Karmic debt for the Bears
After riding the back of Thomas Jones all the way to the Super Bowl, the Bears repayed him by letting him go, putting all their eggs in the basket of top draft pick Cedric Benson.
This is a classic case of holding on to a bad investment, no different than the phenomenon seen every day in the stock market, where investors watch a stock plummet and, rather than dumping it to minimize losses, they hold on to it as if it owed them something.
Benson did was all bad investments do - he continued to disappoint. He’s been the league’s worst rusher, with a dismal 3.4 yards-per-carry average. Meanwhile, Thomas Jones is on pace for a 1000-yard season in spite of his new role on the anemic New York Jets offense.
Poetic justice came Sunday. The Bears offense struggled all day, with only the heroic efforts of Devin Hester keeping them in the game at all. In the second half, the Broncos took a commanding 14-point lead. But then Benson went down with a season-ending injury.
Amazingly, as soon as Benson was out of the game, a Bears offense that had only made two first-downs in three quarters, suddenly marched down the field and scored a triumphant touchdown. Then, on their next possession, they did it again, tying the game and going on to win in overtime.
When you take off the bad wheel, the bus starts rolling again. Adrian Peterson (unlike his namesake in Minnesota) is no stud, and I’ll bet the Bears wish they’d kept Thomas Jones. But perhaps now that Benson is off the field they might start winning again. Hopefully it’s not already too late for their season.
Tags: Bears, Cedric Benson, chicago, football, Thomas Jones