That Was Then, This Is Now
Updated: Sep 25, 2018
"Growth is painful, change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong." says, N. R. Narayana Murthy. Remember in week four of last year when the Bears traveled to Green Bay and faced the Packers? Yeah, I like to forget that. The Packers were dressed like the Good Humor man in their all white uniforms. The "Fat Lady" was singing as soon as she laid eyes on the human giraffe. The Packers scored on their first drive, then Mike Glennon took over. He was stripped of the ball and the Packers were up before the halfway point of the first quarter. But forget that, put it behind you, go get them on your second drive. Glennon led the team to successive first downs before an errant snap ricochet off his hands and bounced about 10 yards. The rest of the game saw check down after check down.
In a sordid sort of way, last years start gives me hope. I am thinking there is no way the Bears can start tomorrow's game like that. I feel good that Mike Glennon is not under center. I have good vibes about Mitchell Trubisky, but if I didn't, he still isn't Glennon. Last year was painful, we as fans suffered through some of the most hapless situations.
The day John Fox was fired the people rejoiced. They did not celebrate the fact the Bears have arrived, they just felt good about the pain of a conservative offense has died. It did not mean that happy days are here again. It just meant, damn I am glad that root canal is done.
So a new sheriff is in town by the name of Matt Nagy. Hey, everyone was happy but no one was crowning our asses. However, Nagy was a change from the old guard of the NFL to a more modern day scheme. The night was dark after the storm, but with this new hire, there seemed to be a single stream of light from the sun rising over the horizon. The stream of light was the hope that this new coach is not going to depend on the defense to bail the team out. No resting on our laurels and allowing the game clock to grind down and hope the ball would bounce our way. The Bears are going into an aggressive mode.
That began with the hiring of some of the best offensive talents as coaches. We applauded that, it did sound good in theory. Adding someone like Harry Heistand. But the biggest gain was the keeping of the old defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio. In years past, the Bears would take a step forward and take one back when they would hire a new coach but not this year. The sun is melting the dew from an ugly season. Things look a little bit different.
But still, no one has crowned our asses. Bears are still 100-1 odds to win the Super Bowl when these changes took places.
However, a few heads are beginning to look at this team. Ryan Pace has set the course but is nowhere near satisfaction, if you are going to go out and get an aggressive offensive scheme, you are going to need some horses. Racehorses. Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Trey Burton, Javon Wims and Anthony Miller, are brand spanking new changes from the receiving core of last year. 2017 we had the jr. high team but in 2018, we have four-year letter-men. The NFL network show, Good Morning Football is happy, and we are beginning to hear comparisons to the Rams.
The national perspective is turning some. The sun is rising, Dare I say the chill from last year is gone. The darkness is erased. Lion fans do not want to admit the Bears are better than the Lions, however, they dare say with the emergence of the Bears, our division is the toughest. When your adversary is going out of their way to give backhanded compliments, you have people's attention.
Then the Bears added Khalil Mack, their weakest link of the team has now become their strength. The odds have radically changed, the Bears have gone from 24th in power rankings to around 14-16. It is high noon and things are hot. We have not taken a snap in the 2018 season but one look at this team and you have to say, "That storm has passed, but there is a new day with a blazing sun. Last year's trip to Green Bay was horrific, but that was then, this is now. This is what I say for the new season, growth was painful and long, the change was overdue, and change has come. Somebody pass me the sunscreen, it's getting hot.
