Rozner: Bears incapable of boring Bucs football
For most of the last six years, the Bears have ignored the simplest of football tenets.
Keep your draft picks, build an offensive line, develop a four-man rush, find a quarterback who can think and chew gum at the same time, and you have yourself a chance to win a Super Bowl in a league so bad that rebuilds take a season or two if your general manager is willing to be boring.
Yes, boring.
That's Tampa in a nutshell. Boring. The Bucs are also Super Bowl champs, but wow are they boring.
They drafted an offensive tackle in the first round last year, Tristan Wirfs, at No. 13. It's not exciting, not like Kevin White or Adam Shaheen exciting.
It's boring.
The Bears in the last four years have taken one offensive lineman (James Daniels) in the first four rounds. But hey, Shaheen garnered the Bears a lot of exciting press.
Meanwhile, Wirfs came in and started Day 1 and was brilliant, part of the reason Tom Brady was kept so clean Sunday night when Brady picked apart the Chiefs in boring Brady style.
On offense, run the ball. Play physical. Use play action. Get the ball out quickly. Move it down the field and score points.
No triple-reverse, toss-to-the-halfback, throw-to-the-QB excitement.
Boring.
On defense, pressure the quarterback with a four-man rush, double team Tyreek Hill (sometimes triple) and make the best player in football, Patrick Mahomes, look average as he's running for his life.
Boring.
Matches their coach, 68-year-old Bruce Arians, who's less about postgame dancing than he is about making sure his players do what they're supposed to do.
"He leans on us. We do what he wants," said linebacker Devin White. "He holds us accountable and we needed that."
The players do not run the show in Tampa.
Arians criticized Brady midway through the season, letting every player know that not even the GOAT is above being called out. He ripped the greatest of all time. He didn't pat him on the head, hold his hand and say, "You're great. Don't listen to the noise. We love you."
Arians said, essentially, you stink. Get it together.
Tampa also doesn't try to reinvent the game. The Bucs are just playing football.
The Kansas City offensive line, with one serious injury and significant reshuffling, was manhandled without Tampa having to blitz.
And the Tampa offensive line kept Brady upright and pounded the Chiefs' defense in the run game. Pounded them. Pounded them. Pounded them.
They didn't win Sunday with trick plays or a wacky offense. They did it with physical play, not with pretty players and thrilling schemes. The tougher team imposed its will and won the Super Bowl.
The Bucs beat the Chiefs up and down the field, but it starts in the trenches.
Who could have ever guessed such a thing was possible?
"The (offensive) line was so good tonight," said running back Leonard Fournette, who ran 16 times for 89 yards and caught 4 passes for 46 yards. "It's fun to play when the big boys are doing that."
While George McCaskey and Ted Phillips were "collaborating," they chose Phil Emery over Jason Licht, and Marc Trestman over Arians. No need to remind you that GM Licht and head coach Arians just bored the world and won a Super Bowl together in Tampa.
So dull, this running the football stuff. So dull, this play-action. So dull, these quick throws. So dull, this physical play. So dull, pulling guards flattening defensive backs.
Hardly as much fun as trick plays and Adam Shaheen.
Not at all discounting the brilliance and vision of Brady, who shredded the Chiefs with precision, but the MVP could have just as easily been Fournette or the offensive line.
All they did was lead Tampa to a Super Bowl on Sunday.
Pretty boring though, right?