It's time for the Bears to start acting — and talking — like winners.
Winners have a different way of thinking. And playing. And talking.
A perfect example came after the Blackhawks opened a second-round playoff series with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Minnesota on May 1, 2015. Moments after Teuvo Teravainen scored the game-winning goal, reporters walked into the dressing room and found a perturbed Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Yes, the Hawks prevailed. But the veteran defenseman wanted his teammates to understand that champions do not allow 3-goal deficits to disappear in less than 10 minutes — which is what occurred in the second period.
“It can't happen, especially not in the playoffs when you're up 3-0,” Hjalmarsson said. “It should be game over. ...
“It's not just the defensemen's (fault). It's a five-man group out there on the ice that can do a better job together.”
Six weeks later, the Hawks hoisted the Stanley Cup at the United Center, allowing just 1 goal in their final two wins over Tampa Bay.
Obviously, one must pick and choose the appropriate times to offer blunt assessments of teammates. Hjalmarsson had just watched Nashville storm back multiple times in the previous series and finally said, “Enough's enough.”
It's a road some Bears players and coaches should have gone down after Sunday's embarrassing 38-20 season-opening loss to Green Bay at Soldier Field. It was the Bears' 11th straight defeat overall, 10th consecutive division loss and ninth in a row to the Packers.
The offense looked inept, defenders lost guys in coverage, there were a slew of head-spinning penalties, and the coaches were outfoxed.
Yet, these were the harshest comments afterward:
• Wide receiver DJ Moore: “They just out-willed us today. That's the best way I can put it. ... We didn't bring the juice to the party.”
• Coach Matt Eberflus: “All the guys in there are sick to their stomachs — all the coaches, everybody. But we also know it's the first game and we've got to get better.”
• QB Justin Fields: “I mean, it sucks. Nobody's in good spirits. This one hurts — I'm not gonna lie to you. It definitely sucks, but in the grand scheme of things you've got to look at the bigger picture.
“It's Week 1. We have 16 games to go in the regular season. We have a lot of room to improve, a lot of room to grow. That's what we're gonna do.”
A few of these statements were OK, but it was the nonchalant way in which they were delivered that makes one wonder if everyone understands how difficult it is to create a winning culture. That's something the Bears haven't had since the late 1980s.
Amazing, isn't it? Four-plus decades of mostly mediocre to putrid results.
Turning it around starts with strong leadership and a sense of urgency, both of which have been seriously lacking at Halas Hall.
It's time to stop treating everyone with kid gloves.
That's what happened when Vince Lombardi took over a moribund Packers franchise in 1959. He took nearly the same group that went 1-10-1 the previous season and molded them into a unit that shocked the Bears in the season opener and went on to a 7-5 campaign. How he accomplished this remarkable feat is outlined in a fantastic book, “That First Season,” by John Eisenberg. I highly recommend it.
Now, look, we all know the way coaches speak to players has drastically changed over the past 20-30 years. But these Bears — just like those Packers — need a serious wake-up call.
Enough's enough.
It's time for everyone associated with the Bears to start thinking, playing and — yes — talking differently.
Like winners.