Orton's Success Should Come as No Surprise

Bears fans who watched the Denver Broncos’ overtime victory over New England yesterday are probably wondering, “Why couldn’t Kyle Orton have played this way when he was with the Bears?”

While I’m as surprised as everyone else that the Broncos are unbeaten at 5-0, I’m not as surprised to see Orton perform as well as he has. In my blog last April after the Orton-Cutler trade, I wondered if Orton would have enjoyed better success in Chicago if he had better receivers to throw to, a younger, quicker offensive line to protect him, and a game plan that featured his strengths as a quarterback.

During his three years in Chicago, Orton was much maligned and underrated. Yet, for all his flaws, he posted a 21-12 career record with the Bears and had a .667 regular season winning percentage, the fourth highest among Bears quarterbacks since 1961. Being traded to Denver in the offseason provided the perfect opportunity to jumpstart his career. Now he has a chance to play every week with many of the players and offensive schemes that helped Cutler be so successful last season.

While it’s still early in the 2009 football campaign, it appears that this trade has worked out well so far for all parties. Cutler’s talents and leadership on the field is forcing the rest of the Bears team, especially the receivers, to raise their game to his level. Meanwhile, Orton, who went to a team with many offensive weapons already in place, has raised his game to match theirs.

If Orton’s performance so far this season proves anything, it’s this: Football is still a team sport. Winning depends on having a balanced attack: offense, defense, special teams and coaching. When all these elements are in place, you don’t need to be the most talented quarterback on the block to win in the National Football League. You just have to be a smart one.

Favre Finally Hangs Up His Cleats

We all knew this day would come sooner or later.

Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers future Hall-of-Fame QB and the Bears’ perennial thorn in their side, has officially announced his retirement from football today. At age 38, Favre has decided he’s had enough of the game and is moving on, leaving the sport he loves on his own terms. Here’s the official statement from Packers’ General Manager Ted Thompson about Favre’s retirement.

After a couple of sub par years in 2005 and 2006, he made quite a comeback in 2007, leading his team to a division title in the NFC North and into the NFC title game, which they lost to the New York Giants. Being the competitor that he is, you’d figure Favre would want to leave the game on a high note – and he did.

I won’t go into all the details of how Favre has contributed to this sport. His records speak for themselves, but you can see for yourself on the Packers tribute page.

I think I will always remember Favre as a tough competitor who never gave up. His drive, grit and determination on the field made him special to watch. His cannon arm wasn’t so bad either.

Packers’ fans and the league will certainly miss Favre. Bears fans may not want to admit it, but they will miss him too.

NFL Considering 17- Game Schedule

The NFL says it is considering adding one more week to its already lengthy regular-season schedule, bringing the total number of games to 17, according to the Associated Press. The extra game, which would replace a preseason game, would be played outside the United States either in England, Germany, Mexico or Canada. Every team will play one game abroad without affecting its regular home/away schedule.

While one game is already set for the 2007 season — Miami vs. the New York Giants at London’s Wembley Stadium -- the new schedule won’t go into effect until 2009 or 2010. The scheduling logistics could be affected in one of three ways:

1) Open the season on Labor Day weekend, which for some reason, the league has avoided in recent years.
2) Push the Superbowl to the second week of February.
3) Keep the Superbowl in its regular place in the schedule but eliminate the week between the conference title games and the Superbowl.

Interesting concept. The NFL has been considering international expansion for several years, but I worry that the season is already too long. On the other hand, it makes sense to eliminate one of the preseason games though. By the fourth preseason game, the players are anxious to start playing games for real and the coaches have a good idea which players will be on their squads. I say start the games Labor Day weekend and take advantage of the warmer weather.

A Bear of a Schedule

One of the few downsides to winning your division with a 13-3 record is earning a much tougher schedule the following season. By the look of the Bears’ 2007 regular schedule released today, the players and fans won’t have to wake up so early on game days. Ten of the team’s 16 games will be played in the late afternoon or evening, including a Monday night affair against the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 17. Also, for the third consecutive season, the Bears will open on the road, this time against the San Diego Chargers. In addition to playing two games against their division rivals – the Vikings, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers – the Bears also face Philadelphia, Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, Denver, N.Y. Giants, Washington, Oakland and New Orleans.

Wie Aids Paralyzed Football Player

Travis Hearn, a local football player from Rock Island High School in Rock Island, Ill., received quite a gift last week when teen golf sensation Michelle Wie donated $25,000 to the Travis Hearn Fund. Hearn, who suffered a spinal cord injury during a varsity football game earlier this season, is recuperating at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Wie, who has participated in two John Deere tournaments in the area, wanted to help the young athlete after she read about his situation in the local Quad Cities newspaper. “The people of the Quad-Cities have rooted for me and supported me like no other,” she told the paper. “I told Travis not to give up.”

In related news, Wie will be attending Stanford in the fall.

The NFL Is Looking for a Few Good Women

At a Reuters Media Summit earlier this week, officials from the National Football League said they want to woo more women viewers to the sport, but are still working out the best strategy to do so. Women sports fans, the NFL found, wanted marketing that appealed to their interests but did not make them feel that they were being treated differently than men.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says that this is a very big initiative for the league. “(Women) fans want to be treated as real fans because they love the game and they understand the game, and they want to have the opportunity to experience the game just as anyone else does.”

According to the NFL’s market research, women make up approximately 40 percent of the viewing audience for the Super Bowl, but the broadcasts failed to speak to the female viewers. That’s because most of the TV ads broadcast during the event are for autos, beer and electronics and often filled with humor directed at young men.

The NFL is playing it smart. With more women holding down full-time careers and managing the family’s finances, it makes sense for the league to appeal to their advertising dollars. The danger I see is in “feminizing” telecasts or advertising too much. It’s important to keep the car and beer ads — women buy these items too — but advertisers need to create ads that will appeal to both sexes. As for the football telecasts, don’t change a thing. Women will tune in simply because they love the game or they have loyalty to a certain team.

The NFL can learn from NASCAR, which has built its marketing strategy of attracting women fans by promoting its stock car races as events for the entire family. In fact, I think the key to creating a more balanced fan base for any sport is to promote it as family entertainment. That way you have a pipeline of fans, for the present and for the future. Families tend to share their sporting interests through the generations. If a parent is a Cub fan, chances are their kids will grow up to be Cub fans too.

Now if we can only figure out how to draw more male fans to sports that women traditionally enjoy, such as figure skating and gymnastics.

Bomb Scare Just a Hoax

If you were planning to attend an NFL game this weekend, you can relax now. It turns out the alleged bomb threats that were targeted at several pro football stadiums this weekend was just a hoax, according to the FBI.

Will the Real Rookie QB Please Stand Up?

Bears QB Rex Grossman probably played the worst game of his professional life with four interceptions and two fumbles during Monday night's game against the Arizona Cardinals. People often forget that because of injuries, Grossman has played less than one year of professional football to date, so he is still prone to making rookie-type mistakes. He is neither as bad as he appeared last night nor as good as he has played in previous games. Grossman said it best in the Bears’ post-game press conference: “We’ve got a whole bye week to talk about how bad I played.”

Cardinals’ QB Matt Leinart, on the other hand, looked like he’s played in the NFL for years. This was only his second professional start, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he played. He threw for 194 years, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He has a poise and confidence far beyond his years. The Cardinals deserved a better fate perhaps, but as not-so-good teams do, they found a way to lose.

Monday Night Miracle

I have a terrible confession to make.

After Bears’ QB Rex Grossman threw his fourth interception with about six minutes left in last night’s nationally-televised game against the Arizona Cardinals, I turned off the TV and went to bed. With the Bears down 23-10, I figured the game was over.

I was in bed only a few minutes when I heard a neighbor start yelling. But it was a yell of excitement, not pain. So I got up and checked on the Bears game – just in case. Bears’ rookie Devon Hester had just returned a punt for 83 yards to tie the score. With the ensuing extra point, the Bears were ahead 24-23 with less than three minutes remaining in the game. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Less then four minutes had elapsed on the game clock since I turned off the tube, and I’m thinking to myself, “How did this happen? These guys were dead to the world.”

Thanks to their highly-touted defense, the Bears scored two of their touchdowns courtesy of fumble recoveries. The third touchdown came on Hester’s punt return. Add a Bobbie Gould field goal, and the Bears scored 24 points without an offensive score. Once again, the Bears D and special teams bailed out the offense, as they always seem to do.

The Bears were so thoroughly outplayed last night that they did not deserve to win. But somehow they did. Miracle finishes like this happen to good teams. And when Cardinals' kicker Neil Rackers missed a 40-yard field goal attempt with 52 seconds left, when he had not missed a field goal of 50 yards or less all season, the Bears celebrated a most unlikely victory. At 6-0, they remain the only unbeaten team in the NFC.

After seeing a miracle finish like this, I had to wonder -- is it dumb luck or is it destiny? Maybe this is the Bears’ year after all.