CHICAGO -- Tommie Harris wasn't impressed. Nope, the Chicago Bears' rookie defensive tackle, whose team got thrashed, throttled and otherwise embarrassed Sunday, wasn't buying into the growing notion the Indianapolis Colts are the scariest and most dominant team in the league these days.
Even after a 41-10 loss that wasn't as close as the score might suggest.
"No, I'm not impressed," said Harris, who was surrounded by media Sunday after his midweek chirping about the dominance of his own team's defensive line. "C'mon, we gave up six (actually five) turnovers. We didn't play our game. We made them look better than what they are."
Which might be true.
If the Bears had played really well, it might have been 35-10, and Colts coach Tony Dungy wouldn't have felt compelled to remove his star players with an entire quarter remaining.
What, exactly, must the Colts do before they're deemed impressive? Find a cure for cancer at halftime? Forge a lasting peace in the Middle East during a two-minute drill?
Maybe Harris wasn't impressed. But some of us surely were.
By now, the numbers are starting to look distorted and unreal, like an image in a funhouse mirror. Didn't anybody tell the Colts this is the League of Parity, where everybody looks and plays the same and every game ends 20-17?
The Colts have averaged 39 points per game the past four weeks. That's something Auburn does to a bunch of cupcake nonconference opponents. That's not something that happens in the NFL.
By the time it was over, Bears coach Lovie Smith wasn't sure whether his team was really that bad or if the Colts were just a buzzsaw.
"I would like to think that, once it's all said and done, we played a very good team, which I think they are," Smith said. "We're better than we played, but we saw their best today."
This was a tough one for Chicago to swallow, not only because it injured the Bears' slim playoff hopes, but because a number of them yapped during the week that the Colts were a paper tiger. Like Chicago's desperate and delusional football fans, they actually believed their three-game winning streak was for real. What they forgot was, they beat Ken Dorsey and San Francisco, Kurt Warner and the Giants, and Billy Volek's Tennessee Titans.
A Bears linebacker, Lance Briggs, went on Chicago radio and essentially issued the now-tiresome guarantee -- although I won't listen to guarantees unless a man's paycheck is on the line.
When the aforementioned Harris was asked last week if Peyton Manning impressed him, he shook his head.
"No," he said. "Look at our defense. Does that impress you when you watch that? I feel pretty confident in us and that our defensive line is the best in the NFL. Blow that up and put my name underneath it."
He wasn't finished. "If you listen to what everybody says, it's like they (the Colts) won the Super Bowl," Harris said. "I respect Peyton Manning, but he's just like any other quarterback."
After the game, a Chicago columnist asked Harris, "Do you still think you have the best defensive line in the league?"
Fair question, since his defense had just given up the third-most rushing yards by an opponent in the long history of the Bears.
"I know we do," he said. "I know sometimes . . . "
He was interrupted. Defensive end Alex Brown leaned over to Harris and whispered in his ear. Then Brown, looking menacing, asked the reporter, "Why do you ask that?"
After the reporter explained himself, Harris intervened. "Don't you have bad days at work?"
Of all the things that have begun to go right with these Colts, one area stands out, and that's the defense. For two years, Dungy promised his defense would improve in the second half of the season, and both times he failed to deliver. This season, though, it appears the promise is being fulfilled.
Maybe it was the decision to go back to a simpler style, or maybe a light went on and the defense experienced a group epiphany. Whatever it was, the Colts have become pass-rushing menaces, especially off the corners, while continuing to do a more-than-reasonable job against the run.
If this had been a single game against the punchless Bears, I wouldn't be terribly impressed. The Bears, who really could use an NFL quarterback, play offense going uphill. But this has been three weeks of far-better-than-average defensive football -- against Daunte Culpepper and the Vikings, David Carr and the Texans and now, the Bears.
It makes you wonder what a team has to do to impress Harris.
Tough audience, huh?
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/196642-9508-196.html
Even after a 41-10 loss that wasn't as close as the score might suggest.
"No, I'm not impressed," said Harris, who was surrounded by media Sunday after his midweek chirping about the dominance of his own team's defensive line. "C'mon, we gave up six (actually five) turnovers. We didn't play our game. We made them look better than what they are."
Which might be true.
If the Bears had played really well, it might have been 35-10, and Colts coach Tony Dungy wouldn't have felt compelled to remove his star players with an entire quarter remaining.
What, exactly, must the Colts do before they're deemed impressive? Find a cure for cancer at halftime? Forge a lasting peace in the Middle East during a two-minute drill?
Maybe Harris wasn't impressed. But some of us surely were.
By now, the numbers are starting to look distorted and unreal, like an image in a funhouse mirror. Didn't anybody tell the Colts this is the League of Parity, where everybody looks and plays the same and every game ends 20-17?
The Colts have averaged 39 points per game the past four weeks. That's something Auburn does to a bunch of cupcake nonconference opponents. That's not something that happens in the NFL.
By the time it was over, Bears coach Lovie Smith wasn't sure whether his team was really that bad or if the Colts were just a buzzsaw.
"I would like to think that, once it's all said and done, we played a very good team, which I think they are," Smith said. "We're better than we played, but we saw their best today."
This was a tough one for Chicago to swallow, not only because it injured the Bears' slim playoff hopes, but because a number of them yapped during the week that the Colts were a paper tiger. Like Chicago's desperate and delusional football fans, they actually believed their three-game winning streak was for real. What they forgot was, they beat Ken Dorsey and San Francisco, Kurt Warner and the Giants, and Billy Volek's Tennessee Titans.
A Bears linebacker, Lance Briggs, went on Chicago radio and essentially issued the now-tiresome guarantee -- although I won't listen to guarantees unless a man's paycheck is on the line.
When the aforementioned Harris was asked last week if Peyton Manning impressed him, he shook his head.
"No," he said. "Look at our defense. Does that impress you when you watch that? I feel pretty confident in us and that our defensive line is the best in the NFL. Blow that up and put my name underneath it."
He wasn't finished. "If you listen to what everybody says, it's like they (the Colts) won the Super Bowl," Harris said. "I respect Peyton Manning, but he's just like any other quarterback."
After the game, a Chicago columnist asked Harris, "Do you still think you have the best defensive line in the league?"
Fair question, since his defense had just given up the third-most rushing yards by an opponent in the long history of the Bears.
"I know we do," he said. "I know sometimes . . . "
He was interrupted. Defensive end Alex Brown leaned over to Harris and whispered in his ear. Then Brown, looking menacing, asked the reporter, "Why do you ask that?"
After the reporter explained himself, Harris intervened. "Don't you have bad days at work?"
Of all the things that have begun to go right with these Colts, one area stands out, and that's the defense. For two years, Dungy promised his defense would improve in the second half of the season, and both times he failed to deliver. This season, though, it appears the promise is being fulfilled.
Maybe it was the decision to go back to a simpler style, or maybe a light went on and the defense experienced a group epiphany. Whatever it was, the Colts have become pass-rushing menaces, especially off the corners, while continuing to do a more-than-reasonable job against the run.
If this had been a single game against the punchless Bears, I wouldn't be terribly impressed. The Bears, who really could use an NFL quarterback, play offense going uphill. But this has been three weeks of far-better-than-average defensive football -- against Daunte Culpepper and the Vikings, David Carr and the Texans and now, the Bears.
It makes you wonder what a team has to do to impress Harris.
Tough audience, huh?
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/196642-9508-196.html
