Sunday was a fast food victory for the Chicago Bears. Quick, easy, cheap, delicious and sticks with you until that next cup of coffee. The Bears won a game in convincing fashion that they should have won in convincing fashion. They played perfectly on both sides of the ball. And when I woke up Monday morning, my mind was already onto Atlanta.
So we move around the league and I'll throw in some rants and my early-season award winners. Since Tennessee is not playing this week, I'll acknowledge that Albert Haynesworth should be the unanimous choice for Defensive Player of the Year.
CHICAGO @ ATLANTA
It is apparently National Kiss Kyle Orton's Ass Week in the American sports media (yours truly being a case-in-point). ESPN loves him and Vic Carucci loves Lovie and Ron trusting their guts, the best line coming from Olin Kreutz: "We see how hard he works, how hard he studies the game. He's there every day. He stays late. So we expect games like (the one he had against Detroit) out of him."
And as for David Haugh's calls for the Bears to stay hungry, I have something to add. If this team needs encouragement to play these next two eminently winnable games like their lives depend on it, sayonara to this website. I'm hanging it up.
Early season MVP: Michael Turner, Falcons. He's single-handedly carrying this club on his back and - perhaps more importantly - his success on the ground is allowing Matt Ryan to develop at quarterback without the normal pressures. If Matt Forte weren't as good as he is, we'd all be barking about Turner's start to the year.
DETROIT @ MINNESOTA
Rod Marinelli's Monday press conference features one of the best confrontations between coach and reporter in an awful long time. The reporter - unseen and unnamed - is Rob Parker of "Cold Pizza" fame.
Apparently Bernard Berrian played his finest game as a professional last night (good thing he didn't waste that in the Super Bowl). Stat breakdown:
Berrian - 17 catches, 305 yards, 1 touchdown, 7+ million dollars
Brandon Lloyd - 15 catches, 249 yards, 1 touchdown (plus 1 on specials), 605 grand.
CINCINNATI @ NEW YORK JETS
Pet Peeve Alert: I hate it when people mis-use Shakespeare quotations in an attempt to sound smart. The Cincinnati headline regarding Marvin Lewis' fading tenure with the Bengals reads, "Easy Lies the Crown." Well okay. I get it. But the quote is from Henry IV and actually reads, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" which is actually MORE fitting for an analysis of a head coach struggling to maintain his job. Anyway...
In other Bengals news,panic has officially set in. (Scroll down and you'll see the phrases "expanded role" and "Cedric Benson" eerily close together.)
ST. LOUIS @ WASHINGTON
With apologies to Mike Smith in Atlanta, Jim Zorn is the coach of the year in Washington. This team looked lost on opening night in the Meadowlands and have caught the league off-guard with big-time division wins at Dallas and Philadelphia. That and apparently he's dancing jigs at press conferences (Video at 17:48).
MIAMI @ HOUSTON
If you think the Bears lost a tough game to Tampa Bay then you didn't see how Houston lost to Indy on Sunday. I won't bother describing what Gregg Easterbrook called the "Sour Warhead Meltdown of the Week." It's horrific. Needless to say, Matt Schaub will be playing Sunday even if he can't stand up straight.
Assistant Coach of the Year: Dan Henning, offensive coordinator, Miami. Why? Because the WILDCAT is back, baby!
CAROLINA @ TAMPA BAY
Carolina is starting to smell a trip back to the future and to the Super Bowl.
OAKLAND @ NEW ORLEANS
Here is why the New Orleans Saints are never going to win a championship with the combination of Sean Payton, Drew Brees and Reggie Bush. (1) They're built like an arena league team and... (2) ...because they'll never be the top seed, they're not built to win a big game in the Meadowlands, Washington, Chicago, Green Bay...etc. (3) Yes I know Drew Brees has excellent numbers but he's not the kind of quarterback that can dissect a defense, a la Manning or Brady. Everything is deep down the field and if they face a team with a real pass rush, it won't work. (4) They held Adrian Peterson to a handful of yards and returned two punts for touchdowns...and lost. How? Snakebit.
BALTIMORE @ INDIANAPOLIS
Ray Rice and Gary Brackett are in this game. Ray Rice and Gary Brackett went to Rutgers. Rutgers is the state college of New Jersey. Rutgers football is doing a 102 million dollar renovation to their stadium. I pay taxes in the state of New Jersey. Rutgers football has returned to the embarassment it always has been. That is all I have to say about Rutgers.
JACKSONVILLE @ DENVER
Offensive Player of the Year: Jay Cutler, Denver. He's just having an outstanding year and his numbers are skewed by the horrible effort agaist Kansas City. When all is said and done in 2008, I think he's your All Pro QB.
DALLAS @ ARIZONA
Todd Archer says that the Cowboys are victims of high expectations and that's why we're not saluting their 4-1 start. Really Todd? Why these high expectations? Could it be that it's a team full of celebrities that never shut up about how good they are and tell us time and time again how they're the best team in football and how it is championship or bust while their quarterback turns the ball over and defense looks like the weak unit that it is and facially re-constructed owner parades on the sideline the second the team falls behind a field goal? Maybe?
PHILADELPHIA AT SAN FRANCISCO
Andy Reid is the most overrated football coach on the planet. The often-acclaimed offensive genius has seen his offense score a total, TOTAL of 21 second-half points since they beat St. Louis to open the season. I don't want to hear anything about Brian Westbrook's injury or the lack of serious wide receiving threats. This is an organization that wastes draft pick-after-draft pick on backup quarterbacks and God knows what else while they battle the same tired problems every season. Brian Westbrook is hurt every year and sure as shit there's Correll Buckhalter tearing his ACL three plays later. Just look at the 2008 draft - arguably the deepest at running back in a generation. Guess how many the Eagles took? Enough.
GREEN BAY AT SEATTLE
How good are things in Packer land? Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel begins his analysis of the deteriorating defense, "Say what you will about Aaron Rodgers' interceptions, Ryan Grant's fumbles and the offensive line's struggles." In other words, say the offense sucks but the defense sucks worse.
NEW ENGLAND AT SAN DIEGO
"San Diego has the most talented roster in the game." This is said every day by someone. You know what? It is pure nonsense. They have a good quarterback, great running back, mediocre receivers and an okay offensive line. Defensively, they're a joke. 2-3. That's what they are. Here's the bizarre stat of the early season: Ladainian Tomlinson is 13th in the league in rushing.
NEW YORK GIANTS AT CLEVELAND
"Everything they did, they did well and everything we did, we did wrong," he said. "It gave the world a false sense of what we know we can do. This is a good opportunity to show the world that we're definitely way better than what we put out there in preseason." Andra Davis said that regarding Cleveland's preseason loss to the Giants which led me to proclaim Cleveland a five-win team. Andra Davis? Was Bernie Kosar not available for comment? I'd take the odds on Brady Quinn appearing in the second half Monday night.
#2 mikebdot said . . .First(?)
October 7, 2008
#3 jdawg said . . .Ok, Michael Turner can eat shit too. He had a 66 yard run against the Lions, because the Lions suck at nearly anything they do. I didn't see the play. Would guess a blitz. He also had a 29 yard gain in there. He had at least 5 10+ yard runs as well. I'm seriously thinking they just were blitz happy the whole game trying to get to Ryan. Anyhow, he had 220 yards...against the Lions.
He also got 100+ yards against the Packers and the Chiefs, two piss poor run defenses this year. That bodes well for us (the Packers sucking at stopping the run). Hopefully they continue to suck at it. Didn't one of their starting linebackers go down with injury? Hopefully the replacement doesn't get too much better...
Just saying, don't go thinking Turner is anything special. He wasn't as good against Carolina or Tampa...
October 7, 2008
#4 SDBearFan said . . .If the Bears' decided to concentrate on stopping the run against Indy and make Manning beat them through the air what do you think they'll be doing at Atlanta?
We'll see if Ryan is better than Manning and how he responds to 9 men on the LoS.
October 7, 2008
#5 Joseph said . . .#3: The only thing that scares me about ATL is Roddy White's speed.
October 7, 2008
#6 BRIANsong said . . .You took the words right out of my mouth about Turner mikebdot ! He doesn't impress me either!
October 7, 2008
#7 said . . .Impressive or not, I agree he's the league MVP. Forte couldn't gain a yard against the same Lions you both just said stink.
October 7, 2008
#8 Pankster in NC said . . .The lions had two weeks to prepare, and Forte was much more of a known threat in week 5 than Turner was when detroit played ATL. The game play for ATL was probably to pressure the rookie QB, and less focused on stopping turner.
October 7, 2008
#9 jdawg said . . .Yeah I agree about the Carolina take only to the point to where we Da Bears meet them in the post season flippin the script from 05 and bring da bears into carolina and whip some panther ass when it counts.As far as ATL BABITCH PAtch better scramble the d all around and confuse the shit out of ryan, and between peanut and vash contain the shit out white bears win! There is no reason we cant be 5-2 going into the BYE WEEK!!
BEAR THE HELL DOWN AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!October 7, 2008
#10 Brian in Sec 430 Row 25 said . . .if Babich can confuse Manning I think he can confuse Ryan.
October 7, 2008
#11 jeremy9 said . . .That Bears v. Lions game was exactly what this city needed when we needed it most. I am a die hard Cub fan....most of my buddies, die-hard Sox fans....one thing we all needed to see was our beloved Bears dominating the shit bag Lions.....THANK YOU BLUE AND ORANGE! Now, I have been very consistant on this blog in my support for Rex as our starting quarterback.....while I am not ready to book K.O's trip to Hawaii like many of you, I will say he looked solid as hell and I was extremely happpy with his performance. All that being said, we need to make sure we keep this win in perspective...we beat the hell out of the Lions.....the Lions are the single worst team in the NFL. The problem the Bears have had in the last year and a half is our inability to win consecutive games....do not mistake a win over the Lions as a break in this streak! The Bears need to kick the shit out of the Falcons or we are back in the middle of the pack with the rest of the crapppy teams that have no chance. My bottom line is this.....just making the playoffs is not good enough for this city....dont be satisfied with a win over Detroit, be satisified with 5 or maybe 6 wins in a row in route to a serious run at a conference championship and a super bowl berth. I get sooooo frustrated with everyone's short term memory.....believe me, when alex brown sacked kitna and stripped that ball I was running around my house like an idiot....but I am not going to forget babich has not done shit and Ron Turner is a douch....we are in a good spot but this is no time to let these guys off the hook. The Bears organization has dissapointed us year after year....do not be blinded by a blowout vs detroit.
BEAR DOWN BITCHES!
October 8, 2008
#12 Joseph said . . .Like some of my friends noted before the season started, L Tomlinson has lost a step and he showed it big time in the playoffs. It is sad to see some of the best players in the league die out so early, but LT is on his way.
Did you guys know our offense is doing so good that no one has to mention Grossman until he goes in at garbage time. Haha. That's signs of a better qb and a pretty good offense.
Keep it up Orton. I should be singing you and Forte's praises cause I haven't seen a pair like you two in a long time in Chicago. Don't worry a few of you, I won't get carried away, but I like what we have to offer right now big time.
Bring on Big Chris Williams anchoring that left side for years and Angelo comes out looking genius. GENIUS.
October 8, 2008
#13 zmac said . . .I see the Bears taking the next step against the Falcons and really begin to progress as one of the elite teams in the NFL this year!
This is a very well balanced team through 5 weeks and can only get better!
October 8, 2008
#14 Rancid said . . .#8: If Bryant can make Vash look dumb, I think White wouldnt have a problem. P-Nut doesnt have the speed, but he is one of the best corners around. He needs to be on White all night.
October 8, 2008
#15 JAB said . . .I'm not worried about comparing Forte's stats against the Lions or anyone else to Turners or anyone else. To some degree this is part of the poison that is Fantasy Football. Yes I play, but I still think its a poison to the game. Maybe there should be some recovery group. Anyway, stats are great, but what Forte does is simple. He does what is needed for the Bears to win the game. He does what's asked of him. The Lions gave the air attack so we took it. I'm convinced this guy will be whatever we need him to be so I'm not worried about him not having a great yardage day.
I agree that Roddy White is the concern this week. I think our defense can do a good job on Turner which leaves Roddy as the major threat. He needs to see double coverage most of the day if possible. If we can limit their offense to one or two scores then we should be able to score enough points to put this one away.
This is a huge game for us. Beating Atlanta convincingly makes us the unanimously the best team in the division, Beating them in a tight game just keeps us on top. However if we lose to these guys it will cast us back down to the bowels of what is one of the worst divisions in football. It's important to be the one great team in a shitty division as opposed to being the least shitty team in a shitty division. Big difference. Bear down.
I said it after last week, and it's becoming more apparent. KO has shown that he has the tools. He can make the throws. Guess what, so does Rex. This season is the proving ground for KO to show that he also can win games when the game plan doesn't work (something RT doesn't do so well), and also recover from his mistakes. I watched the Cardinals/Jets game a few weeks ago, and Warner did that. The guy played like a complete piece of shit for a whole half. He threw picks, lost fumbles, got sacked, and then he got up and played well in the second half. Not well enough to win (you don't win when the other guy puts up 56), but he looked good. Great QBs can do that. I think KO can be our guy, but he still has stuff to prove there. Here's to you KO, Bear down!
October 8, 2008
#16 mikebdot said . . .I have seen some bad talk about Forte's production against Detroit. It doesn't take a genius to see that the Lions thought that the Bears were only one dimensional and stacked the line up front. Ron Turner usually pisses me off but it was brilliant the way he ran the ball the first five plays and then exploited Detroit's secondary. Forte is a huge part of this teams success and after a few more games of teams loading the box Orton is going to keep burning the secondaries and eventually Forte is going to see those big rushing games again.
October 8, 2008
#17 jeremy34 said . . .briansong: Yeah, of course, Forte had more receptions against the Lions than Michael Turner has had all year...
Detroit was geared to stop the run against us, not the pass. How many passing yards did ATL have? 156. That includes a 62 yard pass play a few plays into the game! I believe a short pass taken to the house? That's just my memory though...
Now that I think of it, didn't they come out in a wishbone type offense or something fucked up against the Lions? Like, something nobody could prepare for? I can't remember, but I seem to recall something weird like that.
We're going to fuck up Atlanta's shit. Atlanta's defense sucks. We will move the football on them. The only thing that would prevent a victory is committing 3 or more turnovers. Let's hope Orton can continue being a solid "game manager" (which, is a stupid stupid stupid phrase, much like "stupid stupid stupid phrase").
October 8, 2008
#18 Anytime said . . .I have one complaint, why is Hester looking bad on most of his returns this year? I know he has been injured some, but is he becoming overwhelmed with an ego or what? Or think he can do what he has done the last two years just by going through the motions?
October 8, 2008
#19 Crown said . . .Hester is starting to get more snaps on offense. It was really expected for his kick returns to not be as productive if his offensice production went up. I for one would rather have him develop into a true #1 reciever than returning 4-5 kicks a year. Sure those are fun, but a dynamic recieving threat, which he has the potential to morph into, would be better for the team.
October 8, 2008
#20 Joseph said . . .Hester is not looking as dynamic on punt returns because he is without the best special teams player in the league this year: Brendon Ayenbadejo. That dude created several of Hester's TDs on returns the last several years. I also agree with Anytime: As his offensive production goes up, his special teams performance will decrease. That is just what is expected when you spend most of your time focusing on routes and being a WR. I would start putting Manning back there at the end of games to avoid injury to Hester and let him focus on receiving if we are up by at least two scores.
October 8, 2008
#21 Crown said . . .Why would Hester's production decrease just because he is on offense! That makes no sense too me! Reggie Bush returns punts and is a RB/WR! Last time I checked a RB takes more of a beating than any player on the field!
Mybe i'm wrong but returning a kick/punt takes natural ability not any kind of route memorization. Teams are starting to adjust to Hester and are scared to death of him bringing one back so they kick away from him.
Be patient Bears fans! If they kick to him he will score!
October 8, 2008
#22 said . . .Punt returning does not take route memorization, but being a receiver does. That was my point. Hester has been focusing on offense almost entirely this year. Learning plays, running routes, playing more than 50% of plays on offense. That can tire you mentally and physically. Also, again, he does not have man purse Ayanbadejo to run and block with him all the way to the end zone. I remember Ayanbedejo beating Hester to the end zone blocking people along the way and opening huge holes for Skunk.
October 8, 2008
#23 Bill said . . .We do miss Ayanbedejo on the special teams.
I sense this is a pivotal game for the Bears. It's the type of game that in disappointing years they would lose due to over-confidence or beign full of themselves. If they get down to business, and win (no matter the score) then I'd say they are for real. I expect them to do just that. I think they like who they are right now - a good team that is getting better.
October 8, 2008
#24 Bill said . . .whoops - #22 was me.
October 8, 2008
#25 mikebdot said . . .Another interesting point that I haven't heard mentioned: Pep Hamilton was brought in to save Rex and from what I'm reading, he has in fact had that impact on Orton. So bringing him in was a good move, but for an unexpected reason.
October 8, 2008
#26 Ronaldo said . . .Uh, ST comparison of Bears vs. Ravens:
KR offensive - Bears rank 12th vs. Ravens 24th
PR offensive - Bears rank 27th vs. Ravens 17th
Offense - push (actually slight edge, Bears, but whatever)
KR defensive - Bears rank 8 vs. Ravens 16th
PR defensive - Bears rank 8 vs. Ravens 9th
Defense - edge to Bears
Granted, we're not 'as good' as last year returning kicks, but penalties have killed at least two decent returns, one of which was last week killed by an offsides penalty, which may or may not have been true due to the piss poor camera angle and lack of showing the replay. Briggs clearly moved, but not very much and I doubt he was over the line. Just because a player moves doesn't mean he's across the line. The D-line is not the O-line as it turns out.
I haven't watched a single Ravens game, so I don't know if Ayanbadejo is making plays there, but we've got up and comers making plays on special teams in general, so I'm ok with this. They dominated on kickoffs. Perhaps Ayanbadejo missed a lot of tackles last season and nobody noticed except the coaches...just a thought.
Also, looking at the top punters in the league, Tampa, Indy, Philly, and Carolina are all in the top 13 in terms of punting. Directional kicking is a big deal. Anyone notice how Hester rarely gets the ball in the middle of the field? All four teams Baltimore played are in the lower half. Well, Cleveland is 16th. Close enough.
October 8, 2008
#27 Joseph said . . .I don't think we'll be all that bad agains the Falcons run game, we've done a pretty good job of shutting down the run this year. I'd like to see improvement in our pass defense. We probably won't have a real test again for a while with the Falcons and the Vikes in the next couple games. I can only hope Babich stays creative in his blitzing schemes, because having to rely on 4 pass rushers all game is a recipe for disaster.
October 8, 2008
#28 Kenneth said . . .My point was that there is no "focusing" involved in returning. Just natural ability. Anyhow Hester is the most dangerous man in the NFL in my opinion!
This is the week he takes one to the house!
Side note...Forte is still 3rd among RB's in yards from scrimmage. 1 yard ahead of the Burner! To me...that is the most impressive stat a RB could have!
I say milk Kevin Jones this year then pick up a big short yardage bruiser complimentary RB to get the tough yards so Forte can have a long and productive career!
Go Bears! Another blow-out in a dome is on the horizon!
October 8, 2008
#29 windy city Mad Dog said . . .San Diego has a TON of good players on defense, which makes them more the Saints than the Saints could ever hope to be. Reid is a good coach, and he's way better than crappy Philly fans deserve. Bears rule.
October 8, 2008
#30 shonbear said . . .Many recent posts have good points on Hester's run-backs.
Looking at the game films, this year and last. Hester was getting more "space" last year. I don't know if this is because Brian Abea (whatever the hell) is gone or what. But the space is not there like it was. Hester can almost always beat the first guy down, but then they are on him a lot quicker than they were. He needs 4 or 5 yards to hit after-burner. Teams have spent a lot of time studying Skunk and figuring what to do to stop him. Maybe our special teams needs to make additional adjustments?
October 8, 2008
#31 jdawg said . . .And he's looked a little antzy...
He's had some good run backs, just no TD's some called back and plus teams have been preparing specifically for him and studying him.
I still think he will show us what's up. They might need to be creative and do a pass back or something on a kick off return, but he will do it, it would be nice for him to break one before coming home, so he can get that lovin feeling again, either way, Id rather see touch down passes vs returns from him. Returns are exciting, but they tire the defense out and give the offense a false sense of security aboout how they have the lead, so they settle for 3 and outs because they have the lead and their D should be able to hold. Ala New Orleans.
I'm thinking, stop the run and make Ryan beat you which will result in turnovers for our D. Roddy White hasn't faced any D like our Bears D, he makes a catch and gets pile driven by Mike Brown or Pnut and he's looking over his shoulder the rest of the day. Same with Ryan, he gets crushed and he starts making bad choices.
Look for the screen pass and more production from Greg Olsen.
I think one of the reasons that Forte's production has gone down is that in the beginning he was getting a lot of yards off that cut back move of his, teams have been looking for that now and it's not working as well, sometimes he just needs to take the yards and not worry about the cutback, set the defense up for a later cutback.
I'm liking Hub Arkush's takes on not getting overly excited about the Bears, the Atlanta game is important, but the Minnesota game is the real important one. Now saying I like Hub's take is not totally true I think he is still a little on the negative side, but he seems more realistic. The thing I disagree with him about is that I think that both the Tampa Bay game and Carolina games were ours and we gave them away, he acts like Carolina was the better team, in both games we were statistacally better in almost every category. Whatever Hub.
Anybody look at Moose's production lately, that fucker is suddenly playing good again! Fuck Moose!
Michael Turner vs Matt Forte, I cried about wanting MT on our team, but I was thinking Atlanta overpaid him, now that MF has proven to be great, humble and all about the work ethic, I am so happy about this result. In addition, I was wanting Rashard Mendenhall too because you figure he was a local guy, haven't heard much about him.
Matt Forte you are ridiculous! (also)
October 8, 2008
#32 zmac said . . .things to remember about Hub:
1) He loved Jauron
2) He loved Rivera
3) The Bears fired himJust remember, whenever you hear his Woody Woodpecker laugh he's probably lying
October 8, 2008
#33 Ronaldo said . . .#30: White has faced TB and Carolina and GB. He struggled against TB, but did well against Carolina and GB. Woodson has shut down No. reciever's so far this season and he got burned by White. I think you are right though. If we can hit him and Ryan hard and early it will make a big difference in this game. Ryan vs Orton should be a fun matchup to watch.
October 9, 2008
#34 mikebdot said . . .Must say, I've been quite impressed with K. Payne. Dude lays the lumber. I'm looking for him to drop a couple guys on Sunday.
October 9, 2008
#35 Bill Tsiu said . . .Finally, love for K. Payne! Hell yeah Rolando. He missed like two tackles on game and people got on his case. You know how many tackles Urlacher misses per game? Or Hillenmeyer? Or Ogun on the edge? Or Vasher? The whole team misses tackles. It's really part of their philosophy. Stand the guy up long enough for someone to help, then strip the ball. The only person that has problems with this was Adam Archuleta (who couldn't stand people up on the account of his busted ass wrist) and Daniel Manning. I wish that guy would just add a few pounds. The "speed" he has isn't really there anyway, so a few pounds of muscle would make him better at stopping the run without really "losing" anything. Same with McGowan. Those two guys need a good 10 pounds. Even if it made their butts look big (see next thread).
October 9, 2008
GO! Bears! My Love! Check out the stat widgets at StatBeast.com. They're an awesome way to illustrate your point.
October 12, 2008
Here at DaBearsBlog, you are free to kill us or the Bears as you so wish. You are not free, however, to be an asshole. So if you spew racism or ill-meaning foul language (cursing about football is just fine) or anything of that ilk, your comments ain't gonna last long, jerk.