0 Comments

Thoughts on the Fifth Straight Victory

| December 6th, 2010

First, congrats to Shady – the man the fans decided should enjoy Bears v. Pats with Noah and myself Sunday.  I can’t remember the day Shady first started commenting but he’s been here an awful long time and it’ll be a pleasure to have him buy me a beer (or 3).  Shady, send me an email (jeff@dabearsblog.com). Onto the game…

  • The defense was wretched at times and our coverage units were dealing us a bad hand repeatedly but yesterday Jay Cutler and the offense kept the Bears in the game and ultimately won it.  
  • This game was defined, for me, by two drives.  The Lions touchdown drive to end the first half exposed the lethargy with which the Bears had played the entire first half and most likely incited a halftime riot.
  • And when the Bears needed a couple first downs to put the game away in the fourth, they let Cutler throw the ball.  Last week Jay Cutler became the emotional leader.  This week he became the physical leader.
  • The Bears have found their running game at the right time of year.
  • Earl Bennett is now officially the Bears #1 receiver.  So if you don’t mind, don’t go getting into Lovie’s dog house like your predecessors.  
  • Who whiffs on more blocks?  Brandon Manumaleuna or Frank Omiyale?
  • Tice & company need to stop pulling Olin Kreutz to the outside.  He simply can’t get there.
  • Loved the shot of Hester’s disappointment on the almost-score punt return.
  • Brilliant performances by Robbie Gould and Brad Maynard.
  • The Lions decided to accept the Bears perimeter pass rush and used a combination of outside runs and screens to exploit out aggressiveness.  It worked.  And the Bears better be ready for it Sunday from Tom Brady.
  • Chris Harris played his worst game of the year and it’s the first truly bad safety performance this season.  The Calvin Johnson touchdown was inexcusably poor execution.  The entire framework of the defense is designed for that play not to happen.
  • You know what’s funny about the Bears?  I can predict with 95% accuracy when they are going to commit a false start.
  • I would trade a lot for Ndamukong Suh.  I think he’s going to be the best defensive player in the league as soon as Week One of 2011.
  • The team was slow and plodding in the first half, calm and in-command in the second half.  Credit has to go to the coaching staff and Lovie Smith.
  • Smith also gets credit for having confidence in DJ Moore.  The kid can play.
  • The Bears are now 9-3, 4-0 in the division and 7-3 in the conference.  They are primed for a run to the postseason.

0 Comments

DaBearsBlog Ticket & Picks Contest

| December 3rd, 2010

StubHub_Logo_RGB-1xxx.jpg
DaBearsBlog, courtesy of StubHub!, is pleased to announce that we have one (1) ticket for Sunday December 12th’s Bears vs. Pats game at Soldier Field – kicking off at 3:15 pm CST.  
I’m going to try something new with this.  I want you guys – in the comments below – to decide who gets the ticket.  Have a conversation, talk to each other, see who is available and make your individual cases.  GPLDAN will be the moderator of the discussion and will report the final decision on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

These tickets were courtesy of StubHub! 
Where Fans Buy & Sell Ticket

Point Spreads for the picks contest after the jump…

The official spreads for the DaBlog Picks Contest.  

Home team in CAPS.  
Remember, you can not use the combinations used by either of my brothers or myself.

RAVENS -3 Steeler
Rams -3 CARDINALS
COLTS -5 Cowboys
SEAHAWKS -6 Panthers
CHARGERS -12.5 Raiders
Falcons -3 BUCS
Saints -6.5 BENGALS
PACKERS -9.5 49ers
Bears -3.5 LIONS
GIANTS -7 Redskins
CHIEFS -9 Broncos
TITANS -3 Jaguars
DOLPHINS -4.5 Browns
VIKINGS -5.5 Bills
PATRIOTS -3 Jets

Jon will not be picking this week.  He picked last week and went 2-1.  (18-16-2)
The Chris Picks (16-15-2): Rams, Browns, Bears
The Only Picks (19-13-1): Bears, Jaguars, Bills

0 Comments

A Time for the Bears to Kill

| December 3rd, 2010

I had a few thoughts last night when asked by a bartender how good I think the Chicago Bears are.  I spooned some potato and leek soup into my mouth, sipped an ice cold club soda and tried to put into perspective this bizarre season.  Exciting start, terrible four-game stretch, bye, the emergence of an accomplished football team…etc.  I came to a conclusion: the Bears need to start playing like an NFL powerhouse.

That starts Sunday.  In Detroit.  Against the 2-9 Lions.  This season feels like it has been leading up to this ballgame.  A strange thought, I know, when you’re discussing eight wins against two wins.  But this should be the Sunday the Bears go to Caleb Hanie in the fourth quarter. This should be the Sunday Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs laugh on the sidelines as Brian Iwuh sacks Drew Stanton late.  
“It has been a long time and just to feel the atmosphere of what it’s like to go through that playoff week again, and not only that but to have the opportunity to have it here in Chicago, I think it’s huge,” Briggs said. “I think that’s really what we’re fighting for is to make everyone come to Chicago and make the Super Bowl come through here.”

Having a trip to the Super Bowl come through Chicago should be the goal now.  Forget about the minor desires of making the postseason and saving the coach’s job.  The Bears have to re-calibrate the expectations of the 2010 machine.  They are in prime position to not only win the NFC North but end the 2010 season with one of the top two records in the conference.  A great team, even a very good team, does not let an opportunity like that slide by on Sunday in Detroit.  A great team handles their business with the delicacy and precision of a world-class assassin.  


Sunday we’ll find out how this team handles success.  We’ll find out if this team possesses the killer’s instinct.  They can win without it, sure.  But can they be champions?  Doubtful. 

Site Note: Tomorrow we’ll be announcing the contest to win a single (1) seat to the Bears vs. Pats game next Sunday, December 12th.  You’ll be seated with me and Noah.  You’ll be responsible for some beers – deal with it.  

0 Comments

Cutler Chasing Kramer’s All-Time Bears Season

| December 1st, 2010

Jim McMahon won a Super Bowl and Sid Luckman captivated the city of Chicago and has lingered over the quarterback position for sixty years.  But as we often discuss, Erik Kramer’s 1995 season is the finest ever played by a Bears quarterback.  

His stats that year:
315-522, 60.3%, 29 TD – 10 INT, 3838 yards, 93.5 QB rating (9-7 record)
Cutler’s current stats:
180-292, 61.6%, 16 TD – 10 INT, 2311 yards, 90.4 QB rating (8-3 record)
I don’t believe in projections but here’s how they project:
262-425, 61.6%, 23 TD – 15 INT, 3361 yards, 90.4 QB rating (11-5)

Yet over Cutler’s last four games, his passer rating has risen to 99.  He has thrown 9 TD to 3 INT.  But at the same time, he’s actually had four of his five lightest games this season in terms of yardage – attributable to the field position dominance and found run game.
Kramer’s Bears finished in third place in the NFC North.  Cutler’s Bears are on pace to win the division.  If the season ends as projected, who gets the nod?  
Editor’s Note: The JMCyclone has 5 wins on the season, leaving him firmly in second position.

0 Comments

Bears at Lions Game Preview

| December 1st, 2010

The Chicago Bears are coming off their most impressive victory since Sunday January 21, 2007 against the New Orleans Saints – a win that ushered them to their first Super Bowl since the 1985 season.  Dominant on defense, efficient and often assaulting on offense and always reliable on specials, the Bears now head into the Motor City with an opportunity to guarantee themselves a winning season.

YOUR SOMEWHAT ELITE 2010 CHICAGO BEARS
over
Detroit Lions

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?
  • I always like the Chicago Bears.
  • I think I’m very much still underrating the impact of the Bears defense.  I still expect them to give up the big play on third-and-long.  I still expect them to give quarterbacks too much time in the pocket.  I still expect bad penalties in the secondary.  None of those things happen anymore.  This defense allows only 15+ points a game – less than the Steelers, Ravens and Jets.  
  • Jay Cutler is on a hot streak and I expect him to mirror his Week One performance: 23-35, 372 and two touchdowns.  Jay Cutler won’t admit it but he feels slighted by Terry Bradshaw’s not including him on his ten best quarterbacks under thirty list.  I don’t expect a letup down the stretch.
  • Shaun Hill is not Joe Montana but he’d be coming into this game with confidence from the final drive of the Week One matchup.  Drew Stanton will be facing a pass rush that had not yet emerged with depth and a secondary that had not yet been settled.  The Bears will shut down a now-healthy Jahvid Best and force Stanton into situations he’s uncomfortable with.
  • The one thing that worried me slightly against the Eagles was our struggles in punt and kick return coverage.  Robbie, in the dome, has no excuse not booting the ball into the end zone and Maynard needs to find more hang time to allow our punt coverage units time to get downfield.  
  • There are two Lions I fear recently.  (1) Calvin Johnson.  Johnson is possibly the best receiver in the league and the Bears need to keep Charles Tillman and a safety near him at all times.  His skill will also be somewhat neutralized by Drew Stanton however.  (2) Kicker Jason Hanson never seemed to miss a kick against us so I feared anything under about 55 yards was a makable kick.  Hanson is hurt and Dave Rayner couldn’t scare a group of pigeons with a foghorn.
  • The Bears have mastered the short passing game in recent weeks, involving Knox, Hester, Olsen, Forte and Duke of Earl at nice intervals.  If they drop seven steps and allow the Lions front four to dictate play, they’ll be asking for tough afternoon.  If they get the ball to their playmakers quickly, they should move the ball fluidly all afternoon.
  • Devin Hester breaks the record.
Chicago Bears 34, Lions 10

0 Comments

Audibles From the Long Snapper

| November 30th, 2010

Debating the Trap Game
Matt Bowen – who I like – makes the argument in today’s Trib that the Bears can’t beat the Patriots this week but can lose to the Lions.  What he’s arguing is that the Bears are about to embark on the NFL-specific malady known as ‘the trap game’.  I, for one, am a believer in the trap game but this case simply doesn’t meet the criteria.  The Bears vs. Pats game will be exciting but it actually means less to the Chicago Bears than the upcoming Lions, Vikings and Packers games.  If you knew the Bears were going 3-2 down the stretch, you’d prefer they lose the AFC games which have no impact on the tiebreaker pile-up about to hit the NFC at season’s end.  Having the coffee nerd and the rest of the national media respect you is nice but making the playoffs is much, much nicer.

Soldier Field Re-Sodded
This story actually made me sad, which I know is strange.  But the Soldier Field sod was the unsung hero in the Bears win versus the Eagles and I sensed a little Shula-esque piece of gamesmanship.  When the Bears play teams with speed at Soldier, the field should be a murky mess of chunks and mud.  It should be impossible to break on.  It should be impossible run deep on.  It’s called a home field advantage.  And the Bears have figured out theirs.

Lions May Be Down to Stanton
Shaun Hill has apparently been sporting some tape around the fingers and there’s a strong possibility the Bears will getting Drew Stanton on Sunday in Detroit.  I don’t really fear either player but it’s clear that Calvin Johnson has a much deeper rapport with Hill than Stanton.

Da Picks Contest Standings

Viva and FQD1911 were the only perfects on Thanksgiving, which surprised me quite a bit.  Viva now leads with 6.  JMCyclone and FQD have 4.  Albert in Tuscon, Augie, IrishSweetness and enderwiggin each have 2.  (There is then a host of individuals with 1).  
StubHub Ticket Giveaway, Part Two!
It looks like be raffling off one (1) seat to the Bears vs. Patriots game on December 12th.  The bonus? You’ll be sitting with me and Noah and will only owe us a beer or two for the pleasure (or three…or four…).  I’ll let you know if when/if this becomes official.

0 Comments

Complete the Picture in Detroit

| November 30th, 2010

Now is not the time for the Chicago Bears to rest upon the laurels of an 8-3 start to the 2010 season.  Brad Biggs knows it.  David Haugh knows it.  It took the Bears only three plus hours on Sunday afternoon to convince a majority of the national football pundits that they are a legitimate contender for not only the NFC North crown but for the whole of the conference.  It would take no more than a dud-of-a-performance in Detroit this Sunday to have those same pundits, and the ones working at the dailies in Chicago, to take a Carl Edwards-eque backflip off the bandwagon.

The Bears have their first four-game win streak in four years.  They also have their first legitimate Super Bowl contender since that time.  The 2006 Bears, however, were not playing their best football heading into December.  They played their best football over the first eight weeks of the season, let Joey Harrington embarrass them at Soldier Field, limped to the finish line and struggled mightily in their playoff home opener.  The 2010 Bears seem to be improving each week.  Solid against Buffalo.  Controlling against Minnesota.  Dominant defensively against Miami.  Exciting and balanced against Philadelphia.  Now come the well-rested but not good Detroit Lions.  This must be the week the Bears complete the picture.
What does that mean?  The Lions – even in their struggles – have one of the best defensive lines in the game.  The Bears still have one definitive (if lightening) weakness: the offensive line.  This needs to be the week Mike Tice and company keep Jay Cutler clear in the sacks column.  The Lions – whole awful – have Calvin Johnson and Calvin Johnson owns the Chicago Bears.  This needs to be the week he is stranded on Peanut Island.
If Lovie Smith’s Bears can lay the hammer down Sunday and knockoff the Detroit Lions, they will begin their most difficult stretch on a confident drive to the postseason and not holding on to the edge of the playoffs cliff.  There are no lucky or unearned wins in the NFL and a 24-21 overtime escape in Detroit won’t keep me from sleeping Sunday night.  But a 41-13 would announce them as what they may possibly be: a great a football team.

0 Comments

Thoughts on an Exhilarating Victory

| November 29th, 2010

The 2010 Chicago Bears announced their presence to the NFL yesterday afternoon by soundly defeating the overhyped and overmatched Philadelphia Eagles.  Here are my thoughts.

  • Nobody has been more critical of the man than me but Lovie Smith is my NFL Coach of the Year right now.  His turning around this team coming off the bye week is the masterstroke of a wonderful football coach.  And it’s borderline shocking.  Lovie now embarks on the hardest stretch of his career and I’m damn rooting hard for him. 
  • Jay Cutler didn’t just play a brilliant football game yesterday.  He also looked like a leader of men and he rightfully went to the mattress for Matt Forte after Forte was shoved to the ground on a throw that would have basically ended the game.  His smiling on the bench afterwards was pretty terrific too.
  • Just because it wasn’t intercepted doesn’t excuse Cutler’s crazy slant toss late to Hester.
  • The better running quarterback yesterday was Cutler.
  • And Matt Forte was the old Matt Forte. 
  • My only Lovie knock.  I still don’t understand the rotating players thing.  As soon as Forte got hot, Chester Taylor came in.  Devin Hester looks ready to break one and Danieal Manning comes in.  It just seems like a prearranged plan that takes for granted the flow of the game.  These guys can be productive but it just doesn’t add up.  That’s the definition of a nitpick.
  • I can’t think of a better performance by the defensive line as a hole and it is now apparent that Israel Idonije has fully developed into one hell of a defensive end.  The Julius Peppers signing alone might keep Jerry Angelo running the show.  (Pepper is the best free agent signing in Bears history.)
  • So what did Corey Graham do?  I still don’t get it.  
  • My God is Devin Hester something with the ball in his hands.
  • The offensive line still needs work but it may be time for the Bears to take the seven-step drop pages from the playbook and toss them into the fire.  Cutler got sacked on the occasional missed blitz pickup but he was a dead duck on the deep drops.  We have the receiving corps for the short crosses and quick outs.  Stick with them.
  • Brad Maynard punted much better but our punt coverage looked a bit lost.  I realized why.  Maynard has been dribbling crappy punts up the field for weeks and they forgot how to do it.
  • When Tommie Harris contributes, the Bears are simply a better team.  It was good to see him contribute yesterday.
  • Earl Bennett.  Johnny Knox.  Impressive.
  • I’m getting eerily close to the conclusion that Chris Williams just stinks.
  • I came to that conclusion with Frank Omiyale weeks ago.
  • And yet the Bears are still scoring points, moving the ball and winning with the worst left-side of an offensive line in the NFL.  Coaches.  Has to be the coaches.
  • I wonder how good this offense will be if we get Martz a couple perimeter blockers.
  • Terrific defensive gameplan from Rod Marinelli and wonderful discipline from our safeties…again.  These guys have been the most surprising unit on the team and I was sure they’d get beaten deep a few times yesterday.  The coaches and players did not allow it.

First place.  All by our lonesome.  In December.  And a contender.  Bring on the Lions. 

« Older posts | Newer posts »

Subscribe

Enter your email address: