The football playoffs are unforgiving. Two out of the next three is bad. It will only get you beaten in the Super Bowl, which is not enough anymore for the Bears.
They weren`t supposed to repeat even when they had Jim McMahon. With Doug Flutie, the quarterback is shorter and the odds are longer.
They`ll never do it. Yes, they will. With opening arguments still raging after a 14-2 season, closing arguments begin officially at 3 p.m. Saturday in Soldier Field against the Washington Redskins.
They`ll never do it.
Nobody has done it since the 1978-79 Pittsburgh Steelers and their quarterback wasn`t hurt. Flutie barely knows the plays and must face better teams than he has ever seen. Even McMahon has predicted that coach Mike Ditka will turn to veteran Steve Fuller because of his experience. It was Fuller who beat the Redskins in the 1984 playoffs.
Yes, they will.
Flutie has restored the magic touch that William ”the Refrigerator”
Perry provided last season. Besides, all the Bears need is a quarterback who doesn`t give up points, not necessarily one who has to get them points.
They`ll never do it.
Running isn`t enough. The Bears could pad their running statistics against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions, and the Dallas Cowboys. But they haven`t run against the 49ers (third in the league), the Redskins
(14th), or the Giants (first), and the Redskins contained Eric Dickerson last week.
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Yes, they will.
They can run against anyone if Ditka gives them the chance. They ran against the Rams (eighth), and they have run against just about everybody in football while leading the league in rushing for four years.
They`ll never do it.
They fumble too much. The great Walter Payton ended his season with five fumbles in his final six games. The Bears finished the season with a turnover ratio of zero–they lost the ball as many times as they took it.
Playoff teams don`t beat other playoff teams when they turn the ball over, as the Rams proved against the Redskins.
Yes, they will.
Payton fumbled only six times all season and takes the blame for only four. He is not a fumbler. Six fumbles is below his 11-year average of 6.8 a year. In 12 years, Payton has fumbled only 81 times. He has handled the ball 4,120 times without fumbling.
They`ll never do it.
Flutie and Payton aren`t enough. Playoff defenses will eat up the Bears`
offense, which never really recovered from the loss of flanker Dennis McKinnon.
Yes, they will.
The Bears have big-play speed on offense. Ditka is determined to incorporate Neal Anderson into his plans. Dennis Gentry and Thomas Sanders can break big gains at any time and Willie Gault opens up opportunities everywhere.
”I like our weapons,” Ditka says.
They`ll never do it.
They beat only three teams that ended the season with winning records:
Minnesota, Cincinnati and Cleveland. And they were 1-1 with Minnesota. The last two winning teams they played–the Rams and Vikings–beat them.
They needed field goals by Kevin Butler to win six games.
Yes, they will.
”Last year, when we beat teams pretty bad, people said we couldn`t win if we got behind,” says tackle Jimbo Covert. ”They can`t say that this year.”
In six games, they came from behind to win.
”I don`t care who we played. Every team was up for us,” Covert says.
”And we still tied for the best record in the league.”
They`ll never do it.
They`re underdogs. The New York Giants are the glamor team this year, not the Bears. The Giants already beat the Redskins and the 49ers on the road during the regular season.
Yes, they will.
”We`re the only team in the NFL when we`re going great, we`re still underdogs. I don`t think people like our style,” says middle linebacker Mike Singletary. ”We`re so old-fashioned people say, `That`s old stuff. You can`t go out and let the defense control the game.`
”The Giants are the team everybody is looking at, and that`s great.”
They`ll never do it.
They don`t even have a new Super Bowl Shuffle. They aren`t as cocky as before. Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Otis Wilson and Wilson didn`t even appeal and barely squealed.
Yes, they will.
Last year, Ditka had to exaggerate to create an atmosphere of paranoia. This year, it`s everywhere.
”People don`t like us, from Pete Rozelle all the way down,” says Singletary. ”That`s okay. We have what we have in this room and as long as we have each other, we`re going to do okay.”
They`ll never do it.
The pressure of repeating is too much. If the 49ers or the Raiders or the Redskins couldn`t do it, how can the Bears do it? The 49ers were 15-1 once, too. And they all had healthy quarterbacks.
Yes, they will.
The Bears, who have thrived on pressure, don`t even feel any this time.
”How many times have the defending world champions been the underdog?” asks safety Dave Duerson. ”I think it`s great. Since no one is expecting anything from us, we can simply relax. There won`t be a lot of media build-up because we`ve been basically written off.”
They`ll never do it.
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Defense isn`t enough. The Bears might have the best defense in the league, but they also haven`t played quarterbacks as good as Jay Schroeder or Joe Montana or Phil Simms.
Here are the starting quarterbacks they have beaten recently: Reggie Collier, Chuck Long, Steve Young, Mark Malone, Randy Wright and David Archer. They lost to Steve Dils.
Yes, they will.
This is one of the great defensive teams in football history. The Bears set a record for fewest points allowed even though opponents scored three touchdowns on returns (interception, fumble and blocked punt) and a fourth on a fluke interception of a lateral after the Bears had intercepted.
This is how good the defense is: Only twice all season did an opponent score a touchdown after taking possession in Bear territory. Once was by Detroit after a fumble recovery at the 4-yard line. The other was by Cleveland from the 49 after a botched kickoff.
Only five other times did an opponent so much as kick a field goal after gaining possession in Bear territory.
Before the Bears were told they couldn`t do it without McMahon, they were told they couldn`t do it without defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan.
But under Vince Tobin, they have virtually eliminated the element of risk while maintaining the element of terror.
”I feel good for Vince and the other assistant coaches,” Ditka says.
”I knew we would be compared, analyzed, criticized. I got letters that said, `Forget your ego and ill feelings and play the `46` defense.`
”They said, `You won`t play a defense because you don`t like someone.`
That`s a bunch of bull. We play the defense and we play it the way it`s supposed to be played.
”It`s a compliment to the players. Dan Hampton and Mike Singletary said, `Hey, are we defensive cattle or defensive players?` We can go out and play football. It doesn`t matter what system we`re playing.
”We`ve got excellent football players. As good as Otis Wilson has played in the past, I don`t think he`s ever played as good as this year.
”Wilber Marshall is the best outside linebacker in football. Just look at the films.
”We have the best middle linebacker in football in Singletary.
”We have the best strong safety in Duerson.
”Our cornerbacks (Mike Richardson and Vestee Jackson) have played well and we`ve got an excellent free safety (Gary Fencik).
”Our defensive line is as good as any defensive line in football–now or then. As good as the Fearsome Foursome, Doomsday or any others.
”I haven`t said a word about all the stuff I read about other teams and I don`t have anything against them. I`m saying it because our guys are that good. They deserve the recognition.”
The Bears think they can win it all regardless of quarterbacks on the field or in the stands. One of the reasons they are good is that they welcome the opportunity to constantly prove it.
”A lot of people probably thought we wouldn`t win as many as we have,”
Covert says. ”Once Jim went down, a lot of people thought, `Well, they`re not going to win too many after this.` And we`re still winning. We`re always going to try to find a way to win, and that`s a tribute to our character.”
They don`t care if it`s a tribute to their characters; they just want this argument to end.
”If we don`t turn the ball over, we`ll be tough to beat,” Ditka says.
They will be tough to beat even if they do turn it over.
Nobody argues that.