After two horrendous outings in which the Bears lost by a combined score of 106-37, Chicago found a way to get its first victory not only in the month of November, but at home this season. The Bears need to continue to improve this week when some familiar foes return to Chicago on Sunday.
Welcome Back Lovie Smith!
His nine-year tenure with Chicago resulted in three division titles, two NFC Championship appearances, and one Super Bowl appearance. Although Smith never won a Super Bowl here in Chicago, he is still regarded as one of the top coaches in Bears history. “Lovie Smith should be remembered as one of the great coaches in Chicago. George Halas, you have Mike Ditka, and Lovie Smith comes next”, stated Chicago’s Lance Briggs this week.
During his time in Chicago, Smith was renowned for his cover-2 defense and his famous line that will forever be embedded into the minds of Bears fans, “Rex Grossman is our quarterback.” Speaking off Grossman, who is by the a way Bloomington native, Chicago’s anemic offense under coach Smith would be his inevitable demise. Although he was fired by the Chicago Bears after a 10-6 season, he has no regrets and looks back fondly at his tenure with the team. “ I’m proud of everything we were able to do,” Smith said, “ I loved my time there. I loved the organization that I worked for and the opportunity that they gave me.”
Welcome Back Josh McCown!
Although his time was short in Chicago, Josh McCown holds a special place in Bears history. His eight game stint last year was one of the best played by any quarterback in the entire history of the Chicago Bears. Last year he was better than Jay Cutler in every statistical category (13TD, 1INT, 109QBR) and some (myself included) would argue he led the team more efficiently than Cutler as well. While Cutler is known for his poor demeanor, McCown is praised for his leadership.
Returning to Chicago to play his former team is exciting for McCown, “I’m looking forward to it; it’s fun. I have so much love for all those guys up there,” said McCown, “It makes it more fun because you know how they’re going to prepare and you know they’re going to give you their best.
Bottom Line
Although making the playoffs seems like a long shot for the Chicago Bears, they are still statistically in contention, therefore; every win counts. Playing against his predecessor, Marc Trestman needs to come out victorious over Lovie Smith for not only respect from Smith, but for the respect of his players like Lance Briggs who still have high regards for their former coach. Chicago shouldn’t have a problem defeating the lowly Buccaneers. There have been reports of Marc Trestman’s seat starting to get warm and a loss to a (2-8) Bucs team coached by Lovie Smith would make his seat red-hot.
My Pick:
Bears 28 - Bucs 27
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