I warned you that the 2007 edition of the Chicago Bears were going to be in trouble with their ground game.  Yesterday, against a world class defense mirroring it's own, the Bears dropped, literally, a 14-3 decision to the San Diego Chargers.

For the Bears to succeed, they have to run the football.  Yesterday, they could not.  Feature back Cedric Benson had but 43 yards on 19 carries (that's about 2.3 yards per carry for those of you playing at home) and a fumble while Adrian Peterson didn't fare any better with  38 yards on 7 carries and a fumble. They could not convert third and ones and third and twos and any kind of critical short yardage situations.  And Benson is supposed to get better as the game goes on?

Rex Grossman was 12/23 for 145 yards with a fumble and a pick.  In fairness to Rex, the pick may or may not have been his fault as Barnard Berrian broke off his route and Grossman threw where he thought Berrian was supposed to be.  After the game, Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner took the bullet, saying it was a new play that he shouldn't have called in that situation.  It makes you wonder how many other wrong calls Turner may have made yesterday.

Overall, the Bears had 4 turnovers, three by the offense and one inexplicable fumble by Brandon McGowan who ran right into a live punt while trying to clear room for Devin Hester.

And, so it goes.

The defense was outstanding for most of the game, stuffing LT (holding him to his lowest yard total since 2005) and doing everything but finding a way to shut down tight end Antonio Gates who seemed to find every seem in the defense.  In fact, the Chargers had to resort to wacky chicanery to sore a touchdown on a halfback pass by Tomlinson.  However, even the best Bears defensive game plan is useless if the offense can't run the football.

One cause for concern defensively for Bears coach Lovie Smith was Adam Archuleta who looked out of position on several key Charger gains.  He may know the Bears system, but injuries have slowed him and he doesn't seem to get where he is supposed to be quick enough.  Another cause for concern is a knee injury to Mike Brown.  I had three games in the Mike Brown injury pool.

So, next week it's Kansas City and another big back, Larry Johnson.  Fortunately for the Bears, the Chiefs defense will be a little more forgiving and Cedric Benson may crank it up to, I don't know, for 75 yards.

Lightning Round

• The Bears end week one in last place in the NFC Central.  Green Bay took advantage of some unbelievably bad special teams play by Philadelphia and edged the Eagles; The Lions showed some Mike Martz offense in pounding the woeful Raiders and the Vikings and their version of Adrian Peterson ran all over the Rams.   If you took the  Packers defense, merged it with the Lions receivers and the Vikings running backs and added Brett Favre as your quarterback, you might have a team that could do pretty well. 
  
• 
  The White Sox lost to Johan Santana again.  Jim Thome hit his third home run of the weekend and the 498th of his career.  Jon Garland continues to give up two out hits and runs and basically has punched his bus ticket out of Chicago in the off season.  The Sox play the Indians tonight at US Cellphone Field.  I hope Jim Thome hits #500 against them as a thank you present.
• The Sox don't lose any ground to the Royals who are still 1½ games up in fourth place.
• There is a new leader in the NL Central race: The Milwaukee Brewers who tied a major league record with three home runs to start the game against the Reds.  The Cubs were pounded by the Pirates and are now a game behind the Brewers. The Cardinals have lost three straightand are now three back with an elimination number of 19.  Quick, Genius.  Think of something. The Cardinals have five games left with the Cubs (including a make-up game today) and three games left with the Brewers, so they still have a lot to say about who is going to win this race.
  

• The college football polls are outand why LSU is not #1 is a mystery to me.  What's not a mystery is Auburn dropping out of the poll after being beaten by USF and Oregon entering the poll after their domination of once proud Michigan.  I was surprised how high South Carolina debuted in the AP poll (17), but given the fact they beat Georgia and they most likely will finish second in their division, it may not be as surprising as it seems.
• The latest major leaguer to receive HGH: Jay Gibbons of the Orioles (crickets).
• Players aren't the only ones who get suspended for college football games.
• The soon to be ex-wife of disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy says she is leaving him because of repeated traveling violations.
  
• I'm comforted to know that America still likes westerns.
• I just love religion for profit.
• Today's List: The 100 best TV shows of all time.  They pretty much nailed it except they forgot Sportsnight and Boston Legal.