Jimbo Covert Reveals How He Knows 2019 Bears Are Legit Contenders
Jimbo Covert is the greatest left tackle in Chicago Bears history. Few would ever dare argue that point. He is also a vital member of the 1985 team that won the Super Bowl. He knows what it takes to reach the mountaintop. So when it comes to asking certain people to ascertain where this 2019 group is capable of it, he’s certain a name worth talking to.
Many have made comparisons between this current group and those of the mid-1980s. There’s the dominant defense and the solid running game along with an array of underrated offensive weapons built around a young and capable quarterback. It’s fair to say the team back that was probably a bit more loaded, but it’s pretty close on paper.
Covert spoke with Bears All-Access 780 about his impressions of this team. Does he think they are capable of going the distance or is something missing? His answer should give fans another jolt of excitement.
Jimbo Covert believes the 2019 team now has the hunger
Covert believes one of the primary keys that finally got his team over the hump in ’85 wasn’t any one player or coach. It was more of a changing mindset. One that brought about by bitter experiences in the playoffs. He thinks attitude more than anything will drive the team forward.
“I think the expectation is they’re going to win and they’re going to go to the Super Bowl. You know, anything short of that is going to be a disappointment. I think that’s the attitude they should have.”
He went on to explain how his Bears in the mid-1980s reached a point of laser focus following their crushing loss in San Francisco in the 1984 NFC championship.
“We through ’83, ’84 and got embarrassed out in San Francisco and on the plane on the way back home, we all kind of sat there and said, ‘Hey, this is never going to happen to us again.’ I mean we got downright embarrassed. So we were never going to be in that position again. It started right after that.
I think if remember at the beginning of the (’85) season, we had the same type of attitude. I mean guys got up and said, ‘Hey, no more failure. We’re going to win the thing.’ That’s the attitude you have to have and I’m seeing that now. Today with those guys.”
After losing 23-0 in San Francisco, the Bears went 15-1 and won their two playoff games by a combined score of 45-0 en route to Super Bowl XX. There they crushed New England 46-10. This current Bears team exhibits many of the same signs. They’re business-like in their approach to practice. They come across confident but subdued. Everybody is working hard from the top down. It feels like a group that isn’t keen on being disappointed again this year.