Eight truths--Observations and Musings from Sunday

The truth in sports is so often trampled by the popular sports media, who sensationalize and warp everything until all that is left is a smoldering pile of scorched earth.  Being a MHR informed fan and having to listen to the broadcast can be a painful thing.  The broadcasters so often miss obvious events unfolding in front of our eyes, and the ones they do point out are often skewed and lowest common denominator.  Therefore I share with you eight truths I observed from Sunday night:

1.  The touchdown drive in the third quarter was encouraging.  That kind of play calling (run, run, run) needs to become our identity.  We simply lined up on that drive and shoved it right down their throats.  Now I know that having Tom as the QB heavily influenced the play calling, but this utilizes what I believe is one of the strengths of our team, especially when we have the one two punch of Moreno and Hillis.

2.  Speaking of Hillis, he was a beast.  He impresses me more each time he gets the ball.  His speed is nothing special, but what I am really impressed with is his vision.  He seems really effective at setting up his blockers and finding space.  But what was he thinking returning a kick ten yards deep in the end zone!  It worked, but what in the world.

3.  Rodney Harrison is a toolbox.  I found nothing to be impressed with during his time in the booth Sunday night.  He was lacking some serious charisma and said nothing of interest or of any real insight.  I was embarrassed when they had him break down Mckinley's deep pass on a replay-he simply stated the obvious.  But the worst part of the broadcast was when he threw McDaniels under the bus by saying that the Cutler situation was the "biggest mistake he has made so far as a coach."  Very nice Rod, your attempt to try and sound "objective" was weak and obvious and reveals your lack of integrity.  Pathetic.

4.  Collingsworth is a toolbox, tambien.  He kept jabbering on about the missed opportunity for the Broncos to have Cutler run McDaniels system.  But at the same time, he completely ignored the converse, which is that Cutler is missing a huge opportunity to play in McDaniels system, all because he wasn't man enough to handle the situation.  I'm sure Ron Turner, Earl Bennett, and Devin "what's a route" Hester are going to be better for Cutler's development.? This surprised me as I have been a fan of Collinsworth and his work in the booth.  But on Sunday night he simply took the pop-sports route, completely sacrificing objectivity along the way.

5.  Seth Olsen was manhandled.  Not really fair at this point to pick on him as he was thrust into duty that was unexpected after Kuper went down.  But he spent the next couple of series getting crushed into the backfield.  He did not look good at first, but he did rebound a bit in the third quarter.  Lets hope that with more time spent working with the first team, we will see a more stable output from him.

6.  Turnovers please!  Three preseason games and 0 turnovers.  Our defense is improved.  For the first time in a while, I look forward to watching that side of the ball.  But they are simply not good enough to win if they are not creating any turnovers.  Nor does our offense look potent enough (in preseason still, I know) to overcome that lack.    

8.  Stick a fork in Orlando Pace.   Wow, did Orlando look bad in that game.  Doom was way to much for him to handle and threw him to the side repeatedly like a very old and tired sack of potatoes.  Cutler is going to have a long year with that line.  I expect north of 15 interceptions as he will be rushing things to avoid pressure.  As we know, Cutler can and is often rattled and teams are going to be frothing at the mouth for that opportunity.  And Pace looks like his turnstile style we do nothing to help old Cutty!  Man, I don't know if I have ever desired a worse year for a player than I do for Jay this year.  I will shamefully admit that I am looking forward to watching Bears games just to root for him to fail!  He is a mental midget and when his true colors see the light of day in the windy city, there will finally be some objectivity about him.