Memo to Bears: You are out of it
SEATTLE -- The Bears didn't Sunday and once again their opponents did.
That explains why the Seahawks won 30-23 and why the Bears essentially are out of the playoff race regardless their denials.
"No doubt," Bears quarterback Rex Grossman said, "we're (still) competing for a championship."
Of what? Of a local park district pee-wee league? Of a canasta contest at the neighborhood nursing home?
"We're not out of it," Grossman insisted, "until somebody tells us we're out of it."
Wait, then. Allow me a few moments to adjust my grim reaper costume. OK, let's get to it.
Fellas, you're out of it. You are partly because you have a 4-6 record but mostly because you're playing like a 4-6 team.
To reach the postseason the Bears would have to win at least five of their final six games and maybe all of them.
And to play in the NBA I'd have to grow another couple of feet -- and maybe a few more arms, too.
"We were in a hole before we got here," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "But the reality is we're still in it."
Er, no, not really. Oh, sure, mathematically the Bears are still in it depending on what the definition of "it" is. Mine is that they're in a free fall with nowhere to go but down.
So it's time to stick a sock in this team's yap and a tag on its toe.
Maybe that's why it took so long for a question to be asked after Grossman walked into a postgame interview room.
What's there to ask when the Bears have a quarterback problem, Grossman sticks a Band-Aid on it by playing pretty well in his first start since September, and the Bears' defense plays like it never saw a forward pass before?
Let's face it, folks. If the Bears' defense plays well next week at home against Denver, the offense likely will forget which direction the goal line is.
If the offense moves the ball, it won't be able to finish drives. If Cedric Benson runs the ball well early, he'll hardly see it later. If Brian Urlacher says anything, it'll probably be gibberish anyway.
It has been that kind of season and is destined to remain so.
"You gotta keep fighting, keep trying," cornerback Peanut Tillman said as if to convince himself.
Well, fighting and trying would be nice. Making plays at critical times of the game would be nicer.
You know, like the Seahawks did and the Bears didn't.
When Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck fumbled near midfield, the Bears didn't convert the takeaway into points. When Grossman fumbled near midfield, the Seahawks converted the takeaway into a field goal.
When Seattle had a fourth-and-1, Hasselbeck faked a handoff and creatively threw a pass into the flat for a 19-yard gain. When the Bears had a fourth-and-1 they predictably handed the ball to Benson for no gain in the middle of the line.
As smart as the coaching staff was last season, that's how dumb it is this season. As well as the players played last season, that's how poorly they play this season.
That's how a team goes from having all the answers to a team for which there aren't even any more questions.
Some years you do, and some years you just plain don't.
mimrem@dailyherald.com