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Lovie Smith: Bears lack heart

One of the things we used to say when people came down to Soldier Field, one of the things they talked about was how hard we played,”

Smith said Monday after watching the videotape of the Bears’ fourth loss.

“… That wasn’t the case

[against the Vikings].

This is a scathing review of his team, but one that seems pretty accurate after the defense pulled a no show, and gave up over 220 yards rushing to rookie Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson also scored 3 touchdowns, and with the game on the line, returned a kickoff 53 yards to set up the Vikings winning fieldgoal.

Smith is known for his calm demeanor when all those around him are panicing, so for the coach to say something like this speaks volumes. If he felt there was any other way to handle this, he would have. Apparently he’s hoping that a public lambasting of his defense will jumpstart a squad that is suddenly getting help from the offense.

And Devin Hester, don’t forget Devin Hester

Hester tried all he could to be the hero the Bears so desperately needed last Sunday, not only returning a punt 89 yards for a touchdown, but getting open for an 81 yard touchdown reception, showing that Lovie wasn’t lying when he claimed he wanted the nearly superhuman return man into the offense more.

Brian Griese had another performance that should bring hope to Bears faithful that the offense is no longer absyman, throwing for 381 yards, and 3 touchdowns. He also showed the offense isn’t quite there, with his 2 interceptions.

You can certainly forgive Smith for showing his frustration a little after this latest loss. After going down 31-17 with 4 minutes to play, Chicago looked dead in the water. A 33 yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammed, and the afore mentioned 81 yard pass to Hester tied the game with just over a minute to go. Then came the kick return, and the field goal, and the Bears found themselves once again sitting at the bottom of the NFC North at 2-4.

With the Philadelphia Eagles coming to town, one can only hope the Bears find their heart, and that it’s still got some fight in it

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 11:31 am and is filed under Muhsin Muhammed, Brian Griese, Devin Hester, Lovie Smith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.