Smashmouth? Yes, Bears did suffer just that

No, sorry, the Bears aren't who we thought they were.

They are so not that, somebody should have checked their DNA before, during and after Sunday's 21-16 loss to the Giants.

The defeat didn't mathematically eliminate the Bears from NFC playoff contention, but you would have to come up with some newfangled math to think they still have a chance.

"We talked about having to win out," Bears coach Lovie Smith said after his team dropped to 5-7. "The tournament had started. So it's disappointing to lose that way."

Yes, it is disappointing to be outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter and turn a 9-point lead into a 5-point loss.

But it's more disappointing -- man, how many times is that word going to be used on this day? -- to lose the way the Bears played.

Win or not, the Bears are supposed to be the type of team their fans are accustomed to. You know, a team featuring an irresistible running force on offense and is an immovable object on defense.

Er, no, not so much anymore.

Smith insists the Bears are a running team from the time they get off the bus. Well, what bus is that, a magic bus in which passengers exit in an altered state of mind?

I'm going to throw some numbers at you now, which I normally prefer not to do but can't avoid today.

The Bears had the ball for 75 plays against New York -- 23 runs, twice as many passes and 6 sacks.

Meanwhile, the Giants had the ball for 9 fewer plays and ran it 14 more times than the Bears did.

In other words, the Giants' offense out-Beared the Bears' alleged offense, winning the rushing statistics with 175 yards to 68 and a 4.7-yard average to 3.1.

Then there's the current defense of a franchise with a legacy of Bill George and Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary, of Doug Atkins and Dan Hampton and Buddy Ryan.

Those are defensive bodies and minds that are at their best in the late going with the outcome in the balance.

When that time arrived in Sunday's second half with the Bears owning leads of 10-7, 13-7 and 16-7, the defense became more troubled than the singer Amy Winehouse, who always is described as "the troubled Amy Winehouse."

In the final 22 minutes, the Bears allowed the Giants' offense to drive 74, 75 and a game-winning 77 yards.

Maybe the Bears would have done a better job of stopping New York if their offense would have held the ball a little longer.

"We were (leading) and we wanted to control the ball," center Olin Kreutz said. "It was up to us run the clock down."

Instead, it was the Giants who ran the ball up the field and passed it up the field and overall beat the Bears the way the Bears are supposed to beat opponents.

So the Bears not only couldn't run the ball very well, they didn't try all that much. Nor did they play decent defense when it mattered. The Giants categorically won both those categories.

The Bears really do have enough disappointment to go around -- the loss to the Giants, the inability to win two straight games this season, the last-place standing in the NFC North, the dwindling playoff hope …

But what's really disappointing is the Bears can lose a smashmouth game -- meaning one in which running the ball and playing defense are critical -- but they shouldn't ever get smashed in the mouth more than the other guy does.

Sunday they were, and too much of this season they have been.

mimrem@dailyherald.com