The Bears Must Win Sunday
There are always games that a team must win during the course of a season but usually those are games where they’re heavily favored.  The Bears had to beat the Seahawks and Lions if they had their sights set on a division title.  They had to beat Pittsburgh if they wanted to excommunicate the Week One taste from their mouths.  Sunday the Bears will be underdogs against the division-leading Bengals and the Bears must win the game.  Hovering around the .500 mark leads to November scoreboard watching.  The Bears are as good – if not better – than every team in the NFC wildcard race and 5-2 after seven (I’m giving them the Browns) will put them in the pole position.

Devin Hester on Kick Returns?
The emergence of Johnny Knox should be enough for the Bears to move Devin Hester back to return kicks.  Hester can still make an occasional impact on the offensive side but I just miss the way Hester forced opponents to alter their game plans on a weekly basis.  Knox and Manning, while good, can never match the phenomenon that was the Skunk.  Dress Aromashodu and let JC begin developing that relationship so we don’t have the same training camp debates in 2010.

T-Shirt Update
The shirt is ready and we’re just finalizing the process of how to do the payment stuff.  They’re going to cost like $15 bucks a piece but we’ll cut you a deal if you order more than one.  The shirt is fun as hell and it’s good for kids, adults, everybody. (I’m quite the salesman.)  We should get everything sorted out by the end of the week.  Apologies for the delay.     

I’d add my two cents to the Bears signing Jay Cutler through the 2013 season but Dan Pompei does a damn fine job:

Signing Cutler to the extension now has benefits for the team. It
allows the Bears to apply a portion of the deal to this year’s cap, and
the Bears had cap space to burn. It also allows them to get Cutler
committed before the price of a franchise quarterback goes even higher.

In the offseason, three quarterbacks signed bar-setting six-year deals.
First came Matt Cassel of the Chiefs with about a $10 million average
per year. Then came Eli Manning with a $15.27 million average from the Giants. Finally came Philip Rivers’ deal with the Chargers that gives him a $15.3 million annual average.

Cutler’s extension calls for him to receive an average of $15 million
for 2012 and 2013. But the deal has other benefits for him too.

Cutler’s original contract is scheduled to pay him $20 million more —
but none of that money is guaranteed. He is scheduled to receive a $12
million roster bonus in 2011 — but there is a chance that labor issues
could stop the 2011 season.

Now, he is scheduled to be paid $50 million over the next five years, with $20 million guaranteed.

Plus, he will only be 30 years old when his new deal expires, still plenty young for another big bite of the apple.

The money the Bears are spending on Cutler could impact their free
agent budget in the offseason — which is significant given that the
team already is without a first- and second-round pick. The Bears will
be more dependent on free agency than usual to fill holes.

We’re going to look back and remember this as an absolute steal.

There’s a new debate in town regarding whether the Bears are a running or throwing team.  Well, they can throw it really well and they can’t run it at all.  So what am I missing?  Where’s the debate?  I’ve heard the argument for balance but it just doesn’t hold water.  If you can move the ball, you can move the ball.  How you do it doesn’t matter.  For those who suggest we’ll need to run the ball in December, fine.  But it’s not December.  So let’s win some games in the meantime.

I find this headline funny: “Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith won’t hit panic button”.  Making changes to your starting roster should not be considered hitting the panic button.  Changing a weakness at left guard is not hitting the panic button.  It’s being a good coach.

From that same article comes Lovie’s disheartening rationalization of Lance Briggs not falling on the pivotal fumble:  “We’re trying to score every play,” Smith said. “Now if there’s a lot
of traffic, we would like for him to fall on it. Lance had a clean
scoop of that. He was thinking the right way. Next time, he’ll secure
it and go.”  No.  Just no.  Lance Briggs made a bad football play.  Plain and simple.  It’s this logic that leads to players missing tackles while attempting to strip the ball. 

Call me crazy but did the Bears really need a press conference to introduce Gaines Adams today?  I think it was a solid acquisition but the fans don’t care about what he thinks of Rod Marinelli or if he believes a change of scenery will be helpful.  They care about him getting on the field.  They care about him pressuring the quarterback.  Felt very strange for the Bears to be “celebrating” a move by management after a loss like Sunday night’s.

Mike Imrem questions the combination of Jay Cutler, Lovie Smith and Ron Turner.  So do I.  I’m not a Lovie fan and never have been The ballsiest move in Bears history may have the acquisition of #6 this spring.  The ballsier move might be to dump a winning head coach this winter in favor of an offensive mind.  

It’s going to be popular among Bears’ fans and media types to drift down Melancholy Boulevard since it is the default road-of-choice during times of any turmoil.  What happens after mistake-laden losses is myths begin to develop about a team while fans (because most lack emotional distance) and writers (because there’s a necessity to fill daily space) harp on those myths until they become the accepted opinion.  I’m seeing some in the comments and reading some in the papers.  And some of them simply are not true. 

Myth #1 The Bears are out of the NFC North
Please just think about things logically for one second.  The Vikings now travel to Pittsburgh and Green Bay for what is arguably the most difficult two-game stretch of their season.  Meanwhile the Bears will play angry and beat both Cincinnati and Cleveland.  Say they make up one game in the standings, just one, they’ll be a game back in the division with two-to-play against Minnesota.  I’m not predicting they’ll win the NFC North.  But to believe that Minnesota will run and hide is just foolish at this point.

Myth #2 Nick Roach can’t play middle linebacker   
All I read, in the aftermath of Brian Urlacher’s season-ending injury, was that the Bears were going to be gashed by opponents’ run games.  It simply hasn’t happened.  Yes he misread the Ryan-to-Gonzo touchdown pass in the back of the end zone last night but one bad play in coverage doesn’t end a career.  And I’ve got news for those Urlacher worshipers: tight ends have been owning 54’s middle turf consistently for the last three years.

Myth #3 The Bears need to focus on fixing the run game   
This is a football myth that is perpetuated everywhere.  You need to run the ball successfully to win games!  Except for the fact, of course, that two of the worst running teams in the league last season played in the last game of the year.  The Bears didn’t need a better run game to win last night or in Green Bay.  They needed to understand the run game is ineffective and put the offense in the hands of the unit’s best player: Jay Cutler.  Once Forte fumbled on second-and-goal, the team should have dropped Jay into shotgun and let him throw on third.  They didn’t because this coaching staff stubbornly refuses to realize that sometimes it’s more important for a team to acknowledge/avoid what they stink at instead of beating it into the ground.  The Bears are a pass-first team with a great pass-catching running back.  Once teams come to fear the pass game, the Bears will be able to use the run in the right situations.

Myth #4 DaBearsBlog will not have t-shirts available for sale this week
A very close friend of the site has produced the shirt and I’m in love with them.  Official announcement, pictures and purchase information will be coming on Wednesday.

I could spend the entire morning listing everything I disliked about the Bears’ mistake-laden performance in Atlanta last night. But really, is it worth it?  On a night when the defense held a terrific offense to twenty-one points, Cutler & Company buffooned their way around the field and threw away a chance at victory.

We can start in any number of places.  Interceptions?  Cutler’s ill-timed crossing route to Devin Hester on the opening drive tossed away an opportunity to seize the game from the Falcons.  Fumbles?  Matt Forte seems to have trouble penetrating the invisible force field that is the goalline without first placing the ball on the ground.  Penalties?  After playing a pretty damn good game at left tackle, Orlando Pace committed just about the worst false start penalty you’ll ever see on fourth-and-one as the game was expiring.

The New England Patriots have learned how to win, so much so that they can overcome early-season struggles by dropping 59 on the Tennessee Titans in a blizzard.  The Minnesota Vikings, while charmed, do the things that ultimately translate to victories and a two-game division lead before Halloween.  The Chicago Bears are not ready to be good yet.  They’re talented enough to be in every single game they play this year but they’re just not ready to deliver the kill shot.  With winnable games at Cincinnati and versus Cleveland coming up, they have a tremendous opportunity to fix the issues that are currently plaguing them.

Because the problems this club faces are not physical.  It’s not about talent.  It’s about not acting like fucking morons.  Not throwing the ball to the other team.  Not fumbling in the red zone.  Not jumping before the ball is snapped.  If Jerry Angelo and the folks at Halas Hall don’t have the coaching staff to get the best out of this roster, then maybe it’s time to get a different coaching staff.  Because the 2009 Chicago Bears are on-pace to equal the 2008 Chicago Bears’ most definitive stat: games they should have won.   

Apologies if I’ve been absent in recent days.  Going into rehearsals on a new musical Tuesday and making the final push to get the show ready.  Will be back in full form next week. 

Gaines Adams is a damn good football player.  And now he’s a Chicago Bear.  Making an all-too-rare in-season trade and giving fans no reason to turn on their televisions next April, Jerry Angelo has added a young, fast pass rusher to an already deep defensive line.  It’s a nice a move designed to grab headlines but mark my words: this will be a trade that makes fans very, very happy.

Vaugh McClure does some nice analysis:

“Gaines absolutely sees this as a great opportunity,” Adams’ agent, Fletcher Smith, said. “I know he’s looking forward to the opportunity to work with Rod Marinelli, who was able to mold guys such as Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp.”

Smith said Adams’ playing status for Sunday’s game is up in the air because he has to pass his physical. Adams is scheduled to fly to Chicago on Saturday morning and hopes to make the trip to Atlanta with the team.

The knock on Adams, according to some familiar with the Bucs, is he doesn’t play physically and doesn’t display any counter moves.

The acquisition of Adams might mean the Bears won’t re-sign veteran Adewale Ogunleye, whose contract expires after the season. Ogunleye, 32, leads the Bears with 4 1/2 sacks from his left end position. His asking price might be too much for the Bears, and another team might be willing to give him a lucrative contract.

Getting Gaines also puts Mark Anderson on notice. Anderson, 26, is in a contract year and has not been as productive as the Bears had hoped following an outstanding training camp.

This move protects the position should Ogunleye leave town for a big payday come the end of the season.  More than that, it shows Jerry and the organization have their sights set not just on winning today but building a consistent, winning team.  Not gonna lie.  It’s going to take some getting used to.

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?

• I always like the Chicago Bears.
• The defense held the Falcons’ run game in check last years, harassing Michael Turner for only fifty-four yards on twenty-five carries.  If they do the same Sunday night, the Falcons will be unable to sustain lengthy drives and control the pace of play.  When teams have left the Bears alive late, the Bears have capitalized.
• Two major points on the pass defense.  (1) Charles Tillman needs to shadow the opponent’s number one receiver all over the field moving forward and that means Roddy White.  Tillman may allow his man to make the catch but his sure-tackling will prevent the eleven-yard first down from becoming a forty-yard touchdown. (2) The Bears know that one of Brian Urlacher’s strengths was defending the deep middle of the field and that Tony Gonzalez has built a Hall of Fame resume in that area.  If the Bears allow him to dominate the game, everyone should be fired.
• Special teams.  And it’s not even close.  Maynard is off to the best start of his career, Gould is automatic, and the return game – while not scoring – is the best in football.  Great specials can neutralize a good club on the road and that’s what the Bears have.
• Jay Cutler doesn’t want to hear about Kyle Orton.  Matt Forte doesn’t want to hear about Cedric Benson.  Hester/Bennett/Knox don’t want to hear about Terrell Owens.  I expect our offense – for once – to play Sunday night with a chip on its shoulder.  I expect prolonged drives and third-down conversions.  I expect points.  Lots of points.
• Because not one man on the 2008 roster should forget what happened in Atlanta last October.  The coaching staff and defense embarrassed themselves, wasting a brilliant comeback drive from Orton and the boys.  That game – those final 46 seconds – were the definitive moment of a painfully inconsistent season.  Redemption is not always available at the fix-ins bar.  Sunday night it is.

Chicago Bears 38, Atlanta Falcons 30

We interrupt the great T.O. Debate of 2009 to post a bulletin: Pressure. Jay Cutler. Sunday Night.  Atlanta.

Jay Cutler’s putrid opening night performance has become a thing of nostalgia after two game-winning drives and three 100+ quarterback ratings.  If the Bears had played this weekend, and won, Cutler would be riding a four-game win streak into a primetime battle with one of the conference’s elite teams.  But the Bears didn’t play Sunday.  And the guy who used to play quarterback here filled column space all over the city of Chicago.

Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith need Jay Cutler on Sunday night.  They need the man they’ve mortaged their careers in Chicago on to come through in the national spotlight, silencing the media and reassuring a fan base that just wants to win football games.  Orton’s success is not an individual threat to Cutler but it’s quickly becoming one to an organization without a successful history of developing offensive talent.  Or any talent for that matter.

But Kyle Orton’s success is not the only reason there’s pressure on #6 this week.  Cutler’s only other moment in the national spotlight (nobody counts 4 o’clock) was the disaster in Green Bay and a repeat of that performance will send the Haugh’s and Morrissey’s and Hayes’ of the world (read: Chicago) to find out how to correctly spell Aykroyd when listing the other “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players”.  Cutler wasn’t brought here to beat Seneca Wallace or the Detroit Lions.  He was brought here to win games like Sunday night. 

The Bears need to remove the leash and allow their franchise quarterback to beat a suspect secondary down the field.  If Orlando Pace and Chris Williams can keep the Falcons’ talented-yet-inconsistent pass rush out of the backfield, Cutler should have an opportunity put up 30+ against the Falcons.  This team has too much speed at wide receiver to be limited to quick slants, flanker screens and underneath crossing routes. 

Jerry and Lovie paid for the arm.  They paid an awful lot.  The only way to silence the building criticism is to show the country what you paid for.

Mike Francesa just reported on WFAN radio in New York that rumors are everywhere regarding the Bills trading Terrell Owens to the Chicago Bears.  This was followed by a phone call from my brother in Jacksonville, who is apparently hearing the same rumors.

I have no idea if this is real or not but it’s out there.  Let’s discuss.