I was impressed by many newish Chicago Bears Sunday.  Adam Podlesh (who is not only newish but also Jewish) returned some pop to the punt game.  Nick Reed looked like a real contributor on the edge.  Chris Spencer played with a burst off the line of scrimmage after replacing injured Lance Louis.  Roy Williams delivered exactly the kind of afternoon I expect from him all year long: a couple catches, a couple first downs.

But it was Henry Melton who stole the show Sunday for the Bears, dominating the interior of the Falcons offensive line in a manner reminiscent of the best Tommie Harris had to offer in the middle of the last decade.  He was not just disruptive, taking up blockers and freeing the linebackers to make plays in space.  He was also suffocating the pocket, hitting Matt Ryan on seemingly every play while admitting he “left a few sacks out there.”  Melton’s success, even after one game, seems to be another feather in LoveRod cap.  This program knows how to develop defensive linemen.

Olin Kreutz turned down more money from the Miami Dolphins heading into the 2002 season.  He was not yet twenty-five years old and was already being received as one of the best centers in the league.  In that moment, with that decision, Kreutz cemented his legacy in the hearts of Bears fans across the country.  Not only had he honored the Bears organization with his loyalty but he had also spurned Dave Wannstedt, the man some of us (me) believe is actually the mustachioed off-spring of the antichrist.  Kreutz would go on to endear himself to Bears faithful with brilliant play on the field and ridiculous incidents at gun ranges.

But Olin’s play declined as the aging veterans brought in to bring the Bears to the Super Bowl (Miller, Brown, Tait) left out the side door.  Now he’s moved on to New Orleans for far less than the Bears offered him to return to Halas Hall.  He was underwhelming against the Green Bay Packers on opening night and now will line up opposite Melton.  The old Bear meets the young Bear in a matchup that might very well define the contest.  For the first time in my life I will be rooting for Olin Kreutz to be planted on his back, driven towards the quarterback and embarrassed on a Sunday.  Because when an old Bear puts on somebody’s else’s laundry, he has to wait till retirement for to revisit his term of endearment.

A Tweet from Sun-Times beat writer Sean Jensen signaled the most positive development from the Bears dominant performance Sunday:

Lovie Smith, when asked about 5 sacks: “We’re not Super Bowl ready. We’re just getting started.”

The most uplifting thing for me about the Bears Sunday was just how great they weren’t.  How many mistakes they made.  How much better they can be if they keep improving right through until Indianapolis in February.  It won’t all get fixed in the month of September but there are clear areas where the Bears need work.

EDGE BLOCKING, QUARTERBACK RELEASE 

John Abraham beating J’Marcus Webb is not a surprise.  John Abraham is better at football than J’Marcus Webb.  I truly believe Webb is going to need the entirety of the 2011 campaign to find his footing at LT and the Bears need to prepare for that.  But the quarterback needs to be responsible for releasing the football before edge rushers are able to make their second move on either tackle.  With the ability of Matt Forte to make plays in space, there is literally no excuse for Cutler to hold the football and take a sack.  Drop it to #22 in space and see what comes from it or toss it into the fifth row.  Your own physical health and the mental health of your young left tackle will be protected.

RUN DEFENSE POSITIONING

As good as the linebackers were Sunday, and Brian Urlacher was as good as he’s been in years, there were too many times Falcons running backs seemed to be on the third level once they penetrated the line of scrimmage.  The cut-back run has killed the Bears throughout the Lovie Smith era, primarily due to over-pursuit and an aggressive linebacking corps.  With Henry Melton possibly returning the middle of the defensive line to elite status, they should be able to maintain their gaps and suffocate opposing run games.

RED ZONE SCORING

Did the Bears miss Greg Olsen Sunday?  I don’t know.  Would red zone attack really be a concern if Jay Cutler had executed the brilliant Mike Martz throw-back screen to a wide open Kellen Davis?  Probably not.  Nevertheless, the Bears are in the big leagues of the NFC and will have to score with the Packers and Eagles and Saints in order to make a deep run in the postseason.  That means touchdowns in the red zone, not field goals.

DEFENDING THE TIGHT END

There’s a few things you have to get used to when your team runs the defense the Bears run.  One of those things is that receivers are going to be open in the same old spaces on third-and-medium.  (On the positive side, you also get used to not being beat deep down the field very often.)  But the red flag must be raised by just how wide open Tony Gonzalez seemed throughout the afternoon.  The Bears will next see a Saints team without their top receiver (Colston) and with a rising star called Jimmy Graham at the TE position.  The week after the Packers will bring Jermichael Finley, perhaps the best pass-catching TE in the league, for a date at Soldier Field.  Defending tight ends might not be the most important issue facing the 2011 Chicago Bears but it is certainly the most pressing.

The satellites didn’t work. After sitting at Josie Woods for the better part of three hours, drinking bar coffee and eating bagels from a large plastic bag, the big TV in the corner was now frozen on a blindingly yellow image of bald Terry Bradshaw in a bad suit.  And no matter how many times we tried to reboot the system, nothing could be done.

12:00.  12:02.  Slammed a Bud Light draft.  12:15.  12:35.  Slammed another.

As the Bears regulars began to file into our underground club house, I warned them not to take their seats as we may need to move on down the road.  I turned to my buddy Josh, a Bills fan, and a co-executive decision was made.  We left.

On the walk up Waverly to Broadway I was mumbling angrily to myself like a hobo in need of a fix.  I kicked a mailbox for no other reason than it was there.  We had to leave the place I’ve watched football for eleven years and go to St. Mark’s Ale House.

St. Mark’s Ale House sucks.  I can’t state that clearly enough.  My friends will tell you that one of my phobias is sitting at tables in bars.  I don’t like sitting at tables in bars.  It makes me feel suburbanized, like I’m one step away from having a crying baby-filled stroller being rocked beside me.  At St. Mark’s Ale House, everybody sits at tables.  I don’t get it.  How can you cheer from your seat?  How can you watch your favorite club without nervously pacing the length of a room?

But St. Mark’s Ale House is a Bears bar in the sense that multiple Bears fans go there.  So we went there.  And the fella who owns that joint, even at 12:50, was oblivious to fact that his satellites were down.  (He had most of the TVs on the 9/11 ceremony.  Yay!  Poor me, another pint! )  As the kickoff time was rapidly approaching, my buddy Brian began calling every bar with a television set in the neighborhood.

“Do you have the Bears game working?  Can you check?  You have to check!  Check!”

No one did.  Then he called Kelly’s on Avenue A.  Bills bar.  (Josh had found Valhalla.)  Also a Cubs bar.  Hope.

They had it.  (They checked it per Brian’s request.)  They really had it.  We didn’t believe them but off we were, snagging a cab at the corner of St. Mark’s and 2^nd Avenue like a cavalry on the march to the battle field.  I fulfilled a lifetime dream by telling the cab driver to “step on it”.  He stepped on it.  We arrived.

Kelly’s does not suck.  It’s a cool little joint in a now-trendy neighborhood that managed to put 100+ Bills fans into a space that couldn’t have a legal capacity of more than 25.  The Bears game was on a television in the far corner, above the doorway leading to the staircase leading to the toilets.  (Side note: Periodically through the game, the lights did not work in the men’s room.  I had to use my cell phone to direct my piss.)  In our thin lane to the television, we squeezed 13 people.  At the rear of our lane was a bed.  Not a padded seat.  A bed.

It was also a thousand degrees.  We didn’t drink out buckets of Labatt tallboys because we loved beer.  We drank our buckets to cool off.  I drank too many of them.  And when the adrenaline of the ballgame wore off, I felt it.  (My pre-6:00 pm bedtime can attest.)

All for football.  All for the Chicago Bears.  An annoyance that plagued DirecTV bars around the country turned into a classic New York afternoon and created a memory sure to last.  It could have been the worst opening day of my life.  It became the best.

30-12 helped.  Thank you, Brian.  Thank you, Kelly’s.  Thank you New York City.  Thank you, Chicago Bears.

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Picks Contest update!  BidDaddy, DYLbear23, FQD1911 & NewBearinTown went perfect on Sunday.  Shady & SC Dave need a Denver cover tonight.  BossBear90 needs an Oakland cover.

Here are my quick thoughts on a wonderful Bears win.  I told you this team was terrific.  I told radio hosts in multiple markets too.

• I will be telling the whole story of where and how I watched the game tomorrow.  It is quite good but it requires a literary flair.
• J’Marcus Webb struggled with John Abraham but that’s to be expected.  The Bears need to find ways to slide help his way.  Give the kid the chance to succeed.
• Brian Urlacher.  Hi.  You look terrific.
• You too, Jay.
• But I thought Cutler got lucky on a few tosses into tight spots.  The outlet to Forte is going to be there on every play.  Take it.
• Julius Peppers is some kind of animal.
• Pay Forte.
• I don’t know who to credit Lovie for more: Matt Toeaina or Henry Melton.  Both were excellent today.
• I know he’s not going to Canton but Peanut Tillman might be my favorite Bear of the modern era.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, strips the ball like 33.
• I like Adam Podlesh.
• Martz, stop calling end arounds.  Especially with Dane Sanzenbacher.
• Does Roy Williams get to call Steven Rosenbloom personally?
• Why is Corey Graham so damn good on specials?
• Am I crazy loving Tyler Clutts?
• Nick Reed might be a player.
• I’m not done with Henry Melton.  Hey, Henry!  Don’t pull a Tommie!  Keep working and keep getting better.
• Cutler’s miss to Kellen Davis on the sure thing TD was unfortunate but don’t disregard the brilliance of the play call.

That’s enough.  I’m liquored up.  Brilliant win.  Brilliant performance.

It is the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL season.  As many of you know, it is customary for me on this particular Sunday to not return to the internet in any kind of coherent form until tomorrow morning.  But I shall try to come on tonight and deliver a quick hit recap.

If you’re hungry for my thoughts during the game, I will try and send some messages to the Twitter account.  It’s always on the site, over on the right rail.

Bear down.

Today is the last day for you to vote for DaBearsBlog as Chicago’s most valuable sports blog by CLICKING HERE. Take time out today and do so if you value the work here.  Again, I don’t if we’d win anything but it’s fun to try.

Inside this week’s show: new songs, announcement of the picks contest and prizes, my brothers make their picks and the Reverend’s Rant.

The lines:

NY JETS 4.5 Dallas / SAN DIEGO 8.5Minnesota / SAN FRANCISCO 5 Seattle / ARIZONA 7 Carolina / NY Giants 3 WASHINGTON / JACKSONVILLE 3 Tennessee / CLEVELAND 6.5 Cincinnati / Philadelphia 4.5 ST LOUIS / HOUSTON 9 Indianapolis / KANSAS CITY 6 Buffalo / Atlanta 3 CHICAGO / TAMPA BAY 1.5 Detroit / BALTIMORE 1.5 Pittsburgh / DENVER 3 Oakland / New England 7 MIAMI

This game may not matter much in the grand scheme of the 2011 NFL season but I will be rooting like hell for the New Orleans Saints to take down the Packers tonight.  Why?  (1) I hate the Green Bay Packers.  (2) I don’t want the Bears heading to New Orleans next week to face a hungry Saints teams coming off an opening night loss with ten days to prepare.

Let’s go Saints!

And so we encounter the first week of the 2011 NFL season.  The Chicago Bears are good.  I’ll stick with that.  And I won’t be shy in picking them at home in week one.

WHY DO I LIKE THE CHICAGO BEARS THIS WEEK?

• I always like the Chicago Bears.
• I like the incorporation of the quick toss, screen and draw play as offensive means for compensating for struggles by the edge blockers. (These struggles will be more prevalent early on.)  I thought it was the most clearly decipherable elements of this preseason.  Aside from shifting the players up front, I think the Bears are using the playbook to keep Jay upright.
• The Bears have significant advantages with the kicker, punter and punt return game.  I used to underestimate this.  I don’t anymore.
• But I’ll refrain from commenting on the kickoff return game until I see how this new rule impacts play.
• I think the Bears will shut down the Falcons run game but struggle on third and mid-range plays (3rd and 7, 3rd and 8…etc.).  Falcons have big, physical receivers who’ll slide neatly into the holes in the zone and move the chains.  The trick for the Bears will be turning Matt Ryan over a couple times and limiting the length of the drives.
• I think the Bears will run right at Abraham and Edwards and have much success.
• I think Jay Cutler has a great deal to prove in 2011 and is on the war path to prove it.  He’s in shape.  His footwork is improved.  His leadership is more visible.  I think you won’t see Jay Cutler throw ballgames away in 2011.
• What else do you say for the first week of the season?  The Bears will focus on blocking the edges and are ready to compensate for failure in that department.  The Bears defense will have their hands full but will take the run game away, making the Falcons one-dimensional.  They win.

Chicago Bears 24, Atlanta Falcons 20

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Is Secondary Top Concern?

I rarely agree with David Haugh but if it’s true that Jerry Angelo’s primary concern is the secondary – or more specifically the pass defense – then Angelo is a smart man.  But I don’t think Angelo’s concern should only be the talent at the corner and safety positions, especially if the starters remain healthy.  The concern should also be the Bears inability to get to the quarterback with consistency once opponents commit a double or triple-team to stop Peppers.  This concern will leave the land of the hypothetical, however, as the Bears open the season with three of the best passing teams in the league: Atlanta, New Orleans, Green Bay.

Bears Waive Fullback, Clear Roster Space

The Bears released fullback Will Ta’ufo’ou Tuesday, causing a Twitter speculation on who they were targeting to fill his roster space.  Most believe it will be a linebacker but how can the New York Giants allow any linebacker capable of fundamental tackling leave the open market for any other team?  They already had one of the worst units in the league and have lost two-thirds of it to season ending injuries.  (How much of an injury liability must Lofa Tatupu be if the Giants haven’t thrown a buck of money at him this afternoon?)

Forte Contract Talks on Hold

From PFT:

Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo told WBBM in Chicago that the Bears and Forte’s representatives have agreed to put off contract talks until after the season.  There were recently reports that Forte was getting offered a deal with roughly $13-14 million guaranteed.  Clearly, that wasn’t enough to close a deal.

Am I crazy or is Forte overplaying his hand a bit here?  Is he much better than I think he is?  Forte is a reliable runner/receiver hybrid and will thrive in the Mike Martz offense this season but is he really worth crippling your salary cap over?  I don’t think so.

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