By Soxman

As the Bears record drops to 3-2, with tough divisional match-ups still on the horizon, I couldn’t help but notice how well former Chicago Bears players are doing these days.  Yes I said FORMER players.  What’s even more shocking is that fans’ desire for these player’s exits from Chicago came almost as fast as the gusts of the windy city could push them out of town.

At this point in the season, would we take them back?  Let’s examine and see where your loyalties lie.

Out:  Kyle Orton

In: Jay Cutler

Orton has a 100.1 QB rating on the season, has thrown for 1465 yards and only one interception in six games.  His team is 6-0.

Cutler has an 86.9 QB rating and has already thrown 7 interceptions on the season.  We know “his team’s” record.

Out: Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones

In: Matt Forte

Benson has become the third leading rusher in the NFL (594 yards) and has found the end zone 4 times.  Yes.  I’m talking about the same Cedric Benson who I was critical of since he was anointed the “face of the Bears” two years ago and left Chicago with mace in his eyes and the label of another RB bust. Thomas Jones, who the Bears pretty much gave away after he rushed them to the Super Bowl, has racked up over 1100 yards every year since he’s left Chicago and has already rushed for 481 yards and six TDs this season.

It would be an understatement to say nicknames like “Sweetness II” and “the answer” once being bantered about Matt Forte have been put on hold as the Bears’ running game is now a defined as “a problem.”  Forte has rushed for just 294 yards and scored one touchdown. Is it not inevitable that as Bears fans we are so quick to rush to judgment?  Especially when the year 1985 is our only recollection of super bowl glory? 

I still remember when Rex Grossman returned from one of his many injuries to supplant Orton as the Bears starting QB in 2004.  How many Chicago Papers said how great it was to “finally have a real QB in Chicago?”   Remember how quickly that changed when Grossman posted a 66.4 QB rating in 8 games in 2007?   Last weekend, I noticed a Grossman jersey being used as a hand towel at a local Chicago restaurant.

It goes without saying that if the Bears were 5-0, we would care less about former players, or that Matt Forte is currently one of the lowest ranked RBs in the NFL.  But, we are here instead.  So instead we voice our frustration and fantasize about a backfield with the 2009 Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones, or spew hatred at Kyle Orton because he “found himself” in Denver. A special lady in my life recently opened my ears to the possibility of appreciating country music.  Something that I never thought possible.  So as a Bears fan I can say with 100% assurance that it is possible to find something good out of something perceived to be bad.  Ironically, a song by Little Texas entitled “What Might Have Been” just randomly started playing on I-tunes  as I type this article.

The refrain is interesting: “Try not to think about what might have been.  That was then, and we have taken different roads, we can’t look back again, no use giving in, there’s no way to know, what might have been.”

So I guess you can say that in the spirit of divine intervention, I will not begin to theorize or debate how Forte would fare in New York, or how Benson would perform with the 2009 Bears offensive line blocking for him. But in the spirit of irony, I’ll also reveal that I’m wearing my Chicago Bears Kyle Orton jersey as I type this article and strangely find myself thinking that the 2009 Broncos have all the fixings for Sportsbank readers to love:

-New England Patriot ties
-Chicago Bears castaways
-Underdogs predicted by everyone to be in a re-building year
-The Sportsbank colors or Bears colors.
-The “Monsters of the Mountains” defense.  Catchy isn’t it?  (patent pending by Soxman)

And both cities have fair weather…conditions… albeit fans. Now we only need to come up with a sappy white man’s rap to rival the 85 Bears Super Bowl Shuffle and we truly might be on to something here. For diehard fans who love the Bears no matter what, remember, a trade is not measured in one season alone. Jay Cutler is 5th in the NFL in interceptions.  Only Mark Sanchez, Jake Delhome, Kerry Collins, and Carson Palmer have thrown more picks.  Three of those four players may lose their starting gig before the season is over.  Roast accordingly and swim in the cess pool of negativity that only the Chicago media, or perhaps more aptly the Bears PR (“Police Resistance”) staff can generate.

Where do your loyalties and thoughts lie?  Think about it while I consider accepting a Jay Cutler and Matt Forte for Kyle Orton and Cedric Benson swap in one of my fantasy leagues.   After all, there are loyalties.  Especially when it comes to winning games.

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