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Re: WP article: Time for Gibbs to walk away?
A little perspective on another beatdown. On 9/29/85 the eventual champ Bears stomped Gibbs' Skins, 45-10 (Keep in mind. Back then coaches didn't run up the score unless they had a personal beef w/each other. Ditka & Gibbs always respected 1 another.)
A year later, see the entry from wikipedia below (notice the injury list). In addition to that, we beat them in the 1987-8 playoffs & went on to win the super bowl.
My point?
Gibbs has been through this before & while I agree w/much of what Shapiro said, this team may not be as far away as we think.
"The Bears were heavy favorites in the post season. They earned a first round bye. But in the first game at Soldier Field, they were upset by the Washington Redskins. A holding penalty and a missed field goal by Kevin Butler frustrated the Bears in the first quarter. However, they still managed to take a 13-7 lead into halftime. But their usual stellar defense fell apart in the second half, allowing the Redskins to score 20 unanswered points.
"Maybe my dreams didn't come true," said Chicago Coach Mike Ditka. "The defense has to play outstanding and today they were just not up to the way the Redskins were playing."
Despite injuries to offensive linemen Joe Jacoby and Russ Grimm, they and the rest of the blockers were able to pick up the Bears patented blitzes. Quarterback Jay Schroeder was sacked only twice. He was also able to use the blitzes to his advantage, completing passes while being chased out of the pocket.
Trailing 14-13 in the 4th quarter, the Bears good fortune ran out, when the usually dependable Payton lost a fumble, which led to an 83-yard touchdown drive by the Redskins. The long drive perpetrated against the NFL's best defense seemed to take the wind out of the Bears' sails. A few minutes later, the Bears muffed a punt return which set up an easy field goal for the Redskins.
When it was all said and done, the Bears lost 27-13. Still, they had a fantastic season overall, despite their weaknesses on offense and the poor play of their quarterbacks."
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