Week 3: This loss feels 10 times worse than Panthers game

When the Bears were defeated by the Panthers, they were defeated by a good team who overcame some early mistakes. The Bears lost to the Bucs. Up until 6 minutes left in the game, the Bucs only had 7 points on offense. I don't know how the Bucs were able to score 10 points in such a short amount of time. I don't really think most of the blame should go on the defense however. I blame the offense more. All they had to do was pick up one more first down and they couldn't do it. Their inability to score touchdowns in the 1st half came back to be a big factor in the loss. Also, the Bucs wouldn't have even tied the game if Kyle Orton didn't throw the ball right at Gaines Adams. Sure everyone will look at Orton's nice overall stat-line but he only had one good half. Football is a game of two halves and Orton didn't play a full 60 minute game. What you do in the 1st half is just as important as what you do in the second half. The truth is that the Bears missed three opportunities to score a touchdown in the 1st half and that ended up deciding the game. I really don't like what I see from Orton. Not only is he nothing more than a game manager, he's prone to throwing interceptions now. He needs to have a big game against Philadelphia or else put in Rex Grossman. Lovie only gave Rex three games to start the 2007 season. Orton's rope shouldn't be too much longer than Rex's.

This loss hurt emotionally. I think it might have been the first time I saw the Bears allow a game-tying touchdown with under 15 seconds left in the game. I had this bad feeling that Griese would drive the Bucs down the field and tie the game. I was hoping it was just me being too nervous but that was exactly what happened. As for the Peanut Tillman penalty, wow. One minute I'm really happy knowing that the Bears will get the ball around mid-field at the least and the next minute I feel terrible. I actually felt that the three and out would lead to a Bears win and any hope I had was gone when I found out that Peanut got penalized. The only good news is that the Packers lost. If you look at the NFC North standings, the Bears are in 2nd place and only one game out of 1st place. That gives me reason to be optimistic especially since the Bears have yet to play a divisional game. Forget the wild card....it might be easier for the Bears to win the division.

I think the Bears will beat the Eagles. I can't guarantee it but now the media is probably off the Bears bandwagon again so hopefully the Bears will play with a clip on their shoulder. This will be a home game and the Bears have proven they can win games most people don't expect them to win. This team has sometimes been a team that can't beat the team everyone expects them to beat but beats the team no one expects them to beat. Brian Westbrook might even be inactive....I see no reason why the Bears can't win. For their sake, they need to have a good game and win. It's not a must-win by any means but this is a team that should be 2-1 and could have been 3-0 right now. If the Bears really feel they should be 3-0, they need to come out and prove it. The Bears beat the Eagles last year....they can do it again. Right now, I hope the Bears are pissed. I hope they don't care who is the next team on their schedule. They turned two potential wins into losses and I bet they don't want to have a three game losing streak. I really believe this team is talented enough to beat any team on the schedule and that the only team that can beat the Bears is themselves.

After the Eagles game, the Bears face the Lions and the Falcons so a win against Eagles could be the difference between the Bears starting 4-2 and the Bears starting 3-3. 3-3 certainly wouldn't be bad but being 4-2 six weeks into the season would be very important. The Bears lost a game they should have won so the best thing for them now is to win a game that they are expected to lose. I still think this is a ten win team but they got to start winning games or else their record will say otherwise. It doesn't matter who the better team is or who had the better game. The only thing that matters is which team has more points at the end of the game. The Bears need to make sure they are that team.