Home-field advantage actually happened for the Bears as soon as they completed their three-game trip to New York and New England on Nov. 26.
Their game the day before Christmas in Detroit is likely to be as fan-friendly as their last so-called road game Dec. 11 in St. Louis. Bears fans packed the Edward Jones Dome and were so loud they forced the Rams’ offense to go to a silent count, an embarrassing predicament.
In Detroit, some Lions fans are organizing a walkout during Sunday’s Bears game to protest the failed regime of club President Matt Millen.
In a “press release” posted by Herbert Nicholl Jr. on his “Fire Millen” Web site, Nicholl writes: “This protest calls for the fans of the Detroit Lions to `walk-out’ of the Christmas Eve game with eight minutes and fifty seven seconds remaining in the second quarter. Everyone should meet in the main atrium by `The Roar and More’ and with three minutes and fifty seven seconds remaining, everyone that is there start chanting in unison our rallying cry, `Fire Millen!’
“Then at halftime, everyone involved, orderly and politely walk out of the stadium to show Team Owner and Chairman William Clay Ford their disgust with his inaction. This action is directed at the management of the team and not the players on the field which I will continue to support.”
By clinching home field throughout the NFC playoffs, it looks like the Bears will not face a hostile crowd up to and including their possible appearance in the Super Bowl. It’s in Miami, and the Dolphins aren’t going to make it from the AFC.
Unlike last year, when Steelers fans overwhelmed Seahawks fans with their presence in Detroit for the Super Bowl, Bears fans would be well-represented in Miami regardless of the AFC opponent. It would make eight straight games–five regular season and three playoffs–in front of a friendly crowd.
But wait
The bad news for the Bears is the top seed in the NFC hasn’t won a Super Bowl since the 1999 Rams.
The list:
2005–Seattle lost Super Bowl to Pittsburgh.
2004–Philadelphia lost Super Bowl to New England.
2003–Philadelphia lost NFC title game to Carolina.
2002–Philadelphia lost NFC title game to Tampa Bay.
2001–St. Louis lost Super Bowl to New England.
2000–New York Giants lost Super Bowl to Baltimore.
Lion down
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The Lions have had five 1,000-yard rushers in their history.
The latest, Kevin Jones, did it his rookie season in 2004. The dreaded Lis Franc foot injury now threatens his career.
Steve Owens, the team’s first-round pick in 1970, injured a shoulder in the last exhibition game of his rookie season. In 1971, he became the team’s first 1,000-yard rusher, but after a knee injury on Thanksgiving Day of 1974, he never played again.
Billy Sims, drafted first overall in 1980, had three 1,000-yard seasons and was headed for a fourth when his career ended midway through 1984. His right knee buckled and he never played again.
James Stewart, a free agent in 2000, had two 1,000-yard seasons before dislocating a shoulder in the last exhibition game of 2003 and never played again.
And you wonder why Barry Sanders, after 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons, abruptly retired on the eve of training camp in 1999 and walked away healthy.
Stalled Carr
What’s it like to be David Carr? The Texans quarterback threw four interceptions in a 40-7 loss to the Patriots. Luckily for him, the game was in New England, where at least he was cheered. Last week, he had to watch the Titans’ Vince Young beat him while hometown fans cheered Houston native Young. Next week, Carr comes home again to play against the Colts’ Peyton Manning.
Carr, whose contract was extended in the off-season after the Texans decided he was the future instead of Young, has thrown one touchdown pass in his last eight games.
Trouble ahead
Bills owner Ralph Wilson continues to worry about the revenue gap among teams. While the league just voted to loan $300 million to the Giants and Jets for a new stadium, Wilson points out that the increased revenue for those teams will cause the salary cap to go up leaguewide and proportionally squeeze small-market teams.
“The Giants and Jets stadium, with 200 boxes at $250,000 a box, will gross $50 million a year,” Wilson said, referring to the luxury-box revenue that does not have to be shared with other teams. “We’re fighting to gross $7 million [a year]. What chance have you got long term?”
Under the new labor deal, the Bills and other smaller-market teams could get an average of roughly $6 million in supplemental revenue sharing this year, but the exact formula is still under consideration.
“It’s a terrible bargaining agreement, terrible,” Wilson said.
Young ones
The Titans’ Young remains the leader for offensive rookie of the year even after a subpar performance against the Jaguars in which he passed for 85 yards and ran for only 4.
The Titans won their fifth straight game on three defensive touchdowns. Quarterbacks have more leeway on individual performances as long as their teams win.
For somebody like Bears return specialist Devin Hester to be noticed as an offensive player, as coach Lovie Smith suggested last week, he has to do more special individual things.
Young’s completion percentage in his first seven starts was 46.2. In the next three weeks, Young completed 65 percent of his passes.
Against Jacksonville, he was 8-for-15, only 53 percent, but he is now 7-4 as a starter for a team that simply isn’t as good as its 7-7 record.
The Jaguars game was the first time in seven weeks that Young had not run for more yards than he had the week before–14, 39, 49, 69, 78 and 86.
Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew, another strong rookie-of-the-year candidate, outplayed Young on an individual basis by rushing for 98 yards and catching three passes for 47 one week after racking up 303 all-purpose yards against the Colts.
The second-round draft pick out of UCLA, selected three spots behind Hester, denies he plays with a chip on his shoulder because he wasn’t a first-round pick.
“It’s not a chip at all,” Jones-Drew told reporters last week. “It’s a big ol’ can of Pringles sitting right there with No. 32. It always reminds me.
“I had to question myself as a football player. I felt like somebody spit in my face. I was so disrespected.”
Size matters, too, said the 5-foot-7-inch Jones-Drew.
“I’m trying to represent all the little people,” he said. “If you’re a playmaker, you’re a playmaker.”
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