Progress is in the pain. Losses hurt more. Losses are resented. Losses are cursed.
When losing hurts, blame follows. Bad calls. Bum officials. Stupid coaching. Thoughtless players. Curtis Enis. The kicker. Ah, the kicker is always the kicker.
“Every time I stroked the ball, I hit it solid,” Bears kicker Chris Boniol said. “But when it comes to the final mark, you have to make your kicks.”
Why sure. The 41-yarder missed in overtime by Boniol with the wind at his back was a thing of beauty: high, soaring, a tight little tumble. There it goes. Take a picture. Get ready to celebrate. Wide right.
The 38-yarder into the wind made by Minnesota’s Gary Anderson was uglier than prunes. Even the sound was dreadful, like a whoopee cushion. See the ball strain and drift, just far enough, just high enough, as unfootball looking as if it were a skeet-range target.
One point was enough, but it counts the whole three and Minnesota wins 27-24.
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“A very empty feeling,” Bears coach Dick Jauron said.
Better empty than shamed. Better emptiness than humiliation. Better this than what the Redskins did to the Bears. None of it is supposed to matter. The Bears are not supposed to be, in Game 10, disappointed at not being dead even for the year, insisting without causing snickers that the playoffs remain the aim, an aim more reliable than Boniol’s.
“If we win out, we’re there,” linebacker Barry Minter said.
The thing is you can imagine the Bears doing just that.
Pain is when a 422-yard passing day by Jim Miller, the fourth best of all time by any Bear quarterback, is made moot, when finally the Bears may have dawdled their way into an authentic keeper at quarterback (Miller starts for me the rest of the year, Shane Matthews healthy or not), when the over-anticipated offense of Gary Crowton at last works as drawn, making heroes out of as odd a combination of receivers as ever stepped off the depth chart, Marcus Robinson and Marty Booker.
Wasted is another mystical, Paytonesque moment, the second in two weeks, when the Vikings miss a kick that should have won the game at the end of regulation. This one can’t be credited to Walter, but blamed on Vikings holder Mitch Berger, who tilted the ball sideways for Anderson’s astonished foot. Progress accepts the pain of a 21-yard pass-interference call on Bears cornerback Terry Cousin in overtime. More damage can be done with onion breath than Cousin did to Minnesota’s Cris Carter on an uncatchable pass from Jeff George.
“We will watch the film and send any protest to the league office through proper channels,” Jauron said. Include a pair of unwashed, sweaty socks in the package, just to emphasize the aroma of such a poor call at such a critical time.
And what of Crowton, calling plays from the sidelines for the second week in a row, turning away from an explosive passing attack after halftime for the inadequate and goofy running efforts of Enis?
The next time Enis celebrates after an eight-yard run, even for a first down, he should have the Bears’ “C” ripped off his helmet. I nominate Mike Wells to do it.
“A clearly entertaining team,” Minnesota coach Dennis Green said, meaning it as a compliment to the Bears. “I thought the Bears were on their way to a 600-yard passing game.” So did the rest of us.
Pain is when cornerback Walt Harris, victimized all day by the astounding Randy Moss (12 catches for 204 yards) seems to make the play of the day, an interception on the first play of overtime. Instead of dashing towards the end zone, Harris prances to the middle of the field and falls down at the Vikings’ 28-yard line, turning the fate of the Bears over to the unreliable right leg of Boniol.
“I did the careful thing,” Harris said. “But our offense should be able to score from there.”
From the 28, it’s a 45-yard field goal, Boniol’s announced range. So what do Crowton and Jauron do on the day that Miller has passed for three touchdowns? Hand the ball to Enis, who manages in three tries to leave the ball on the wrong hash mark for Boniol.
The Bears lose a game they absolutely should have won. This is the one that will hurt most when the Bears are not the 8-8 team that makes the playoffs.
Progress should not be this painful.