The Blame Game: Bears v. Falcons Edition

Time for one of my angry bullet point posts about how some Chicago team let me down. The Bears screwed the pooch in that one, and the Falcons--the f$*%ing Falcons!--came away with a win. It's everyone's fault and its going to take me a minute to really distribute my blame and anger properly, so here goes:

• Lovie Smith: To be honest, I don't know if I even remember all the calls he made that I wanted to second guess throughout the game, but I will do my best. 1) Going for it on 4th down at the 1. I don't think it was the worst call in the world, but there was no need for it! We just needed to get within 1 score! Why is Lovie trying to be a cowboy? He needs to get his head out of his ass and trust his defense a little more. 2) STOP GIVING THE FOOTBALL TO MCKIE. 3) How many times did we throw vs. run today? Yeah 43 passes and 23 runs. I thought we were a running team? I mean Orton did fine, but seriously? 43-23? Unreal. 4) Why squib kick it? WHY?!?!
  
  
• Robbie Gould: What are the things you practice as a kicker? FGs, onside kicks, squib kicks and regular kicks. That's it. All week that is all you do, those 4 things. That might have been the worst squib kick I have ever seen. Was he trying to take no time off the clock and give the Falcons good field position? This guy was the MVP of the game for the Falcons, no doubt about it in my mind.
  
  
• Atlanta Timekeepers: Watch the tape, those homer motherf$%#ers didn't start the clock until Matt Ryan had released the ball on that 2nd to last play. We all saw it. I don't understand how in 2008 the NFL could allow that to happen. If they are gonna slow the game down to a crawl with all the TV timeouts and replays, can they at least get the clock right? WTF?!
  
  
• Tommie Harris: The fumble. I don't even know what to say about this boneheaded play. Just terrible. Make sure you have the ball and the play is dead. Doesn't seem like something you should have to remind someone who makes millions of dollars to play football, but there you have it.
  
  
• Uninspired, Soft Defense: HIT SOMEONE! Hard. Please. Why would any team be scared of our "vaunted defense" when we are not hitting people or tackling hard. They have to hear footsteps to make mistakes. Matt Ryan should not have looked like Joe Montana, I don't care how good he is. He's a rookie. I cannot think of any hard hits, I'm sure they happened, I just can't remember them. Oh and you know what I'm sick of? Bears fans and analysts that say "The defense is playing well, they just have to be on the field so much they get tired, the offense needs to keep them off the field". You know what a better way to get off the field is? Stop the other team on 3rd and 20-something. I'm not expert, but that might work.
  
  
• Ron Turner: 43 passes and 23 runs. Whether you agree with it or not, it sounds exciting, doesn't it? So much throwing, stretching the field, etc? Then why didn't it feel exciting? And why didn't a TE get a touch until 5:00 left in the 4th quarter? 43 pass plays to with our no-name receiving corps and the TEs didn't touch it until late in the 4th? Screw you Ron Turner.
  
  
• Bob Babich: Remember Week 1 when Babich sent all those different looks at Peyton Manning and made Manning look like a deer in headlights? All the Blitzing and fake blitzing and different looks in the secondary that confused Manning and his O-Line? That was so creative and ballsy and awesome. Where the hell did that go? Why wasn't Brown coming off the edge on some blitzes? Briggs? Mixing up coverages? I would say on a scale of confused to comfortable, Matt Ryan was at about 732.
  
  
• Dave Toub: I don't know how it's this guys fault, but when a game is f$%&ed up on a special teams play (the squib) it only seems right to blame the special teams coach. I don't know what you can do differently Mr. Toub, but you better not sleep well tonight. I definitely won't.

All that being said, let me make it clear that the Bears didn't "blow the game at the end". They shouldn't have even been in it. Like NQTC reader Judd told me: "They blew the game all game long, like a Jewish sorority girl after one too many appletinis." Chicago teams love being mediocre in shitty divisions. What better way to get to the playoffs and choke?