False Bears Narrative of the Week

Analysis: The Bears got lucky and it rained is the next narrative to expect after they beat the 49ers, but they're more dangerous now than before the opener.

It didn't take long until the next negative Bears narrative surfaced.

In fact, it didn't even take until Monday morning.

NFL Network's Chris Rose sounded it on their NFL Game Day final program after showing highlights of the slip 'n slide in the end zone. He muttered about next Sunday's game at Lambeau Field that they better bring their rain along.

This is the national narrative on the Bears beating San Francisco at Soldier Field: They took advantage of a freshly sodded field so saturated by rain that they had to squeegee it off earlier.

Apparently the 49ers were the only ones affected by the wet field. Apparently the Bears must practice all the time in a quagmire?

The Bears were actually so unprepared for it they thought they could sop up the water with a towel, like someone grabbing a paper towel to blot up spilt milk. The officials knew they couldn't and penalized punter/holder Trenton Gill accordingly, although kicker Cairo Santos said in the locker room he had been the one to do it.

"Regarding that play, I'm taking responsibility for that because you are allowed to use a towel to dry your hands," Santos said. "So I just wanted to flatten the spot and just grabbed his towel and did it myself and the referee called him. It was really my responsibility."

Actually, both did it, first the rookie. So, 7 1/2 yards apiece should suffice.

Fifteen yards does seem a rather steep penalty for illegal dryness but Matt Eberflus acted in the postgame like he knew about the rule. Perhaps the coaching staff should have let the players known about it? 

After all, the legendary NFL Films clip is of the Patriots bringing a small tractor on the field to plow out a spot so they could kick a field goal. So naturally one wouldn't think a towel could be so naughty.

The point of all this is the Bears were no more prepared for this weather than the 49ers. This was only more argument for that domed stadium in Arlington Heights but that's an issue for another dry day. 

An NFL game might be more interesting to watch on television when elements impact it adversely but it becomes a challenge for all the players to negotiate. Yet, that's what the Bears did.

The entire NFL season is nothing more than 17 weeks of teams adjusting to situations, whether it's rain, the Cowboys facing big chunks of the season now without Dak Prescott, the Packers without Elgton Jenkins and David Bakhtiari, the 49ers losing running back Elijah Mitchell after he'd been chewing up yardage against the Bears, or the Bears playing without two of the bigger receivers they've been counting on to help Justin Fields.

The team best able to get beyond adversity might be one that actually believes in itself or something. In this respect, the Bears seem far better equipped than many teams.

While they obviously lack the athletic ability of many teams at receiver and are still piecing together an offensive line, they actually believe in the HITS principle. 

HITS might seem cornball, hackneyed coachspeak to many, but they have been indoctrinated. And they just saw it work the way the coaches said it would.

So they have become a dangerous team when they believe in something and it actually worked. They're empowered.

It's the best they can come up with for now, until they also are able to control the elements and make it rain at will or add more talent in the draft and free agency.

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