I started playing Wiffle Ball when I was a very small kid and my brother Chris had a no-hitter going against me for almost seven years. I couldn't touch his looping curve or his dragger, a pitch that didn't leave the ground until it rose up into the strike zone. Chris went away to college and I started playing with my friends every day and I got better and better. I started thinking, "Man, I'm pretty good at this now."
But I wanted to play Chris. I wanted to see if HE could hit my curveball. I want to see if he could stand in there against my cut-slider, a pitch I'd spent months inventing. I wanted to see if he could still get me out at will.
Chris comes back from college on Sunday, folks, and the Chicago Bears had best be ready for him. The five-straight wins is about to be staring across the field at six-straight wins. The Bears are a good football team, a great defense, but on Sunday we'll know just how good...
On Sunday, we'll know who the 2005 Chicago Bears are and where they might be going.
HOW GOOD IS THE DEFENSE?
Perhaps the most important question to be answered centers around the defensive unit, currently ranked tops in the NFL in both yardage allowed and points allowed. The Panthers aren't a dynamic running team but they gain yards when they need them. They have an all-world wide receiver but a quarterback who is mistake prone.
The margin of error is non-existent. The defense needs to hold the Panthers under 20 points, no way around it. They also need to create turnovers because the offense will not have an easy time moving the ball against a very strong Panthers defense?
CAN THEY RUN THE BALL AGAINST ANYONE?
Sunday is the test. The Panthers are the best rush defense in the league, allowing only 81 yards a game on the ground. Like every game, it's going to be won in the trenches and the Bears o-line / Panthers d-line proves to be something of an epic battle.
CAN KYLE ORTON MAKE A PLAY?
We have Kyle make some big throws in crunch time but this is not going to be a game he'll simply have to manage. He's going to need to look down the field and put the ball in the endzone. With Rex Grossman due back on the practice field, I hereby declare this the defining game for Kyle Orton's season and a win will elevate him from promising stand-in to franchise hero.
more thoughts later in the week...
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