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Bears Tue Jan 18 2011
Footballic Ramblings: Bears Dismantle Seahawks
The Chicago Bears are hosting their hated rival from the north, the Green Bay Packers. Both teams looked dominant for the majority of their respective games. The Bears from the opening gun had the Seattle Seahawks in an absolute headlock. Defensively, offensively, all facets of the game, Chicago was not taking any guff from the "Just Happy To Be Here" 'Hawks. But, and I'm being frank here, there's not a whole lot to glean from that game. I took a nap during the fourth quarter (I was hungover, sorry?) and still won't begrudge the Bears getting sloppy and allowing 21 points in the final quarter. The dogs had been called off at that point. It happens. Prior to the Olindo Mare field goal with 4:04 to go in the third, the Bears had forced Seattle into eight! straight punts on eight! straight possessions.
Now, of course, the sledding won't be quite that easy with the Packers in town this weekend. Nay, with the Pack fresh off collecting the scalps of divisional champs Philadelphia and Atlanta, the Bears should be very focused (I could use the word "nervous" here) this week. Though much may not be gathered from the Bears win over Seattle. They won at home against one of the worst teams to ever qualify for the playoffs. Great job? The Packers have been on the road for the past two weeks -- again, contained Michael Vick in Philly; brained the hapless No. 1 seed Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome -- after beating Chicago in the regular season finale, merely to qualify for the 'Offs. We'll have an all-out preview later this week, but for now, let's ogle over the numbers and trumped-up "facts" of this 90-year-old rivalry.
- Yep, this is only the second time in their combined history that Green Bay and Chicago will meet in the playoffs.
- Yep, the fact that Chicago won back in 1941 has no bearing on this game. That game occurred in 1941. A week after Pearl Harbor. Japan was still an empire and the USA hadn't even saved the world from Hitler ... yet. So please, Bears fans, save the hyperbolic nonsense for this year's Bears squad.
- The Bears do own the advantage in the all-time series, 92-83-6, so there's a useless metric you can use, Bears fans.
- And, incidentally, the Packers and Bears have split the last 10 meetings.
Finally, here's a very excellent (if not "Smash, Blood, Extreme, Energy Drink"-paced) primer on the Green Bay-Chicago series from the middle decades of the 20th century.
