Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

Here at Fire Tom Thibodeau, we do our best to give appreciation to certain women out there who are not only gorgeous, but athletes. And by athletes, I mean women who can actually play sports and that aren’t doing it just because they are “hot” (See current WWE divas). Now, I still have my lovely Elena Delle Donne but I assured her earlier, there was enough room in my heart for one more. This is Hilary Knight who is one of the leaders of the USA Hockey team. MadCityMac probably knew of her well before I did because she was a four-year star at Wisconsin from 2007-2011. I saw her on the NHL Network about a month ago talking about training for the Olympics as well as playing in the CWHL for the Boston Blades. She once had five goals in a game as well as six points overall in another. She played for Team USA at 17 in 2006. Her accomplishments are outstanding already. According to Wikipedia, she was the first American-born player to win the MVP for the CWHL and lead her team to the championship.

We know Mac loves his women’s hockey players. Now, I can see why. Here’s to you Hilary. Kick some ass in the Olympics.

So after looking at the standings, there are eight teams fighting for two wild card spots. The Bears are one of them. With these many teams in the race, it’s going to be much more difficult for the Bears to get in this way. The best way, of course is to win the division but now, the Bears must have a better record than the Lions rather than be tied and get into tie-breaker scenarios. We as fans can’t count the Packers out either but they have quite a few injuries as well.

In every way, shape and form, this game was about as stressful as it could have been. If anybody thought that the Bears were going to win this game after being down 10-0, you are lying. It was an odd day all around and I will try to cover as much as possible. First off, the Lions, Packers and 49ers all lost. This keeps the Bears in the playoff picture. There is little room for error as there are only six games left.

Offense: Let’s start off with what pissed me off. Trestman, again, made a bad choice on a series with first and goal in the first half. The Bears were given another set of downs and all of a sudden, what worked for them earlier in the game with Matt Forte running, wasn’t pursued by Trestman. Three straight passing plays and at least one, was nearly intercepted. The Bears get just a field goal out of it. This has to change. I hate comparing things but I thought this was the reason why the Bears kicked Lovie Smith to the curb. Run the damn ball.

I don’t remember all of the key plays in this game but I know some. First, I am pretty sure it was before the Forte touchdown, but Forte had the ball pitched to him and Matt Slauson made a great block for him to get the first down. The offensive line has truly been the best thing going this year. You couldn’t say that in the last several years. Then, there’s Josh McCown. The man put on his big boy pants again and made some great throws all game. I truly wish he was playing last week because if he did, Cutler probably could have played in this game at 100%. Now, it could be another week or two. Back to the game, another key play was in overtime when he made one of those throws and Martellus Bennett jumped up and made a catch to put the Bears in field goal range to eventually win the game.

Defense: Zack Bowman, like Eric Weems, has no business being on this team. As a whole, the Bears had 13 penalties for 111 yards. Bowman, did his fair share by getting some horse-collar penalties called on him. On top of that, he can’t defend any receiver. He truly sucks. Even in shitty conditions, Ray Rice had a field day with the defense. I get that the defense is a MASH unit right now, but come on. These backups have to step up for the Bears to have a chance. We saw one backup step up: David Bass. He picked off Joe Flacco and took it back for a touchdown.

With the Bears up 20-17 late in the fourth quarter, the defense fell apart once again. The Ravens drove all the way down to field with everyone and their mother thinking the Ravens were going to win this game. The defense was bailed out with Flacco getting the snap low and overthrowing the ball in the endzone. A lot of people, including myself wanted Trestman to call a timeout with them driving to try to save some time in case the Ravens did score. I think Trestman would have been heavily criticized if that did happen.

Special Teams: Zack Bowman, that idiot, once again, had a penalty in this game. This time, an illegal block in the back one. Son of a bitch. Can this guy please get released now? Fuck this guy. Is Isiah Frey not a better replacement on defense and/or special teams? Come on. Alright, moving on. Robbie Gould just barely makes the game-winning field goal. It’s good enough to me.

Next up are the Rams on the road.

And if I can just be off-topic for a moment. Everything I said above, in perspective, is nothing compared to what goes on in life. Obviously, this game was delayed because of the shitty weather we had. The worst came in Central Illinois. I know we have some readers and ones who comment frequently who live down there. Sometimes, when we see stuff like this on the news, we keep it in our thoughts but don’t know how terrible it can be until it hits close to home. If you have it in you, maybe donate to the Red Cross or some other non-profit company to help fund the repairs. Please pray for everyone.

Well, from the recap, it seems like the word that will stick in your head will be “annoying” because that’s what the Bears were in this game. I thought Cutler should have sat out this game too but he continued to prove to his critics that he isn’t a pussy. We get it. Cutler is not a pussy and has never been one. However, if he isn’t 100%, he shouldn’t be out there. This isn’t the argument of “Josh McCown is better than Jay Cutler” because he isn’t, the thing is, McCown is better when Cutler isn’t healthy. It was a must-win game (as they all are) but this one, sucked ass. The Bears must have a better record than the Lions to win the division rather than have a tie-breaker. The Packers lose but they still have the same record as the Bears. Things are looking bleak.

Offense: Annoying. Numerous opportunities. Trestman fucked up quite a few times. The Lions gave the Bears every chance to win this game with a whole bunch of penalties but the Bears also bailed them out with penalties of their own. McCown finally gets put in on the last drive, gets a touchdown and then, another bad call by Trestman. He’s done more than good for this team this year but this game, the plays he called weren’t all that great.

Defense: Hey defense, you see that big guy wearing #81? Yeah. Go after him. In fact, stick two defenders on him. He scored the touchdown that ultimately, won the game. By the way, Charles Tillman. Yes, you. Good job with those face mask penalties. You’re making a habit out of that. Well hey, Chris Conte actually played well today. Too bad he couldn’t score a touchdown.

Special Teams: Nothing.

Next up: The Ravens at home.

The floor is yours.

Well, a good start for the Bulls at 1-3. If this continues, we’re looking at Christmas Eve. So for you stat wizards out there, that’s 47 days.

David Schuster of 670 The Score believes it as well. He reports players disagreeing with ThomASS in practice as well as in games. While respect is still there, he thinks it could turn into the same situation that happened with Scott Skiles in 2007. Fact is, the players are starting to get restless.

In the words of the late great Owen Hart: Enough is enough and it’s time for a change.

From our good friend DVX in the previous thread:

Just once I would like to see the Bears actually find a way to overcome everything in their path right now…a defense that is too old, too hurt, and too crappy, a second-string QB, a first-year head coach…and pull one of the biggest upsets in this rivalry and steal a big win at Lambeau. How many times have we seen bullshit upsets that we never saw coming? How many times have we seen an 0-fee team pull a win out of its ass late in the season? Is it too much that the Chicago Bears strap on some pride and professionalism, put on the man-pants and fucking go out and bust their ass to WIN THE GAME? LIKE THEY’RE BEING PAID MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO DO???

Go Bears, dammit!!!

Prayers answered.

Unbelievable. Now, we never root for a player, no matter which team it is, to be seriously hurt. I don’t like the Packers but no one could or should hate Aaron Rodgers. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Unfortunately, he has tortured the Bears too often. However, fans of the Packers have done nothing but give us shit over the years about how their team has only had one or two quarterbacks start in the last 20 years or whatever compared to the 1,365 the Bears have had during that time. For at least one night, the Packers and their fans have finally felt what it was like to go through the garbage that we have endured all of these years.

Offense: Josh McCown is awesome. You’re not. Matt Forte is a man that I love dearly. Martellus Bennett has balls. You don’t. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery are better than all of the wide receivers the Bears have had since 1995. In fact, they are the best receivers the Bears have ever had. Suck it Curtis Conway.

Defense: Honestly, I was pissed at those huge runs the Packers had throughout the game. I was screaming “TACKLE SOMEBODY YOU PIECES OF SHIT!” all game. The way I saw it, that was the only way the Packers were going to beat the Bears and yet, Seneca Wallace was passing a bit and it didn’t work. Julius Peppers had an interception. Now, let’s look at some more good things. Shea McClellin has been a let down so far in his career but holy shit, he knocked out Aaron Rodgers. Him and Wooten really haven’t done anything in their careers other than hurt a former and current Packer quarterback.

Special Teams: Blocked punts make me ANGRY! Robbie Gould nailing two field goals is muy bien.

With the Rodgers injury, who knows how long he is going to be out. The Bears, at this point, have a legitimate chance to gain some ground in the division with a legitimate chance to win it while Rodgers is sidelined. The Lions are next at home and it’s for first place.