Administrative note:
On the task bar you’ll notice a link for Schedule. That link will be updated all season long with each game’s Game Preview, Game Thread and Game Recap. It will sort of serve as DBB’s chronicle of the season – both up here and down below.
Go Jets.
Go Panthers.
Go Patriots.
Four additional thoughts as we head towards San Francisco:
Tale of the tape
Willis (52): 6 foot 1, 240 pounds, eighth season, Mississippi
Bennett (83): 6 foot 6, 265 pounds, seventh season, Texas A&MWillis returned to the mike linebacker position this season, taking over NaVorro Bowman’s old role. He found himself in coverage against Dallas tight end Jason Witten in the season opener.
Willis came through with a big day, holding Witten to just two catches for 14 yards and providing a big play with an interception in the end zone.
“I feel like we did a decent job, but I always feel like we can be better,” Willis said. “I always feel like I can be better.
“There were times I could’ve played a little tighter. Every week is a challenge, and I won’t tell you something I wake up looking forward to every day is going out there and covering, but we do what needs to be done.”
The Bears usually win their first game of the season and the city of Chicago erupts into a sea of champagne-soaked celebration. Then the rest of the season happens. This year the Bears have lost their first game and Rahm Emanuel announced all restaurants, bars, churches and public toilets are closed until further notice.
Said Rahm: “May the streets smell of hobo urine until the Bears are in the win column!”
Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?
I always like the Chicago Bears.
Let me point you in the direction of two Tweets, both catching my eye in the last twenty-hour hours.
First…
Second…
Looking for silver linings? Salvageable? The Bears have played one game this season, a game where they were clearly the better team but made ridiculous mistakes, and the default response of seemingly everyone covering the club is defeatist. These sad tones or moods or whatever you want to call them osmotically transfer from newspaper pages, radio waves and television screens directly into the hearts and minds around the Chicagoland.
I’ve come to terms with the media covering the Bears. They prey upon the inherent desire of Bears fans to go negative by feeding the negative beast. But I applaud the fan who believes. I applaud the fan who’ll be sitting on a bar stool or couch Sunday evening believing the Bears will beat the 49ers and set their 2014 back on the right path. I applaud the fan who understands, win or lose, watching the Chicago Bears play their 16 guaranteed games a season is still one of life’s greatest joys.
Many don’t realize until it’s too late in life but what I’m about to say is true. Being negative is easy. Being jaded is a cop out. It is the people who put themselves out there and believe – in their lives, careers, sports teams, anything – who experience the great joys in life.
From Mark Potash’s column in the Sun-Times:
The other issue on Cutler’s second interception was Trestman’s play-call itself. Why not run on third-and-one? Matt Forte had gained 62 yards on 14 carries to that point, though he had been stopped for no gain on the previous play.
“Most of the time we do, but we have to have some balance to what we’re doing,” Trestman said. “And the fact that it was a two-down situation gave us an opportunity to get a big play, and we’re going to take an aggressive approach at times.”
Nothing is more tiring in the NFL than fans and media criticizing play calling after the fact. If Cutler throws the football away, nobody complains. If he gets the yard with his legs, the play is an absolute afterthought. If he completes the pass, HEAVEN PRAISED TRESTMAN IS GENIUS!
Play calling is the single most overrated element of football games. When runs don’t work, people want passes. When passes don’t work, people want runs. Now all of a sudden the Bears should run on short-yardage when the number one criticism of Matt Forte’s career has been his inability to get first downs in short yardage AND the Bears are without their starting center and left guard?
You know why offensive – and never defensive – play calling are often the most criticized elements of football games? Because it is the element of the game the casual fan and media member believe they can do. Spoiler alert: they can’t.
I prefer to exit the realm of the hypothetical and put the blame where it belongs: on the guy who threw the ball to a defensive lineman.
If the Bears had a rinky dink opponent on the schedule for Sunday (though I’m not sure those exist in the NFL any longer) there would be little they could do in Week Two to erase the disappointment of Week One. But they don’t. Instead they are traveling to Santa Clara, where they haven’t beaten the 49ers since the invention of the forward pass. They are opening a new stadium, in prime time, in front of one of the league’s rowdiest fan bases. They are playing the most difficult game, at least contextually speaking, on their schedule.
And if they win, week one is forgotten. If they win, the season is reborn. Hell, even if they play a terrific game and lose the conversation changes from the End is Nigh refrain currently singly somewhat proudly from the pages of the Chicago dailies to Bring on the Jets and the 2014 campaign!
No picture. Nothing fun. Let’s get right to the thoughts…
1. If the Bears manage a push from the interior of their offensive line they could be looking at an even more productive offensive outing. Success in the run game early will open up the whole of the play book.
2. If Bears commit more than four to the rush look out for E.J. Manuel hitting Scott Chandler quickly over the middle. This is still an area of the field where the Bears are susceptible to attack.
3. With the strength of the Bills offensive line being Cordy Glenn at left tackle, look for Lamarr Houston to make a greater impact today than Jared Allen.
4. There are only two ways to limit Sammy Watkins damage: tackling and pass rush. Tackling contains him in the screen game. Pass rush restricts his ability to do damage over the top.
5. Remember, no style points in September. I predicted the final score to be 31-16. 3-2 would be just as acceptable. September and October are about one thing in the NFL: stockpiling wins.
As always you can follow my (sporadic at best) in-game commentary on Twitter by following me @DaBearsBlog.
