Lovie Smith: Why Is This Man Hiding His Play Calls?

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Its looks rather silly when NFL coaches shield their mouths when signaling in top secret plays.

They do it, I suppose, to prevent opposing teams highly paid lip readers from catching their top secret calls and relaying them to the sidelines then to the offensive, or defensive play caller then to the huddle.

Maybe its SpyGate backlash, maybe its pure American coaching paranoia, or maybe Andy Reid has a snickers, or six, taped on his game plan.

All that secret agent man stuff is stuck in the few seconds between plays.

Its silly stuff in close games but why was Lovie Smith shielding his mouth today while whispering in plays when his Chicago Bears were being devastated, 45-10 was the final, by the Cincinnati Bengals?

What football super secrets was Lovie hiding during the Bear slaughter anyway?

The score was 45-10. The Bears defense, whose plays are being called, rather badly I might add, by Lovie, was making the Bengals look like the 1984 San Francisco Forty Niners.

The Bears defensive backs looked disorganized and dumb stuck, the Bears rush defense made Bear cast off running back Cedric Benson look like Earl Campbell, and the Bengals passing attack  cut up the Bears passing defense like a sharp knife through warm ice cream cake.

So what top secrets was Lovie hiding?

What super secret blitz, sneaky coverage, or run stopping master plan was the man hiding behind the mouth covering many colored secret play sheet?

Its 38 -10 then 45-10 and the man is still whispering his top secret defensive plan. One wonders if Lovie has Johnny Rivers playing in his head as he send in his next top secret blitz?

There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every move he makes another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow

Secret agent man, secret agent man
They've given you a number and taken away your name

What secrets are they hiding with the whispers and the covered mouth?

Since their Super Bowl appearance the Bears have been a team without much of a plan.

Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera was unceremoniously fired after the Super Bowl and the defense has been in decline ever since.

MLB Brian Urlacher is injured and past his best days. Highly paid star DT Tommy Harris, who missed the Bengals game with the same old knee injury, seems like his best days, and they were brief, are long gone.

The Bears secondary is still horrible and they had no pass rush, as usual, today.

The offensive line is, well, offensive and free agent Orlando Pace looks way past his prime. The Bears line is unable to run block at all this year. The second year rookie tackle with a bad back from Vanderbilt, Chris Williams, is struggling and Pace is worse at run blocking then his often penalty producing pass blocking.

The team lacks a real legitimate receiving threat, as they have since Willie Gault went west or perhaps since Willie Galimore went off that ill fated highway.

Meanwhile exiled Bears like Kyle Orton, Cedric Benson, Thomas Jones, Chris Harris, Brandon McGowan, Bernard Berrian, Justin Gage, and Marc Columbo have all gotten better since leaving for, perhaps, better coaching pastures

So the Bears have the man with the secret play calls, running back Matt Forte who can not break a play this year, and they have QB Jay Cutler for two more years. 

And the word is out on Cutler: Pressure bring picks and forced throws.

The Bears have no first round picks in the next two years and no second or third round ones next year either.

Next year is likely the last year the NFL is without a rookie salary cap. A cynic would say that perhaps the Bears are glad to not have those high picks next year so they could save some money.

But the Bears have Cutler, who looks increasingly battered and frustrated, they have a lame high priced defensive lineman, star linebacker on injured reserve, a running back who has no holes, and the head coach with the secret plays.

One suggestion for Coach Smith. Stop hiding the play calls what do you have to lose unless, of course, you think if the Bengals had read your lips they might have scored a hundred points on your defense.

45 to10 or 110 to 10 in the end what's the difference?

Why not?

The always shaky wheels have come off the Lovie driven Chicago Bear bus.

It isn't gonna be a pretty sight.

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