but it is something. And for a team that began the fourth quarter to a chorus of "Bears Still Suck!" that was all they had worth remembering.
You know that Christmas when you bought every gift the wrong size, drank too much eggnog and insulted the in-laws before breaking their fine china? This one was worse for the Bears.
There is no NFC tiebreaker for moral victories by a backup quarterback, and the Packers officially eliminated the Bears from the playoffs, as expected. The Packers remain the Packers, which is to say Aaron Rodgers continues to play at a high enough level to make their defensive lapses forgivable. Rodgers carved up the Bears secondary like a Christmas turkey in throwing five touchdown passes.
The gap between the Bears and Packers is much wider than the 200 miles that separate the franchises. In 2011 the Packers beat the Bears four times. According to Lovie Smith’s math, that’s one loss every quarter of the year to the Bears’ biggest rival. Will any team be happier to see 2012 than the Bears?
So, realistically, the Bears left home for the holidays looking for respectability against the NFL’s best team as much as a victory. They found it in the unlikeliest of places _ behind center.
I expected the guy who was teaching gym class six weeks ago to get an education that would cost the Bears at least four turnovers. The only thing in common I figured Rodgers and McCown would have was that both are right-handed.
Instead McCown matched Rodgers’ moxie while showing uncommon and unexpected poise. He slowed the game down in a way Caleb Hanie never did.
I know McCown threw two interceptions. But the first was a result of Clay Matthews making an All-Pro play more than McCown making a bad read. The second interception bounced off Earl Bennett’s fingertips.
Overall, McCown stood comfortably amid pressure and made professional throws. Whereas in the pocket Hanie looked like somebody who couldn’t find his car keys, McCown dropped back knowing where he wanted to go. He displayed mettle diving into a pile to recover Kahlil Bell’s second-quarter fumble and in the fourth refusing to quit.
When McCown dunked the ball over the crossbar after scoring on a two-point conversion, it showed his exuberance as much as his athleticism. It showed a spark the Bears have lacked.
He professionalized the position the way the Bears expected of Hanie. He played well enough to earn another start and an invitation to Bourbonnais. He gave the offense respectability because the Bears gave him a smart, safe game plan.
Example: On third-and-4 from the Packers 13 late in the second quarter, Mike Martz called for a handoff to Garrett Wolfe impersonator Armando Allen. Allen lost 4 yards, and surely someone back in Chicago threw a shoe at a new plasma TV.
But it was hard to criticize the conservative approach when that approach was why the Bears stayed in the game as long as they did. After Bell carried for the sixth straight time on the opening series, I wondered if Martz had gotten stuck in the elevator on his way up to the coaching booth.
Can’t help but wonder how differently the previous four weeks might have unfolded if Martz had played it as safe when Hanie replaced Cutler. Of course the other relevant question likely to nag Chicagoans will be asked often Monday: What if the Bears had accelerated McCown’s learning and turned to him when Hanie struggled against the Chiefs? Or the Broncos and Seahawks?
Can Smith or Martz ever pick the right backup quarterback at the right time? Why again did the Bears defer after winning the coin flip and willingly invite Rodgers and the Packers offense onto the field first to make the hole for the Bears deeper than it was when they arrived? Will the Bears ever beat the Packers again?
As the Bears bused back to Halas Hall, questions outnumbered answers as they dreaded one more game. For a change this month, they weren’t about the quarterback.
