Coach em up

You may have noticed no FOOTBALL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK was posted yesterday. Because it’s a crazy week with the holiday, I’m only posting once this week, which includes this column and NFL picks. Next week we shall resume regularly scheduled programming.

The Bears play their most important game of the season this Sunday night, traveling north to the Twin Cities to take on the Vikings in the Metrodome. A win puts the Bears in a great position to win the division- up two games on the Vikes (one game in the standings plus the tie-braker) with four games to go, three of which are at home, none of which are against winning teams. A loss puts the Bears in a difficult spot, essentially needing to go at least 3-1 and hoping Minnesota slips somewhere along the way.

As with all football games, this contest will be a game of matchups. Matt Forte against a Minnesota D that (should) be without its two big boys in the middle, Kevin and Pat Williams, both of whom are expected to be suspended for the game. Adrian Peterson versus a Bears defense that looked like their normal selves last week in St. Louie, which is fast, ferocious and ball hawking. Devin Hester takes on great expectations, and Gus Ferotte takes on no expectations.

But the biggest battle in this NFC North clash may not take place on the turf; instead it will be settled on the sidelines. Coaches Lovie Smith and Brad Childress, each known more for their lack of time management skills and senseless play-calling than for striking fear into opponents, could very well decide the game. And for fans of these teams, that’s not a good thing.

I’ve made it no secret that I don’t think Lovie is a great in-game coach. He’s the football version of Dusty Baker: good motivator until it wears thin on guys, a decent teacher on one specific issue and way too loyal to his guys. But that being said, there’s no denying he wins games, at least more than previous Bears coaches did. Still, it would be nice if he understood how the clock worked.

For example, during the game in Green Bay two weeks ago at the end of the first half, Lovie couldn’t decide if he wanted to run out the clock or try and score some points. So, with the Packers having two timeouts left, Lovie decided to run on first down. Gain of two, TO Green Bay. Second down, Lovie switches it up. In-complete pass, clock stops. Now it’s obvious Lovie wants to get the first down, otherwise he would have just ran it there, made the Pack kill their last TO and then run down more clock on third down. So of course he passes again on third down too, right? Wrong. Another run for two. Clock stops, Bears punt, Green Bay goes down and kicks a field goal. Simply horrible management of the time, something that anybody who has experience playing Madden wouldn't have done.

Lucky for Lovie, he’s facing a rival coach with the sharpness of a baby carrot. Childress may look like a fool, and any Minnesota fan will tell you, he is one. The website firechilly.com argues that Childress has single-handedly ruined the Vikings season, which is pretty impressive considering the team’s quarterback play (and record). The site is full of all sorts of reasons he should be replaced, from not maximizing his team’s talehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnt to poor performances at the end of close games. It’s also not shy in mentioning the latest example of Childress’ embarrassment- not giving Peterson the ball in the fourth quarter of a six-point game loss two weeks back at Tampa Bay.


Of all the teams in the NFL, leading the Vikings would be one of the least confusing in my opinion. Give the ball to A.D. 25-30 times a game, mix in some passes here and there, and tell your defense to stop people. Not too difficult. Yet Childress has managed to mess it up.

For me growing up, the coach of the Vikings was Denny Green, somebody who understood what great players were. Every game, you could count on Green dialing up a few deep balls for Randy Moss, a nice amount of crossing routes for Chris Carter and a handful of draws for Robert Smith. A decade later, Minnesota has a runner that is as good as any of those players. It just seems that their new coach doesn’t share Green’s view on how important they are to a team’s success.

So who will win on Sunday night? I’m not so sure. Both teams are coming off of road wins versus teams that really didn’t put forth an effort. Both teams are going to try to run the ball and stop the run. And both coaches are going to try to make a mockery of the art of leadership. It may come down to which quarterback, Kyle Orton or Ferotte, can make the big throws down the stretch.

I’m a homer, but I also think the Bears will come out inspired after laying the stinker in their last division game, at Green Bay two weeks. Forte runs for 120 and a TD, the defense forces a couple of turnovers, and somehow, despite Peterson's 150, it's Bears 24, Vikings 20


Other week 13 picks….

Tennessee at Detroit

Seattle at Dallas

Arizona at Philadelphia

San Francisco at Buffalo

Baltimore at Cincinnati

Indianapolis at Cleveland

Carolina at Green Bay

Miami at St. Louis

New Orleans at Tampa Bay

New York Giants at Washington

Atlanta at San Diego

Kansas at Oakland

Pittsburgh at New England

Denver at New York Jets

Jacksonville at Houston

Last Week: 10-6

Have a happy Thanksgiving everybody.