Chicago Bears 2011 Season in Review

Great start ends in disappointment

What a year, looking back it has been quite a wild ride.  The Chicago Bears were able to convince a lot of people (including analysts) that they should be considered a good team.  However, the injury bug plagued the Chicago Bears and exposed our weakness in back-up replacements.  Yet there are a lot of positives to look forward to next season and while we didn’t make playoffs I think that might have just given us a false sense of hope.  Realistically the Chicago Bears were not one of the elite teams in the league.  If we didn’t lose all the players to injury (including Gabe Carimi) there could be a shot that we would continue to develop and get better and as we saw during the regular season there is no guaranteed win.  However, injures occurred and really set us back.  Ultimately it cost the GM his job (he was most likely the scapegoat for the season).  But true Chicago Bear fans know this was a day to be celebrated.  Looking back over the decisions that Jerry Angelo made, it was high time for him to get the axe.  It was doubly nice to see that Mike Martz avoids the axe as well and resigned for us.  While yes he did coordinate the greatest team on tuff in years past the translation to the Chicago Bears was less than stellar.  Additionally, I am almost positive he was very instrumental in Roy Williams signing this year and everyone has to admit it was a poor choice.  The problem with Martz is he believes that he can design plays that are indefensible.  While this may be the case, you have to have the personnel that are capable of running the play and we did not and it took him many weeks to learn this.  Even Jay Cutler vented his frustrations publically regarding the play calling.  Sadly this means yet another transition from the offense with a new head coordinator.  However, I think it is needed and we need to get someone for the long haul.  The organization needs to stop being cheap and spend some dough on good replacements for both these openings (here is an article that discusses possible replacements).

We started off the season 7-3 and were right in position for a deep run into the playoffs.  But we limped through the last remaining games finishing 1-5 to finish the season @ .500, 8-8.  The NFC West ran through us and at the beginning of the season I saw us finishing 4-0 against them, not 0-4.  Yet right before Jay Cutler went down our whole team looked like it finally was clicking.  We weren’t firing on all cylinders but we definitely were getting on the right page and were putting up decent points while defending fairly well.  But the after the injury to Cutler it snowballed south.  The Chicago Bears get another first round pick (giving up our first round picks in the past to Denver Broncos really hurt the team).  This upcoming draft we will have the 19^th pick and looking at our team we really need to focus on our secondary.  We have been burned a lot in the last several years in the air and some of our players are free agents and may not return next year.  In addition, our defense as a whole is getting older.  Brian Urlacher (while he had a phenomenal year) is getting older; thankfully his injury against the Minnesota Vikings in week 17 is not as serious as first thought.  With Lance Briggs continually upset about his contract and Urlacher aging we will need to address this in the upcoming year or two, even if we take a shot with someone in the later rounds.  Another key issue we have is our offensive line; Jerry Angelo stated at the beginning of the year that no one did more for the O-line than he did for the Chicago Bears.  Well he was fired and I think statements like that didn’t help his cause.  He did grab Gabe Carimi but with his injury barring his return to the field this year it showed that we still had basically the same line-up as last year (other than not picking up our All-Pro center Olin Kreutz but who wants a wise veteran that’s been a leader on his team for at least the last 10 years).  Yep totally did the most for the O-line Angelo (don’t let the door hit you on the way out…).  I would like to see us go for both a draft pick for offensive line as well as look for some good free agents in the offseason.  I am on the fence about our wide receiver position.  Part of me thinks we need to look at picking up someone and I hope Roy Williams will not be returning next year.  If we do look for a new receiver we need to get a proven commodity.  No more trying to re-birth players who are washed up.  I think the new GM coming in will want to make a splash and hopefully the organization will allow him to spend some of the cash.  Thankfully under the new CBA it will force teams to really spend money and I hope we don’t make the same mistakes a la Williams, Marion ‘the barbarian’ Barber, & Brandon Meriweather this upcoming season. 

My last remarks for this post will be towards Matt Forte.  I hope with a change in GM we will see a change in the stance for Forte.  I really think he has proven he is worth the money and if he does start to decline we have Kahlil Bell who proved while Forte was injured that he is a reliable back-up (sorry Barber but your mistakes killed us).  I just don’t understand why we can’t give him a decent contract.  I understand that Chris Johnson probably didn’t help him after he held out for a large contract and then proceeded to suck it up (sorry for you fantasy owners who drafted him).  Forte is a stand up guy and is someone who could be the face of a franchise.  He hasn’t gotten in trouble off the field and has done everything and more that has been asked of him.  I think it is a slap in the face for what they were offering him and not only looks bad to him but also sends a message to everyone in the league.  I don’t want a bad stigma around the Chicago Bears organization.  Players definitely will choose to play for an organization that takes care of its players but I think everyone in the league is currently stumped at why Forte hasn’t signed a sizable contract.  Sadly he may never while playing for the Chicago Bears.  This would be a mistake and also would really put a damper in the minds of free agents around the league.

Thinking about the offseason I am looking to keep up the blog posting.  It may not 100% revolve around solely the Chicago Bears because of the lack of information to post about but I will be posting from time to time.  I appreciate everyone who stopped by to check things out and if you have any suggestions or Chicago Bears questions I’d love to hear it.  2011 ended on a sour note but the 2012 season looks bright for the Chicago Bears.

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears vs. Seattle Seahawks Week 15 Post Game

Playoff hopes crushed as Chicago Bears miscues spell an ugly loss to Seattle Seahawks.

Just how bad can it get right?  The Seattle Seahawks are not anything special and just really have one dimension to their offense Marshawn “the beast” Lynch.  All we needed to do was to manage the game and shut down the run and we should easily come out on top.  It is a lot easier to say than to do; it is becoming all but apparent that the Chicago Bears lacked the understanding of importance a good backup quarterback is to a team.  Caleb Hanie and his ability to play the QB has now soured the mouths of Chicago Bears fans.  After his performance in the championship game against the Green Bay Packers there were times when fans almost wanted to see him replace Cutler (in bad games).  I personally guarantee we will never want to see him standing under center again for a long time.  Just when you thought it was as bad as it gets, it gets worse.

First Jay Cutler, next Matt Forte, now Johnny Knox is done for the season.  Thankfully it is not as bad as it looked but he had back surgery and is now finished for the year.  I’ll be very honest, after the Broncos meltdown I was actually hoping we would lose out for a higher draft pick.  But the true fan in me during the Seahawk game was stoked when we jumped out ahead in the first half.  I thought we have the defense that can easily put the clamps down and we could win if we just manage the remainder of the game.  All Hanie needed to do is prevent the turnover.  Not one but two interception returns for touchdowns absolutely killed the Bears.  Sad thing is we were at home so no “12^th man” to blame for silly mistakes like that.  Ultimately, I am sad that we have fallen this far but to be honest I didn’t see us running the playoff table and hopefully this will expose the Chicago Bears holes (yes you need a valid backup quarterback in the league) and we can address these in the off-season.  It just goes to show you how important these players are to the team.  I just hope that Jay Cutler doesn’t try to rush back to the field since winning the remaining games won’t put us in the playoffs.  I wouldn’t mind a win over the Green Bay Packers as I would LOVE to be the team that takes away their top spot in the NFC for playoffs but even with a victory it wouldn’t guarantee they would drop.  Ultimately, I am already past this year looking forward to the follow season.

Measuring stick

The defense played a pretty good game; scoring a touchdown and limiting the Seahawk offense under 300 total yards is the best you could expect.  Sadly, the offense was the guilty squad for not holding up their weight.  5 total turnovers and putting the Bears in a -4 turnover margin is basically spelling l-o-s-s.  The only bright spot to the offense was that Kahlil Bell is starting to establish himself as a legitimate backup running back to Matt Forte.  Not that I don’t like Marion “the barbarian” Barber; or that I don’t forgive and forget.  But Marion is more of your short yardage; pound the rock for a few yards at a time back.  He will not be running off huge yards nor be a breakaway back.  Bell is a similar style runner like Forte and I honestly think he deserves the nod for backup next year.  I wouldn’t be too unhappy if we kept Barber but hopefully won’t pay him near as much.

We have two games left (Green Bay Packers & Minnesota Vikings) before the end of the season.  We are a .500 team at 7-7 (a far cry from 7-3) and we are mediocre.  Even with wins against the remaining teams we would need a lot of help in crawling into the playoffs at 9-7.  I believe our best outcome should be to review our current roster and evaluate what we have.  Who do we need to keep and who do we need to let go.  Additionally, do we need to make some changes to the coaches?  If the offense was so difficult to master that the organization didn’t feel comfortable going out and signing someone in fear it would take a while for them to learn it, maybe it needs to be dumbed down?  Maybe it needs to be replaced as a whole, yet the Chicago Bears need consistency.  You look at all the great offenses in the game currently and they have all had long term offensive coordinators at the helm.  Even Jay Cutler has mentioned that it has been hard learning the system when it changes so often.  If the Chicago Bears decide to go in another direction than Mike Martz they need to really think hard who they want and make sure it will be a long term deal.  Either we go with Martz for the next couple of years or we make a change and keep that person for a while.  We have the offensive personnel to have a shot at winning it all, we need to decide who will be the trigger in play calls to get us there.

Quick hits

• “Beast-mode” only produced a measly 2.1 yards per carry.  Another sign the defense did one heck of a job during the game.
• 9 passes deflected by the Seahawks to go with 4 interceptions.  Losing out in the Kyle Orton sweepstakes is looking a lot sadder now that we have seen how our “backups” have played.
• Julius Peppers with his sack during the game now has a total of 10 sacks on the season.  He has been playing huge this year and all makes it worth it to pay him so much.
• 221 total yards of Chicago Bears offense.  Now over the years we have seen some bad Bears offenses but I think this game reminded us of just how far we have come.  I can only hope next year we can continue to move forward and also limit the injures.

Wrap up

“They are who we thought they were” stealing the great phrase from Dennis Green.  Sadly, after the first few games from Caleb Hanie we pretty much knew he wasn’t going to put up the big numbers.  We would just hope that he would limit his turnovers.  Tavaris Jackson did what Hanie did not; he managed the game and limited the turnovers and allowed his defense to hold the game.  I am a bit disappointed in the showing but at the same time with each additional loss we put up we will have an opportunity for a higher draft pick.  We really need to address some key positions in the defense next year and possibly look to improve our offensive line.  Ultimately, without the start players on offense there really isn’t too much a team can do if they lose the two best players.  Christmas day will not have the same feel without those injures as both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers would easily be playing for Playoff contention.  Now with how things sit I don’t really see us competing and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Packers started to rest some of their players down the stretch when they put the game out of reach with our anemic offense.

It was a heck of a run at the beginning of the year and we definitely changed a lot of minds into believing we were the real deal but got bit by the injury bug and just couldn’t overcome the lack of talent in the replacements.  2011 was fun and it makes me excited for the 2012 and how the Chicago Bears can build on this season.  Yet all is not lose because on any given Sunday a team can win a game.  Santa could surprise us and give us a memorable Christmas.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears vs Denver Broncos week 14 post game

How the Chicago Bears answered Tebow’s prayers

Well I know the theory goes that no one person loses the game but after watching the game I just couldn’t help but think that Marion ‘the barbarian’ lost the game for us.  I wasn’t able to watch the game in real time as I was at a Christmas party.  I did catch a bit of the 1^st quarter and liked how we were playing on defense.  Also, Martz wasn’t trying to do something special; he was keeping it simple which I think was the right move.  Prior to leaving for the party I send out a mass text for communication silence.  I hate getting texts about the game when I’m not watching it.  Well half way through the party my phone starts blowing up.  I’m thinking that it is either a very good sign or a very bad sign.  As a Bear fan I chose to be optimistic and believe that it was a positive sign.  Anyhow, later that night when I sit down to watch the game it becomes apparent why I was texted (didn’t read them until after the game).  Wish I had read my brothers that told me not to watch the game as it would have been painful.  It took me a day to settle my thoughts before I could pursue my blog post.  In any event I’m over the loss and looking forward to 2012 season…

To be honest I don’t mind losing (I know that sounds funny) but to be honest when you lose your starting quarterback as well as your star running back the level of play drops and it becomes more of a mindset of doing your best and forgetting the rest.  I knew that it would be a close game; like I mentioned in my pre-game post the Bears would need to be up by 14 points in the 4^th for the victory.  After watching the first 3 quarters and being up by 10 I thought we were still right in the driver seat and playing absolutely terrific defense.  If it weren’t for Tebow-mania I wouldn’t be so upset about the loss; when you break it down he didn’t win the game for them.  We lost the game ourselves and they just were able to pick up on our mistakes; TWO HUGE MISTAKES.  The first three quarters got my hopes up and even up until the 2 minute warning in the 4^th I was so excited that we were able to finally show Tebow was human.  Was it an act of God for the game to sway the other way?  Do I believe?  Who knows; I do believe that Marion Barber cost us the game.  I know there will be other players that will take responsibility and claim that they should have scored more or played better defense down the stretch but we did everything and more to come down to the last possession in the game with the lead.  All we needed to do was run some clock; even the commentators were doing the calculation and knew that even without a first down the Broncos would only get the ball with 10 seconds or less.  Could a Hail Mary pray be answered?  Possibly but after allowing one to connect against the Kansas City Chiefs I didn’t see it happening again.  Until Barber recklessly ran out of bounce on a sweep to the left; are you serious?  That’s pretty much as fundamental as you get.  Can you blame the coaches for this play and not preparing the players?  I don’t think so; this is all on the player.  Tebow gets more time and as you know gets his opportunity and makes the best of it.  Again, if it was any other team that wasn’t getting crazy hype I wouldn’t have minded losing, but the way we lost and to the Tebow-maniac I just can’t stomach this loss.

Measuring stick

For three solid quarters we did what was needed, we played solid defense and held them scoreless and were able to methodically march down the field and put up 10 points.  It wasn’t until late in the 4^th quarter that the Bears went into more of a prevent defense and Tebow found his rhythm and was able to make some completions.  Yet don’t ask Brian Urlacher what he thinks of Tebow.  To be honest the only time he really did well on his passing was when we went into a different relax/prevent defense.  This opened up small dump offs as oppose to the big play.  So I wouldn’t necessarily blame the defense at all and Tebow really didn’t do much when the Bears were playing their defense.  Like I mentioned previously the Bears play scrambling quarterbacks very well and against the Broncos it was no exception.

Marion Barber showed why he was cut by the Dallas Cowboys and why he is a backup running back in the league.  Now I take nothing away from his performance in that he had over 100 yards and a score.  He played solid almost the entire game against a fairly decent football team.  Looking over the performance I think the Bears and Martz scripted a great offensive game plan.  Hanie was not asked to go out there and win the game but be more of a manager and chip away with small yardage plays.  Which he did very well, he didn’t have a turnover but did make a few mistakes by holding onto the ball a little too long and ultimately lead to losing significant yardage with a sack.  Yet he did everything necessary to pull out the win.  Barber’s lack of awareness took away the performance that all Bears compiled together.  It didn’t help that Barber continues his stance of not talking to the media.  I’d take the advice here and keep a low profile for this week if I were Barber.  But what is done is done and I now am looking forward to next year.  Personally I would hate to see both Cutler and Forte to rush back to the field.  The chance of us winning against the Packers is low and therefore we would ultimately be only able to get to 9 wins.  That would not be enough to make the playoffs so I say rest the studs for next year.  Let Barber make up for his mistake and who knows what will happen but if Barber and company can put together a win streak and get us into the playoffs then I might be more inclined to see the starters come back then.  Only time will tell and this lose hurts most of all.

Quick hits

• 8 Chicago Bears penalties that cost us 69 yards really set us back.  I really didn’t like some of the “unnecessary roughness” penalties against Tebow.  He seems to have the refs on his side and I really don’t like where the league is heading with protecting the quarterbacks.  Unfortunately, not all call the same way and therefore I don’t think it is fair when our quarterback has been nailed without a flag and opposing QB gets flagged when we touch him.  Either call it fair or take away the rule.
• We won the turnover battle by 2 to 1; however, the one turnover we did cough up ultimately led to the game winning field goal.
• Bears defense tallied 5 sacks and were in the backfield a significant time causing havoc.  The Bears offensive line did well to only allow 4 sacks but Lance Louis didn’t show up and allowed several sacks as well as caused 2 false starts.
• Robbie Gould brought his A game and hit a crazy long field goal when points were hard to come by.  Good for Lovie Smith for being confident in his kicker, if missed would have given the Broncos great field position.
• Both Peppers and Idonije were able to get some contact on the first Broncos attempted field goal.  It was basically a chip shot and kept the momentum with the Bears.  This is a huge advantage over most teams and John Fox fully knows Peppers capability watching him block field goals in his days with the Carolina Panthers.
• Chicago Bears defense kept McGahee and Tebow to combine under 100 yards.  The Broncos have the #1 rushing offense and the Bears did a superb job at limiting their yards. 

Clean up

This is a tough loss to swallow, when you lose to a better opponent it isn’t too bad but when you ultimately cost your team a victory it is incredibly difficult to swallow, especially when it comes down to just one player making the mistake.  But what happens happens we the Bears will need to move on to their next opponent in the Seattle Seahawks.  It will be nice to get back home but I really don’t want to see us win this game.  Yes I am a die-hard Bear fan but this isn’t our year and ultimately I would like a higher draft pick to get better year.  Maybe make some off season changes to address our trouble areas but I would rather lose than win two meaningless games.  I know anything can happen in the playoffs but I’m not going to kid myself into believing we can make it all the way.

1. Should we focus on continuing to win or lose for a higher draft pick?
2. Can we still make playoffs and win a playoff game?

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears vs Denver Broncos week 14 Pre-Game

How the Mighty Tebow will fall this weekend by the hands of the Chicago Bears defense

In what was supposed to be the Epic return of Jay Cutler to Denver it turns out that the headlines will be more focused on the new emergence of Tim Tebow.  I was very skeptical when Tebow got the starting nod over the ex-Bear Kyle Orton (who is no longer with the team).  I will admit that I do like his personality and work ethic.  He plays hard and is always ready to help his team win no matter what it means.  He isn’t going to be your Tom Brady or Peyton Manning but seemingly has found a way to victory for 5 straight games.  However, this weekend will be different and the mighty Tim Tebow will receive the first lose at the hands of the short-handed Chicago Bears.  We have lost 2 close games and I think last week’s ugly loss to the Kansas City Chiefs has definitely stirred up some passion on our defense.

Caleb Hanie had a rough outing last week and with the loss of Matt Forte the game plan needed to change on the fly.  I believe that we will be able to do better on offense now that we know what we have to work with.  Make no mistake the Denver Broncos are very good on defense even though they have allowed similar yardage as our defense.  We will need to protect Hanie from the pass rush and not get too cute with things.  We need to play great defense and run the ball.  Our special teams will also need to step it up and give us great field position to allow for shorter drives.  With the right game plan I believe we will be the first team to step up to the challenge and walk away with a victory against the Denver Broncos.

Sizing it up

Denver has been able to come out victorious the last 5 games because they have been in the game towards the end.  Tebow has pulled off some spectacular drives to seal these victories.  I think the key to victory is putting the game out of reach early so Tebow isn’t allowed to execute another late game heroic drive.  It may be difficult but we will need to put up a margin of at least 14 points before the 4^th quarter.  We will need a near flawless game in terms of penalties; we can’t afford to shoot ourselves in the foot especially now that we don’t have the offensive explosion with Cutler and Forte.  We will need to be very methodical in our drives and capitalize on every opportunity in the red zone.  As previously mentioned they do give up yards.  Hanie is going to have to forget the past and forge a new path for himself and have a successful game.  We can’t afford for him to allow more turnovers.  He will need to have a near perfect game in terms of turnovers.  If he has more than 1 we will be in trouble.

The defense has, in the past, played the scrambling QB very successful.  We have been a nightmare against Mike Vick and Tim Tebow is close to the same mold.  We have incredible sideline-to-sideline speed and will present a new challenge that Tebow hasn’t seen.  The Chicago Bear defense will need to stay home on assignments and not try to make the big play unless it is within their assignment.  When players don’t mind their “gaps” we are going to get burned.  I look for the studs, Briggs, Urlacher, & Peppers to have huge games against Tebow.  I think they are fed up with Tebow-mania and look to quiet the hysteria.  The biggest concern I have is the option play that the Broncos run very well.  Willis McGahee is having a rebirth in Denver with Tebow.  We will need to contain both for the option play and stay at home with the receivers.  If we can minimize the big plays and play solid defense the Chicago Bears will head to their 8 victory.

Prediction

I like our chances; I don’t think a single person outside the Bear fan base will see us winning this game.  We play significantly better (in my opinion) when we are the underdog.  In my previous blog I talked about tanking it possibly for a higher draft pick.  Personally, this game is the answer to that question.  I would hate to lose to Tebow and I am predicting a victory.  However, if we walk away the defeated I would like to see us not rush back both Forte and Cutler.  I don’t want to jeopardize their health just to win a few more games without the possibility of playoffs.  I think if we lose this game we have a much tougher battle to make the playoffs and I hate to admit it but I just don’t see us as equals to the elite teams currently (will not name names).

If the Chicago Bears play their game and execute effectively we will walk away with the W (or a heartbreaker…).  We must contain Tebow and put up enough points that it isn’t close in the closing minutes.  The defense will need to help out our offense and ultimately will be the deciding factor for our victory.  Heck they may even possibly score more points than our offense.

Chicago Bears 20

Denver Broncos 10

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!!

Chicago Bears vs Kansas City Chiefs Week 13 Post Game

Kansas City Chiefs win one of the ugliest NFL games against the Chicago Bears in recent years.

As I felt the pinch on my leg, I look down to realize it really wasn’t just a bad dream.  I look back at the screen to the horror that our star running back Matt Forte is on the ground after suffering an injury.  I was hoping for cramps or something minor but as they showed the replays I knew better.  Two weeks after losing Jay Cutler and losing our first game with Caleb Hanie at the helm the only hope the Chicago Bears had of making the playoffs rested on the shoulders of #22 Matt Forte.  The same person that was on the ground after suffering what looked like a severe knee injury.   The crowd was quiet knowing full well that the extent of his injury put our season in jeopardy.  Ultimately, he did not return to the game and it showed.  The Chicago Bears put together one of the biggest stinkers in recent memories to lose to the injury plagued Kansas City Chiefs.  I am now dubbing the game the “Replacement” game.

Less than 200 yards of total offense; we literally didn’t convert a single thing.  You name the stat and we were terrible.  Sadly, the Chiefs were equally as bad but had a lucky TD at the end of the half on a Hail Mary prayer that was answered by two Bears competing for the interception only to knock it right to a Chief.  He happily accepted the gift and ultimately it turned out to be the game winner.  The Chiefs also lost their star running back Jamal Charles early in the season.  They also lost their starting QB in Matt Cassel several weeks back.  They, like the Chicago Bears, were also winners in their division.  Wow, how times have changed in just a year.  Yet with a victory over the Chicago Bears, the Chiefs still have a slight chance at the playoffs.  The Chicago Bears are still the #5 seed in the NFC but this latest injury will challenge the team to keep the ship afloat long enough for our stars to recover.  If this game is any idication it is becoming more painfully obvious this may be too tough of a task for the remaining healthy Chicago Bears.

Measuring stick

There really aren’t a whole lot of bright points to talk about after the game.  The defense played decent but ultimately failed on the biggest play.  The offense was just horrible after Forte left but when you think about it, what do we expect when we lose the two best players on our offense?  Yet we pay our backups big money to come in after an injury to our starter and get the job done.  I think both Barber and Bell did what was expected in their roles to help when Matt Forte went down.  Caleb Hanie did not get the job done.  I think he definitely deserved a chance to see what he could do after his performance against the Green Bay Packers in the Championship game last year.  Yet 2 games in the books he is living up to his “back-up” title and yet I’m not so sure I wouldn’t want to start taking a look at who is available at the QB position on the market.  I know in years past Donovan McNabb’s name has been dropped a few times but after the recent play he has exhibited I think the organization will not even spend a second to consider him as a possibility.  Yet Hanie needs to show some improvement and the sooner the better. 

The defense held the Kansas City Chiefs to just 10 points, had 2 sacks, and a fumble recovery.  For most weeks that would be a great game, however, we were going against a terrible offensive team and allowed them more points than was necessary.  The biggest coming at the closing of the 1^st half, which should have never occurred.  If Lovie Smith doesn’t call a silly, arrogant time out before the 2 minute warning the Chiefs would have never scored.  It allowed them an additional play or two which ultimately came down to the game winner.  Yet our offense should have capitalized on the plays we had.  A couple of overthrown balls and dropped balls caused what should have been a win into a lose.  Our defense in the coming games will need to step it up even more with both our stud offensive stars sidelined with injury.  Points will be few and far between and our defense will need to help keep us in the game.

Quick hits

• 11/24 133 yards 5.5 yard per average & 3 interceptions.  This totaled up to a measly 23.8 quarterback rating and was Caleb Hanie’s stats for the game.  In addition to these poor stats he also was sacked 7 times.  Some of which were on his part for holding the ball too long.
• 0 for killer; the Chicago Bears were 0 for 11 in third down conversions & 0 for 2 in 4^th down conversions.  The offense was just woeful and this stat contributed to the fact we only were able to put up 3 total points at home.  The Chiefs have less than average defense and we made them look like studs.
• Adam Podlesh earned his pay after his display of punting ability.  He was able to pin the Chiefs inside the 20 three separate times and had a decent average for the day.  A week after Shane Lechler displayed his NFL best punting capacities against the Bears; Podlesh stepped his game up.
• Israel Idonije was a beast on defense; he had 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss, & 2 quarterback hits.  He was constantly in the backfield and creating havoc.  Was great to see him play at such a high level.  He picked it up after Julius Peppers suffered a minor injury.  Sadly, his effort didn’t get rewarded with a win or he would have received the game ball for sure.

Clean up

I definitely had to reach to find some positives after the game.  Our offense was anemic but we still had every chance needed to pull off a victory.  We have some decent opponents coming up but I saw them as winnable games going down the stretch.  Yet this was prior to the injuries on our team.  But I think we still have a chance going up against Denver next.  We play Michael Vick very well and Tim Tebow has a very similar style (and he is left-handed).  Yet I can’t start to wonder whether it would be more beneficial (long-term) if we missed the playoffs this year.  I know I can’t believe I’m entertaining the idea but really what are our chances of winning it all this year?  We would need a lot of help and luck if you asked me.  Am I optimistic about our chances, always but with so many teams playing at a lot higher of a level than us one has to wonder if missing the playoffs would give us a better pick to shore up some problem areas on the team.

On that train of thought I will ask you:

1. Should the team opt (lose) to miss the playoffs?
2. Should we continue with Hanie or go after another veteran QB?  If another QB who?

I will provide my thoughts during the next post but will allow you to respond on these questions.  It will allow me some time to think on what I really want…

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears vs. Oakland Raiders Week 12 Post Game

Oakland Raiders snap the Chicago Bears win streak and rough up Caleb Hanie’s debut

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect and Caleb Hanie at the helm of the Chicago Bears.  The last time he had a significant role was during the championship game against the Packers after Jay Cutler got knocked out of the game.  He did fairly well and with this memory I thought we could be alright.  Although throughout the week I felt like I was trying to bait myself into believing we could easily win.  To make matters worse my brother-in-law is a die-hard Raider fan and has been amped about playing us as soon as the schedule was released.  As fate would have it we lose our starting QB the game before we face off…

Even though we lost the game, I still feel like we played well enough I have nothing to be ashamed about.  Whenever you lose your star I would imagine chances are you are going to lose every game against a decent opponent.  We had a shot to win and if played differently I believe we should have won this game but I’ll dive into my thoughts a little bit further down.  Ultimately, I think Hanie will be able to get us through until Cutler can come back.  He is no Jay Cutler but he has talent that just needs to be honed and we should be able to win enough games to push us into the playoffs.  You really can’t ask too much more from your bench QB than pull off a few wins.  We got Kansas City this week and will be home for the game.  This should be a winnable game to push us to 8-3 and still looking great for the wild card spot.  I can only hope this game gave Hanie a little more experience and possibly with the way he played down the stretch a little confidence heading into this week’s match up.

Measuring stick

When you look at the game and statistics I think we were just a few plays off from coming away with a win.  First, we were able to run the ball; the Chicago Bears racked up 172 yards on 27 carries good enough for 6.4 yards per attempt.  Conversely we held the Oakland Raiders to only 73 rushing yards for a measly 2.7 yards per carry.  The biggest glaring statistic about the game was the turnover battle.  We gave it up 3 times to their sole turnover.  If you give up the football that much more than your opponent chances are you aren’t going to win.  Hanie was responsible for all 3 of the Chicago turnovers.  Personally, I think only 1 of them should have been his.  The first interception was totally on Hanie, but the second was on Lovie Smith. Stay with me on this; in the first quarter Hanie was marked out of bounds when he clearly was in bounds when he threw the ball away.  The replays as well as even the commentators mentioned it should be challenged.  Because Lovie doesn’t challenge that call it put the ball in a 3^rd and over 10 yards for the first which put more pressure on Hanie to convert it.  Ultimately it could be debated that it indirectly caused him to turn the ball over.  The last interception was just an absolute terrible call by Mike Martz. 

Another facet of the game that swayed the advantage to Oakland was the special teams play.  Not many times have the Chicago Bears faced another team and have been out-played by the opposing special teams unit.  With Devin Hester & Johnny Knox we more than likely will have the advantage and capitalize on it.  However, the Oakland Raiders have a secret weapon (well not so secret) in Shane Leckler who dominated the punting aspect of the game.  Pinning the Chicago Bears 3 times with -20 yard punts caused the offense to have a significant disadvantage with field position.  With a new Quarterback in Hanie the more yards necessary to score the harder it was and ultimately we couldn’t overcome the many yards.  Normally we have Hester who can easily give us a great starting position, not this game.  Hats off to the Raider’s special teams they did a bang up job against our punting squad.

Quick hits

• The Chicago Bears defense knew with Hanie in a QB they would need to bring their A game.  They did fantastic at numerous holds and only allowed 1 TD in 5 red zone attempts during the game.  They kept us in the game most of the day but according to Brian Urlacher they were responsible for the loss.  Thinking about the game there was quite a few big plays that usually are not the norm of our defense.  We were able to cause a turnover and also put some good pressure on Palmer sacking him 4 times.  Yet the big plays that were allowed ultimately gave them good enough position to come away with field goals.
• The Chicago Bears were surprisingly good in our 3^rd down conversions.  Converting 6 out of 14 attempts was significantly better than the Raiders conversion of only 3 out of 15 attempts.  The Bears were able to move the ball but just gave it away too many times to pull off the victory.
• Johnny Knox came to play; 278 total yards of offense was a huge break through for him this season.  Now the Hester is reserved more for special teams Knox is seeing more action at wide out and against the Raiders proved it was a great decision.  I can only hope that he will continue this trend against the Chiefs.
• Julius Peppers continues his recent tear with a huge game for us: 5 tackles (3 for loss), 2 QB sacks, & 3 QB hits.  Palmer probably had nightmares Sunday night of #90.  Well done JP, yet another reason it was a worthwhile investment when we threw him a huge contract.
• Charles “Peanut” Tillman for the 2^nd straight game gave up a lot of yards to the opposing receivers.  He additionally did not create a turnover to make amends for his lack of coverage.  If we are going to make a strong push for the playoffs he will really need to step his game up and this coming match up against Dwayne Bowe will be a good test if he is willing to step it up or not.

Clean up

You can’t really cry over spilt milk so when Jay Cutler got injured the focus shifted to how we can win with Caleb Hanie.  Hanie really didn’t have much starting experience and it was definitely a learning experience.  However, his second half performance bodes well for Bear fans as he recovered from his earlier mistakes and almost posted a victory.  With the Detroit Lions also losing we didn’t lose much ground in the playoff hunt.  Yet every game is extremely critical down the stretch.  We do have some winnable games and will need both Hanie and the defense to step up to the challenge.  Meanwhile I hope Cutler will be back by week 17 regardless of playoff status.

This next match up should be interesting because we could potentially be playing against our former QB in Kyle Orton.  He was picked up by the Chiefs after being released by the Denver Broncos earlier last week.  He would have been a good option to pick up if the Chiefs didn’t but ultimately I think Hanie will do well for us, he just needs to get some more live snaps and experience.  I do believe he will give us his first career win this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs.  I’ll be breaking down the pre-game later this week.

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears vs San Diego Chargers Week 11 Post Game

Chicago Bears 5^th straight win comes with a huge loss against the San Diego Chargers in Week 11

It wasn’t until I was in bed almost asleep that I heard the shocking news.  My sister texted me “Cutler out for season”, in my slumber I texted her back dumbfounded.  I was devastated, all this season and progress we had made could possibly be for nothing.  Last week I mentioned about Gabe Carimi heading to IR ending his season but he is young and we have the talent to fill in for him and still get the job done but our quarterback? 

While Chicago Bears have been known for their defense and running game, Jay Cutler has brought in the vertical passing game and giving us something we have not had in a long time.  You can argue that he is not one of the top QBs in the league but he can make any pass you ask of him.  Last night was no exception, his passing game was remarkable and he was able to connect with multiple receivers and tons of different looks and depths.  Yet to hear that he will be out for the rest of the regular season puts a definite damper on the 5^th win of the season.

I must admit I have become overly upset at the television networks for keeping the early game on well into the 2^nd game.  I have missed the last 2 beginnings of the Chicago Bears game and have to call up my Bear’s fans to find out what I missed.  When it finally went to the game last night I found that the Bears were down by 3.  Well next year I am definitely splurging and buying the Sunday NFL ticket. 

Anyhow back to the game, what happens when you take one of the top 5 teams in passing and go against one of the worst pass defense in the league?  A huge day for Vincent Jackson (fantasy owners were very happy)…  Charles Tillman the week earlier basically shutdown Megatron (Charles Johnson) who I would rank as a better receiver than V-Jacks.  I am not sure whether the defense was different schemes or what but Peanut got lite up last night.  However, he and defense when it came down to it forced the turnovers and ultimately allowed up the notch up another one on the win column.

Measuring stick

Other than Vincent Jackson there wasn’t many other passing yards.  Antonio Gates had a TD but didn’t put up too many yards (in relation to his standard) and the Bears have been torched by tight ends earlier this year.  The run defense was very stout and held the Chargers rushers to only 52 total yards rushing. 

In total the Chicago Bears were able to force 3 take aways and also won that match up with the Bears only giving the ball up once (only because Knox slipped on his route).  Even with Cutler throwing the pick, his rating at the end of the game was 97 which is one of his best outing.  No doubt it would have been higher without his pick but to his credit a.) his receiver slipped & b.) he went full out to stop the defender from scoring which motivated his defense to come up strong in the win.  Unfortunately, it has been mentioned the effort Cutler showed for tackling the interceptor was ultimately were he suffered the injury.  Just think if Knox hadn’t slipped, however, hindsight is 20/20 and the team must prepare for Caleb Hanie. 

I liked how Lovie Smith made a gutsy call with the fake punt.  If Podlesh had connected to Steltz he was good for huge yards as there wasn’t a single defender even close to him and the gunners captivated their opponent enough that they were paying no attention to the fake.  Even though it ultimately failed it gave the impression that he had trust in his defense and they in turn made him look smart with the multiple holds during the game.  If the Chicago Bears have any chance of making the playoffs they are going to shore up the long plays (Jackson was beating them for big gains all night) and really buckle down to force the turnovers. 

Quick hits

• Roy Williams came up big last night with 5 grabs for 62 yards off 8 targets.  Just when he started to build something with Cutler he will now have a new person to look for receptions.
• Matt Forte was held to only 59 rushing yards and it wasn’t that Mike Martz went away from him.  He rushed over 20 times and was only able to manage a 2.8 yard average and tallied a long run of only 13 yards.  The o-line did well in pass protection but they need to get back to the run blocking too.
• Both Brian Urlacker & Julius Peppers had very quiet games.  Urlacher had 4 total tackles and JP had just one QB hit (the only hit on Rivers all game).  Our pass rush was NON-Existent last night.  This allowed for the down the field throws to Jackson.  We need our d-line to get some type of pressure on the quarterback or our cornerbacks will be “out on the island” for a long night.
• Devin Hester is starting to see less offensive snaps and I think a lot of people (as well as Bear fans) are happy for this.  Not that I have anything against Hester as a receiver but his specialty is definitely his return game and especially now with Cutler out we need all other aspects of the game to have an edge and he definitely brings that edge.  Also it allows for Knox and Williams to do what they do best.  I don’t know as to who is the better receiver between the mix but we have guys at that spot that can come up big (like last night) but we don’t have someone like Hester on special teams.  I like that they are giving him more focus on the special teams and it was nice to see him respond to the change of roles with some big punt returns.  This will be critical down the stretch without Cutler to man the offense.

Clean up

The Chicago Bears are 7-3 and are on a 5 game win streak but I think all thoughts are on how can Caleb Hanie responds to the starting role.  He did a heck of a job last year in the championship game against the Packers but he is no Jay Cutler.  It is nerve-racking because we don’t know what he is capable of; he could come out and be the next Tom Brady or Matt Cassell.  We don’t know because he hasn’t been giving the opportunity.  I can only hope that he can manage the game and that the rest of the team steps it up to give us enough wins to put us in the wild card chase.  So far all the news has been that Cutler will be out extended time, there is no telling how long it will be.  There have been some QBs in the past who have played through broken bones but this injury could change our team this year and after struggling through some tough losses early we have really clicked and now a huge wrench has been thrown into our progression. 

 But hey at least we aren’t the Colts…

It will be highly anticipated to hear the news on Cutler and how long he will be out for.  Additionally, we’ll have to wait and see what we have in Hanie.  He could be the next big thing or he could be the next big bust.  The Raiders are licking their chops now that they will face a 2^nd string QB but they have done well with their starter on the sideline.  They did go out and grab a previous starter but they follow the same smart recipe of winning, good defense and running the rock.  We will need Hanie to make a few big plays and solid defense to pull out a W next week. 

I will continue to be optimistic about the season until otherwise shown we are done.  Enjoy those Turkey’s and great (finally) matchups and be thankful that we are still in the playoff picture.  Need to support our new QB as best we can and get him ready for being successful.

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears vs San Diego Chargers, Week 11 Pre Game

Chicago Bears vs San Diego Chargers, Week 11 Prediction

How the Chicago Bears will still San Diego’s thunder (and lightning) in week 11

Ok I admit pretty lame header but it’s more than a play on words.  The Chicago Bears have been on an upward trend winning the last 4 games while the San Diego Chargers have been losers in their last 4 games played.  Coming into the season it seems like all talk of the town is how the Chargers are one of the elite teams in the NFL and this year a lot of speculation was how the Chicago Bears aren’t that good of a team.  Surprising on what both team’s record show, Chicago Bears have been relatively injury free other than a few guys going down but the San Diego Chargers (especially their defense) have struggled with some key injuries.  Additionally, they have the legendary “questionable” player in Antonio Gates (I wonder if he is a bit of a Diva?)  He almost always is listed on the injury report for the last several years.  Brings memories of Big Ben needing to let people know he is playing through injuries…  Anyhow, let’s focus on the game at hand and continue the winning trend.

I posted earlier this week about Earl Bennett and I wanted to quickly address my questions.  First, I don’t think the league should have fined Bennett for his week 10 wearing of the orange shoes.  They clearly matched his jersey and I think it’s silly to be forced into specific colors.  If the league tries to tell me that it distracted the opponent I would laugh because his entire jersey is the same color; COME ON MAN!  Now to the more important question of should he continue to wear the shoes?  I personally am not a superstitions individual but sports players are notorious for their “quarks” (seen Baseball recently?)  The league has hinted it would do more than fine him if it became a persistent problem.  I personally would like to see him continue the trend (if he is producing like he is) unless the league is going to do more than fine.  If it only hurts your pocketbook I’m cool with it, however, once it hurts the team its out-of-bounce and shouldn’t happen.  On a side note read this interesting article about Bennett.  I don’t think he is costing the other receivers at all.  The fact of the matter is we don’t have good receivers.  We have quick players in Knox & Hester but they aren’t good at creating space and have bricks for hands.  Now if you think Roy Williams was going to be the savior on the team you are stuck in time 6 years ago.  Bennett is by far their best receiver and therefore he should get more targets than anyone else.  I think Jay Cutler throws the ball to open receiver he feels will catch the ball.  If the other receivers feel they aren’t being targeted enough, start getting open and then MAKE THE CATCH!

Sizing it up

We are at home with confidence against a team who has some star player injuries and are limping through the last few games.  I have a feeling we will do well against them.  Yet just when you focus past the current team they will beat you.  Philip Rivers is still a crazy good quarterback and can still light it up.  With the news DJ Moore is injured and probably won’t go on Sunday it will be even more difficult to defend against him.  They are 4^th in the league in passing with close to 300 yards per game.  With the Chicago Bears ranked 29^th in pass defense they will look to capitalize with V-Jacks and Gates.  This will definitely be a time were our defensive line will again need to step up and put some pressure on Rivers.  We cannot afford to send another defender after Rivers just to get pressure on him.  We will need all the possible personnel back in coverage to take away the openings.  Additionally, we need JP to again have a huge impact game.  Rivers has been giving the ball up this year with already 15 picks and 6 fumbles.  The Chicago Bears need to capitalize and win the take away battle.

The offense will have an easier time with both Takeo Spikes and Sean Phillips questionable for the game.  They haven’t been on the field in a while and even if they do play I don’t see them playing more than 20-30 snaps.  With these men on the sideline the San Diego Chargers have been carved (yep Turkey day is close) up for almost 130 yards per game, good for 24^th in the league.  Look for Matt Forte to capitalize on their lack of run defense.  He had a quiet game by his standards last week against the Detroit Lions but with the defense and special teams putting in overtime and creating so many points (21) the offense really didn’t need to do much but hold onto the ball.  The offensive line continues to make huge strides and should be able to handle the front 4 of the San Diego Chargers to give both Forte open lanes and Cutler time to find the open receiver.  Yet sad news came today when Gabe Carimi hit the injured reserve essentially ending his season.  It’s good not to push the youngster and will give him time to work with the line coach and watch film to get better and ready for next year.  I can only hope he makes a fully recovery by then.  Our offense should be able to easily put up enough points to claim the victory.

Prediction

For some reason I don’t see us scoring 37 points again…  But I believe we have the right balance for pulling out the victory.  This game marks the start of the AFC West match ups.  We have 4 in a row and could easily run the table and push our win streak to 8.  But let’s not sleep on Philip Rivers as he is only a game away from breaking out into again being heralded a premiere QB in the league.  We will need to pound the football and put pressure on Rivers to make some mistakes early and capitalize on them.  We don’t need to get “cute” here but stick to what has been working for us the last 4 games with our win streak.  Focus and execution will give us our 7^th win of the season.

Chicago Bear 23

San Diego Chargers 13

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!

Chicago Bears Color Coordinated or Color Blind?

So I came across this article that I had to share.  

I can understand that in week 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles these crazy eye-popping orange shoes were against league rules.  However, these same shoes in my opinion match the exact color of his home orange jersey.

I am going to ask two questions to debate:

1.  Should the NFL fine Earl Bennett for the most recent game (week 10 against the Detroit Lions) for wearing what they deemed not appropriate footwear?
2. Based on Earl Bennett’s productivity with these orange shoes, do you beg him to keep wearing the bright shoes (stellar numbers since wearing them)?

I’ll post my views on pre-game analysis for the San Diego Chargers game here in a day or so.  Let me know your perspective on these questions.

Chicago Bears vs Detroit Lions Week 10 Post Game

Chicago Bears romp the Detroit Lions for some much needed revenge

After the first pick six I was going nuts.  When the second one happened minutes later I thought I was in a dream.  No doubt I was very excited for the opportunity to make amends for the loss back in Week 5.  Even though the score didn’t indicate it previously the Lions handled the Bears at their home.  When the score became final I was so overwhelmed with joy and couldn’t be more proud to be a Chicago Bear’s fan.

Detroit looked like a better team at the start of the season but Chicago has started to find a rhythm on both offense and defense.  It is true that the Lions put up 393 total yards but the score wouldn’t show it.  The Chicago Bears mounted a great all-around victory to soundly put the Lions to sleep.  I think coming into the game a lot was made about how the Chicago Bears offense will have a tough time against the Detroit Lions defense.  Little ol’ Chicago Bears defense wasn’t getting any attention and best believe they were going to make sure that at the end of the game everyone would know who had the best defense between the two teams.

Now tied for 2^nd place in the division as well as for the top wild card spot the Chicago Bears have a stretch of arguably winnable games left in the season.  The only difficult match up that I see is against the Green Bay Packers in week 16 in Lambeau Field.  But even with a loss there we would be 12-4 and look fairly nice for a wild card spot.  We have the make up to go deep into the playoffs with stellar defense, special teams, and run game.  We need to keep up the momentum and pick up a win next week against the San Diego Chargers at home for win 7 and 5^th in a row (somewhat eerie similar to last year).

Measuring stick

The Chicago Bears defense earned their keep and money and anything else you want to deny them.  Just don’t say they are getting old or that they are slowing down.  6 forced takeaways and 2 touchdowns returns are just remarkable.  Additionally, the defense got after Matthew Stafford for 2 sacks and several QB hits.  Yes they did give up a lot of yard but until deep into the 4^th quarter had not allowed even a touchdown.  Game ball has to go to Charles “Peanut” Tillman for first and foremost shutting down Megatron.  In the pre-game post I mentioned they would need to contain him better than last match up and that’s exactly what they did.  Holding him to 7 catches for 81 yards (40 of which came late in the game on one play) and caused a forced fumble was sensational.  While some may say that Stafford’s health was questionable and caused his accuracy to take a hit; so what don’t play him then.  Ultimately, Chicago Bears defense soundly outplayed the Detroit Lions offense throughout the game.

Ok the post has gone far enough without mention of the questionable play.  Now I’m all for hard hitting defenses and enjoy a good defensive match up.  However, the play by some of the Detroit Lions was sketchy at best.  Suh was not flagged for his ripping off of Jay Cutler’s helmet.  Now his late hit after the play on Cutler was a little acting at best.  Yes he did hit him but I think Cutler at times “plays” for a flag.  Yet the hit that Nick Farley put on him in the end zone was way out of bounds.  Even the commentators stated there is no place for that in the NFL.  They were surprised that Cutler wasn’t hurt on that play.  There is no love lost here between these two teams and I don’t see that changing any time soon.  With all this being said I do think at times the Lions get a bad rep but some of their actions against the Chicago Bears didn’t help their image.  Matthew Stafford got of scott free for trying to rip DJ Moore’s helmet off.  I don’t blame Moore at all for retaliation.  The league will have fun reviewing this game and dishing out the fines and the Bears will have their fair share but the difference is that they aren’t known to play dirty/cheap while the Lions and Suh (voted most dirty player in the league by the players) are questionable.

Quick hits

• Devin Hester (above picture) returned his 12 punt return for a touchdown.  He continues to extend his record and teams continue to give him opportunities.  It’s great to have this kind of an advantage when it comes to special teams.
• Some bad news came in late Sunday night when we caught word of a significant injury to a starter on the offensive line.  Just when things looked great for the o-line an injury occurs that sets the team back.  I can only hope that Carimi (after his surgery) can make it back on the field in the next few weeks.  Until then the Bear’s line will have to buckle down and work together to tighten things down.  They only allowed 2 sacks on Cutler and kept him clean most of the night (unlike last time).
• Earl Bennett is just a beast; 6 catches on 6 targets is outstanding.  He is catching everything thrown to him and when in doubt Cutler will target his trusted receiver on big plays and it is great to have him back on the field.
• JP is continuing to cause havoc in the backfield even with a continued bothering knee injury.  It almost seems like he is playing better now injured than before.  Registering a sack, pass deflection, tackle for loss, and a QB hit; he was all over the field.  He is finally starting to earn the crazy money the Bears are paying him.

Clean up

Atoning for the week 5 disaster the Chicago Bears are quietly sneaking up the win column.  Yes, Green Bay Packers are demanding the attention but that was similar to the Bears last year.  Plus the chance of them running the table doesn’t bode well for them (a la New England Patriots 2007 season).  We have some winnable match ups in the coming weeks and with the recent surge of confidence the last 4 victories have given us, we just need to continue the momentum.

Going back to the recent physical match up, do you feel that the refs did the right thing in ejecting DJ Moore?  Do you think that the Lions played dirty or do they play just a more physical brand of football and get mislabeled?  I will leave it up to you to discuss your viewpoints.  Moving ahead another big match up against the San Diego Charges in week 11; enjoy celebrating the Lion’s stomping and on to the next game.  Boy did they just “win baby”.

Bear down Chicago Bears, let’s go!