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Well, the Bears finally won a game. Here’s the kicker: they even did it at home.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen this season. I was actually on the verge of hoping it wouldn’t happen.
I didn’t come close to wanting the Bears to lose all their games so much for the draft picks; it was more about them finally playing so badly that I would be forced to face my own mortality and devote my limited fandom to a worthier team, my lifetime allegiance be damned.
But it was not meant to be.
The Bears got the 21-13 win over the Minnesota Vikings, one of the few teams in the NFL that is more beleaguered than the Bears.
Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery finally got open (due in no small part to the Vikings playing man-to-man), Jay Cutler didn’t turn the ball over in terribly costly situations like usual and the defense was able to stop rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
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It was a win that, in the long run, probably doesn’t mean much of anything–this team isn’t going anywhere–but the one-score game probably could have gone the other way.
If Adrian Peterson had been reinstated prior to the game, maybe Bridgewater wouldn’t have felt the pressure so much, and maybe he would have been able to make a couple more throws.
But Peterson was not activated from the exempt/commissioner’s permission list, despite an agreement he says he had with NFL to reinstate him once his legal predicament (an indictment on reckless or negligent injury to a child) was resolved.
Well, Peterson reached a plea bargain in Texas, and his charges were downgraded to misdemeanor reckless assault. But as of Monday, he still hadn’t been reinstated.
While the NFL Players Association will push for his reinstatement, and they probably have a legal basis for it, I’m not bound by a collective bargaining agreement or contract law. I get to use my moral compass and as much logic as I can produce (very little).
I know that football players are professionals and try to keep their differences outside the stadium, but certain things are beyond the scope of trying to be professional. One of those things, in my opinion, is beating a four-year-old with a switch.
I’m trying to put myself in one of his teammates’ shoes. Yes, he probably helps us win games, but at what cost?
I don’t necessarily buy the idea of “distractions” around a football team, but this is an exception. A guy who was indicted on a felony charge—even if it was reduced to a misdemeanor—is not going to bring positive attention to a team.
Though the Bears may have lost had Adrian Peterson played, if I’m a Viking I’d rather he didn’t play for at least the rest of this season, even if it means that the Vikings take over from the Bears as the cellar-dweller of the NFC North.
And let’s be honest, the Bears may be a returning tenant soon.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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