Come to Think of It: For Bears' Lovie Smith The Difference Is Accountability

"We were 9-7 last year and weren't able to get into the playoffs ... 10-6 normally gets you there. So it's only fitting to look ahead to see what's still left in front of us, if we take care of business this week."   
 

Of course this was Lovie Smith talking with his optimistic blinders on, as usual. This team has lost five out of six games and faces a Minnesota Vikings team that is 9-1 and Lovie is talking about the playoffs?  

In just what alternate universe does this guy live in? For a long time we've known what a stubborn and obsessively loyal-to-a-fault coach he was, so it's not surprising to hear him spew this nonsense once again. 

But give us Bears fans some credit, Lovie. We're not stupid, we see what's going down. And this Bears team is going down ... the toilet. 

But not in Lovie's world, where everything is always coming up roses. When Rex Grossman was posting a QB rating of 10 or whatever, Lovie would still be saying in his aw-shucks manner, the familiar refrain that "Rex is our quarterback."  

And the fact that our savior, Jay Cutler, is throwing the ball to the opposition more often than the weather changes in Chicago hasn't seem to dim Lovie's rosy view. Lovie offered this scintillating review of Cutler's most recent performance:  

“He made good decisions (Sunday) night,” Smith said. “He overthrew a few passes. That happens with all quarterbacks.”

Sure, and it's normal to expect your defense to get stomped on to the tune of more than 40 points twice in three weeks too, right?

Look, it's true that his players support him, but why wouldn't they? They continually make mistakes and their head coach continually covers for them. What's not to like? 

There is simply no accountability. Speaking of that, where is the accountability from Jerry Angelo on Lovie? Or from Ted Phillips regarding Jerry's performance? Or from the McCaskeys on Ted? It seems like everyone is in on this little charade of hide the truth. 

Being an optimist is fine. Being blind to the truth is dangerous.  

WSCR's Hub Arkush reported Tuesday that someone in the Bears hierarchy is putting out feelers as to what interest the available coaches might have in coming to the Bears. But the team quickly denied this, of course, and even Hub says this doesn't mean the Bears will make any changes. It seems they may be simply doing their due diligence. 

Meanwhile, there are some very solid former head coaches out there if the Bears do decide to make a change. Personally, I'd like to see Mike Shanahan, who coincidentally has a relationship with Cutler and would bring an offensive mindset to the Bears.  

Alas, it is more likely that the Bears simply make Ron Turner the scapegoat and fire him after the season. I would certainly not be opposed to firing Turner, but that would be masking the real problem. 

The difference is accountability, come to think of it.