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?

Worst Case Scenario

“Going to Houston after Chicago was night and day. They’re obviously a young franchise, but to go to Houston from Chicago, it almost didn’t feel like the NFL. Washington is a lot more like Chicago. This is a very similar setup.”

Grossman’s career in Chicago is one of the strangest in the history of the organization.  He was both hero and heel, and often both at the same time.  He was the perfect Lovie Smith quarterback.

Other than the victory against the Panthers, which was a near split, the Bears’ offense has lost the time-of-possession battle in four of their last five games. For the season, the Bears are 27th in the NFL with an average time of possession of 27:57.

”It doesn’t matter how much they play,” Jennings said. ”We’ve just got to keep [opponents] out of the end zone.”

The issue I always have with this argument is that it’s always seemed that Lovie Smith has embraced his defense spending extended time on the field.  The bend-don’t-break approach is all the Lovie-Deuce can lean on without an interior-busting defensive tackle (a la Warren Sapp) or a punishing player at the safety position (John Lynch, Bob Sanders…etc.).  The offense clearly needs to improve, increase drive length, and cut down on thirty-yard throws when only three are required for a first down.  But I’m tired of the defense trying to have it both ways. 

The Redskins’ line has allowed only 14 sacks for a loss of 96 yards as opposed to the Bears’ 27 sacks for minus-168 yards.

The Bears’ offense has dipped to a season-low 29th ranking in the 32-team league. They have not only allowed the most sacks in the league, but they’ve allowed seven more than the next-closest team.

I don’t think the Redskins are better than the Bears, however, and Vegas agrees with me this week.  I guess we’ll see what the records of the two clubs are after Sunday afternoon.

Blog Poll Question
Giving me a full explanation why (“I hate the Packers” doesn’t count), who are you rooting for in the Sunday night game – Minnesota or Green Bay?  I literally can’t decide.

Very interesting to study the Washington Redskins against the Indianapolis Colts – defensive sister school of the Chicago Bears.  The Colts and Bears have nothing in common on the other side of the ball but that doesn’t mean there was nothing to be learned.  Here are my thoughts on the ‘Skins.

• Brian Orakpo already has five sacks on the season and his strip of Peyton Manning in the third quarter was the biggest play Sunday night for the Redskins.  The Bears have now allowed a league-demolishing 27 sacks, 4.5 per game, so somebody is going to get to Cutler.  They best look out for the Longhorn.
• Donovan McNabb is just not that accurate on underneath routes but the ‘Skins had a lot of success with two plays that historically kill the Bears.  Santana Moss ran what should now be called “The Mike Williams” perfectly – sprinting upfield against the left corner and settling in under his coverage.  Chris Cooley is as good as it gets at finding the hole in the middle of the defense.  That whole is seemingly endless with the Lovie Deuce.  The Bears need a big game in coverage from Brian Urlacher.
• The Redskins coverage units on both kickoffs and punts were terrific Sunday so this will become one of the better matchups of the afternoon.  Both Chris Wilson and Mike Sellers seems to be at the return man before he’s even picked an attack gap.
• Peyton had a clear plan against this defense, specifically in the red zone.  He went three-wide and attacked their slot corner.  Austin Collie’s touchdown to make it 13-7 was a picture perfect example and Manning actually missed Collie a few other times as he ran through the seam uncovered. 
• Mike Shanahan is going to give Ryan Torain the ball between 20-25 times but I just haven’t seen the stretch-play style work against the Bears when they have their starting linebackers out there.  If Lance Briggs plays, I expect to see Shanny put this game in McNabb’s hands.  If Lance doesn’t, Brian Iwuh should expect to be tested early and often.
• When Carlos Rogers and LaRon Landry get an opportunity to intercept the ball, they intercept the ball.  Jay can’t afford any of those toss-em-up-in-coverage moments.  (I know, I know.)
• What I don’t like about the Redskins defense, and most 3-4 alignments, is they require their inside linebackers to cover an extensive amount of field as they commit their outside guys to rushing the passer.  Once again, and I’m tired of writing it, the Bears should be getting the ball outside to their receivers and backs quickly.
• Brandon Banks doesn’t scare me as a kick returner.  (That being said, he’ll score eight times.)
• I don’t know if anybody has the numbers but I’d love to see how many yards Ryan Torain gained after a Colts’ missed tackle.  I don’t know if Torain’s production was a result of his physical toughness or the Colts’ porous run defense.  I have a feeling it’s the latter.
• If teams get obsessed with Chris Cooley, Fred Davis will make a big catch.  And what I mean is if the Bears get obsessed with Chris Cooley, Fred Davis will end up in the end zone.
• I will give McNabb credit for this.  About ten times in this game, the Colts seemed to have him dead for a ten-yard sack and he avoided it with a subtle side step.  I’ve never understood McNabb’s unwillingness to use his legs, his greatest asset, in the aftermath of the Limbaugh controversy.  His other great asset is his ability to launch the deep ball.  If he has time, the ball will go thirty through the air.

What we’ve got here is the making of a field goal / field position game.

I’d imagine the columns have already been written, saved under “Fire Lovie” on the laptop computers of David Haugh, Rick Telander and Steve Rosenbloom.  They contain the phrases that have filled beat pages and blog posts since 2004: poor clock management, wasted timeouts, poor talent recognition, little accountability, offensive incoherence…etc.  I’m sure a few of the finest in Chicago sports media thought those columns might have to wait another year (or two) until they found the Monday morning eyes of commuting businessmen, circling the Loop, wondering what went wrong the previous day on the lakefront.  

Some losses hurt.  This one didn’t, at least it didn’t hurt me.  Here are my random thoughts on yesterday’s coaching disaster at Soldier Field.  

To read about my predicted 27-16 victory for the Chicago Bears, click here.

Pompei on the Williams Move
Dan Pompei does a nice job in the Trib evaluating the Bears decision to move Chris Williams inside to the guard spot, leaving Frank Omiyale as the starting left tackle (and leaving the young right side alone).

So while we can’t say Williams is a bust at left tackle, we can say he
might be a better guard than tackle. Guards make their money run
blocking. Tackles earn their money pass blocking.

Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice said Wednesday that in his
opinion, Williams is a great knee bender who is a better run blocker
now than a pass protector. And anyone who saw the Raiders’ Kamerion
Wimbley remove Williams’ jersey, shoulder pads and uniform pants in an
exhibition would not argue.

Last week my predictions were as good as they’ve been in a couple years, coming within 8 total points of the score.  I’m feeling it again today.