Imrem: Playoffs still so much about the Bears
It was difficult to watch an NFL game over the weekend without pondering why these teams are in the playoffs and the Bears aren't.
You watch Joe Flacco and see what Jay Cutler isn't. Teammate Terrell Suggs says of Flacco, "He's just Joe Cool," while so many around here say of Cutler, "He's just Jay Fool."
You read a headline out of Charlotte proclaiming, "Imperfect Panthers continue to find ways to win," and lament that the timing never was right for Carolina's Ron Rivera to become the Bears' head coach.
If Virginia McCaskey was ticked off watching the Bears during the regular season, how much more ticked off was she watching these games?
Taking them one at a time, here are some more items to wonder about.
• PANTHERS 27, CARDINALS 16 - The two head coaches in this one were Carolina's Ron Rivera and Arizona's Bruce Arians.
Rivera was a linebacker on the Bears' only Super Bowl champion and defensive coordinator on their only other Super Bowl appearance.
Yet Bears management and ownership allowed head coach Lovie Smith to dump Rivera after the 2006 season.
The Panthers made the playoffs with a losing record only because Rivera held them together through considerable adversity and now they have won four straight.
The Bears chose Marc Trestman over Arians, who made the playoffs with a third-string quarterback - enough said.
Who could blame Mrs. McCaskey for being ticked off seeing these two coaches in the playoffs?
• RAVENS 30, STEELERS 17 - This unfriendly rivalry is what the Bears and Packers should be as just about every season Pittsburgh and Baltimore slug it out at the top of the AFC North.
"The organizations are so like-minded … it's a recipe for fireworks," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says.
The Steelers and Ravens are everything the Packers are and the Bears can only hope to become: Aggressive and physical on defense with a winning quarterback on offense.
That's enough to tick off anyone around here.
• COLTS 26, BENGALS 10 - Cincinnati director of player personnel Duke Tobin quarterbacked a Hersey High team to an Illinois state football championship and his father, Bill, was the talent evaluator who helped build the Bears' Super Bowl XX champions.
Duke Tobin has identified the talent that made the Bengals a perennial winner. The downside is that they haven't won in the playoffs.
If because of that Tobin doesn't do much for you as a Bears general-manager candidate, how about Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton as a head-coaching candidate?
If the Bears are going to hire first-timers to fill their vacancies, as they usually do, they could do worse than these two emerging stars.
Virginia McCaskey will really be ticked off if the Bears do do worse.
• COWBOYS 24, LIONS 20 - Maybe it was the playing surface, but it sure looked like these two teams played faster on both sides of the ball than the Bears ever do.
No wonder the Bears went 0-3 against them this season … but the news isn't all bad.
The Bears can take comfort in the persistent impression that the Lions insist on choking away opportunities.
The Bears can't beat the Packers in the NFC North so would face double trouble if the Lions were all they should be.
But, no, the Lions still aren't, so maybe Mrs. McCaskey can smile at least a little over that.