World of Beer is my new favorite place. The bar, which opened in November on the corner of Bayard and George Street in New Brunswick, has all sorts of different beers and more televisions than seems necessary. It's amazing. It's also where I watched tonight's Bears/Packers game.
I entered World of Beer at around 4:15 pm wearing my Mitchell and Ness throwback Walter Payton jersey with my brother Joel in his Jay Cutler jersey and his brother-in-law Amriel, who's a Giants fan. Our server, who was lovely, came up and asked how we were doing.
"Better now than I will be in about half an hour," I replied.
"He's being self-deprecating towards his team," Amriel clarified.
With Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and Randall Cobb all playing in the game, my expectations as a Bears fan were very low. One of the worst defenses I have ever seen going up against a perennial MVP candidate, his favorite target and a rookie of the year candidate running back seemed a little unfair. I thought Chicago would be blown out of the water and finish 8-8 with a mid-first round pick while Green Bay would win its third straight division title.
Then the game actually started. The Bears went three-and-out on their first drive (which started at the opposing 42), then got a raw deal on a call when they tried to down the ball close to the Packers' end zone. When the Packers started moving the ball with relative ease on their ensuing drive, the outcome seemed inevitable. On third and goal from the Chicago five yardline, Rodgers would hit Jordy Nelson, or Randall Cobb, or James Jones, or Andrew Quarless, or Donald Driver, or Javon Walker, or Antonio Freeman, or Bubba Franks...1 and the Pack would go up by seven. He instead hit Chris Conte (who plays safety for Chicago) who made a legitimately good defensive play by breaking off his man and the Bears escaped without giving up any points.
"That pass had the Mark Sanchez seal of approval," Amriel mused.
It didn't matter that the Bears drove 80 yards following that interception for a touchdown. The Packers eventually responded when Jarrett Boykin returned a "fumble" for 11 yards amid the confusion because he did. It didn't matter that Jay Cutler hit Alshon Jefferey for 67 yards that led to a one yard touchdown run to put the Bears up 21-13. The Packers responded with a seven play, 80 yard drive to pull back within one because of course they did. Finally, on fourth and 10 from the Bears 48 yardline down by one point, Rodgers escaped from the fingers of the Chicago pass rush and hit a wide-open-from-busted-coverage Randall Cobb to put the Packers up for good because of course he did.
I was obviously still rooting for Chicago, but even as they led until the 32 second mark, there was always the nagging thought that I was hoping against hope. I am conditioned not only from years past but from watching the 2013 Chicago Bears to know that the odds were very much against them winning. It would not have mattered to me whether the Bears were winning by one or 100, or whether lost by five or by 50. I knew what was going to happen.
"If you told me that the Bears would need a stop from their defense on a final drive to win the game, I would put money on them losing," I reflected after the game. "If you told me they would score 28, without telling me the Packers score, I would know that that would not be enough."
Such is the story of the past few years of the most historic rivalry in the league. The Bears, after relying on the defense to bail out the offense time and time again (which didn't work), can field a legitimately scary NFL offense. It just so happens to coincide with a declining and porous defense and a period of relative dominance from their chief rival. Both the Bears and the Packers dealt with injuries and inconsistencies in 2013, but with the postseason on the line, the Packers proved that, for the time being, they still maintain the upper hand.
1. I blanked out for a minute there. What just happened? ↩
No comments:
Post a Comment