Throwing into coverage again; as criticism of Bears continues, Love will dust off his only trick:

Love Smith's well-developed siege mentality couldn't have had a better week. Critics shot so many arrows into the Bears' boarded-up psyche that his players surely got the message:WQZSUS4Y5XPA
It's them against the world.
It started Sunday, when Smith caught heavy criticism for not kicking a field goal on fourth down from inside the Detroit Lions' 1-yard line with his team trailing by a point.
The Bears beat the Lions, but only because of nfl jerseys
a controversial rule that caused a national storm. In other words, they didn't get the credit they thought they deserved.
After the game, Lance Briggs lashed out at unnamed critics who apparently had suggested that he and fellow linebacker Brian Ulcer were old and slow.
On Tuesday, photographs emerged of quarterback Jay Cutler walking in New York with his girlfriend, a reality-TV personality. It launched talk-show debate about whether he should be jetting around the country during the season, even on his day off.
On Wednesday, NFL Network analyst and former All-Pro defensive tackle Warren Sapp ripped Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris for not playing his position correctly.
That same day, Cutler told reporters the best way for wide receiver Devin Hester to catch some passes would be to actually, you know, get open. The media had a field day analyzing the quote for cracks in the Cutler-Hester relationship.
On Thursday, running back Matt Forte opened up his Sun-Times and read the same news he had given to his fiancée only two days before -- that his ex-girlfriend was going to have a baby in November and that he was the father. Forte now has an ex-fiancée, according to the report.
The only thing missing on Planet Bears was a Mexican TV reporter in shrink-wrap jeans tormenting Love’s players.
I think we all know where this is going, courtesy of Smith: Media bad. Very, very bad.
He'll trot out his favorite motivational tool, the one that features the good guys on one side and the bad guys on the other.
Without that tool, without the media serving as a cause for him, it'd Pittsburgh Steelers jersey
be impossible to know he was coaching the Bears. Without that tool, he'd be one of those living-statue mimes.
If we media members provide that much motivation for the Bears, will we get a playoff share, should the unthinkable happen this season? Some of us have bills to pay.
LONE EMOTIONAL BUTTON
Smith's previous six years in Chicago have taught us that the concept of an evil media is the only thing that brings out the head coach in him. It's the only thing that ever has induced outward emotion in the man. Remember when a magazine named Ulcer the most overrated player in the NFL? By Smith's reaction, you would have thought somebody had just put a bullet in each of Ulcer’s thighs.
And when most media ''experts'' picked the Indianapolis Colts to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl after the 2006 season, Love mentioned the offending parties to his players to fire them up.
So here the Bears are, getting ready for their big game in Dallas on Sunday, and you have to believe that if Smith circled his 53 wagons any more tightly, he'd have his own subdivision.
Making it an us-vs.-them proposition is so amateurish, so high-schools, it's almost comical. Of all the motivational buttons to be pushed, this is the one Smith chooses year after year? At the professional level? Really?
The relationship between the Bears and the media is a long-distance one. The team prefers that contact be minimal and that questions be few and far between. There's a disdain there, a haughtiness you won't find in many other places.
What Smith never has understood is that the media are the conduit to the fans. The other day, when he uttered the words ''Football 101'' to a reporter who had the temerity to ask why he hadn't given Bears cornerback Zack Bowman any help on Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson, he was insulting the Bears' faithful, too.
THE GAP WIDENS
It's only one of the reasons there's such a disconnect between fans and Smith. But it's a big one. If he had ever made an effort to be cordial, informative or -- heavens! -- interesting, his 23-25 record the previous three seasons might not be as big an issue as it is now. He might have been extended the benefit of the doubt.
If I were a psychologist, I'd say Smith's condescending attitude Minnesota Vikings jersey
stems from insecurity. But what do I know? I'm just a newspaper critter who is still trying to get through Football 101.
If the Bears beat the Cowboys on Sunday, they very well could reach critical mass on the insufferable meter. That would make them 2-0. Is it worth it, Bears fans?