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Redskins at Bears Game Preview

| October 21st, 2010

It is the game that will let us know what to expect from the remainder of the 2010 campaign.  Are the Chicago Bears capable of holding their division lead over the next two months, keeping the charging Packers and Vikings at bay?  Or are the Chicago Bears bound for a season’s worth of scoreboard watching, as they clamor to stay above .500 and dream of wild cards and first-round playoff exits?  Just who are the Chicago Bears?

YOUR CAN’T BLOCK MY MOTHER CHICAGO BEARS
over
Washington Redskins
Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?
  • I always like the Chicago Bears.  (But I’m going to make my prediction this week as a list of things I believe the Bears will do to win.) 
  • I think the Bears, if they get Lance Briggs back, will bottle up the stretch runs of Ryan Torain to the outside and force the Redskins to be one-dimensional.  Speed to the edges is usually the Bears’ defensive strength.  In the past, against this defense, cutting back up the gut has been most successful.
  • I think our return game is hot right now, especially if you consider Danieal Manning’s ludicrously overturned touchdown of a week ago that would have beaten the Seahawks.  The last time the Bears played Mike Shanahan, a thrilling overtime win in Week 12 of 2007, Devin Hester delivered one of the greatest special teams performances in the sport’s history.  I don’t think Shanahan forgets and I think he’ll greatly shuffle his game plan accordingly – giving the Bears even better field position.
  • I think Donovan McNabb will have success throwing to Chris Cooley over the middle and Santana Moss under Tillman on the left side but I don’t think McNabb is the kind of quarterback who can accurately hit the slant route on thirds and less than five.  When McNabb throws a slant, it has just as good a chance of going the other way for six as it does moving the chains.
  • Graham Gano v. Robbie Gould.  I like our guy.  Especially at home.
  • I think Jay Cutler and Mike Martz know they are a poor performance away from facing a fourteen-day onslaught of questioning from blood-hungry media types and angry rants from playwright/bloggers.  I expect to see the chance-taking reduced to a minimum and a game plan heavy with runs, screens and quick tosses to our speedy receivers on the outside.  At least that’s what I’m hoping for…
  • I think Devin Aromashodu is going to make a very big play in this game on a wide-open crossing route.
  • I think we’re going to allow 4 sacks.  
  • I think we’re not going to allow a safety this week.
  • I think Brad Maynard is going to punt better than he did last week.
  • I think I know this opinion is not qualifiable but I think the Bears simply play better when people are treating them like second-rate citizens.  They have lost two games this season.  One off a thrilling victory over the Packers and the other off a blowout win over the Panthers, wherein Todd Collins threw a hundred interceptions.  The Bears don’t handle success well (see: 2007) and thrive when they have to get off the mat.  They’re on the mat this week.  It’s time to get the hell off.
Chicago Bears 27, Washington Redskins 21