• You’d be hard pressed to find a better-called game from Ron Turner during his tenure with the Chicago Bears.  He and Jay Cutler (the first time that relationship really feels like a unit) used short slants and flanker-type screens to try and keep the linebackers honest.  When it didn’t work, it seems they decided to attack Tyrone Carter all over the field.  Carter made Olsen pay on the sidelines but Olsen returned the favor up the middle late and Johnny Knox handled him physically on the goal line for the second touchdown.  The screen pass to Forte (pre-fumble) on the game-winning drive was an absolute masterwork. 
• Adrian Peterson, against the best defense in the league, should have put to rest the notion that he’s not a capable backup.  As Forte struggled early, AP provided a burst to both the run and pass games.
• Stat watch.  Jay Cutler is on pace for 4,000 yards passing and Johnny Knox for 1200 yards receiving.  Knox is currently fifteenth in the league in receiving.
• The Bears’ defensive end duo of Brown and Ogunleye totaled 11 sacks all of last season.  They’ve already got 4.  Wanna keep playing the “On Pace Game”?  I do.  32.
• Phil from SATX is right on with his comments about Rick Morrissey’s borderline embarrassing column in the Tribune.  As Phil wrote, “That article was all about Rick Morrissey trying to spin the story to absolve HIM of his overbearing negativity last week.”  Dead on.  Morrissey will come to understand in the near-future that the era of negativity surrounding Chicago Bears football is dead.  It died the day Jay Cutler put on the cap.
• The Fix List: (1) Drops. (2) Pass-blocking. (3) Interior run-blocking.  (4) The Bears seem to get very little pass rush on obvious, third-down passing situations.  When the Steelers had an extra man blocking, Big Ben had six days to throw the ball.  (5)  Do we run the Cover-2 or not?  Because I look up quite often and see receivers running downfield with corners and there’s not a safety to be found in the shot.       

I was nervous yesterday.  As nervous as I’ve been during a Bears football game in an awful long time.  While I paced ferociously around the pool table at Josie Wood’s, surrounded by twenty or so friends, Jay Cutler showed no signs of nervousness.  Knowing he was coming off the worst performance of his football-playing career, he was calm.  In front of 61,500 desperate fans, he was calm.  With receivers dropping balls on every drive, he was calm.  And yesterday was not easy.

The drive that told the story was not the one that set up the game-winning field goal.  With 11:37 left in the fourth quarter, Cutler lined up under center knowing he needed seven to even the game at fourteen all.  He knew the running game was nowhere to be found and he knew the blitz was coming.  So he began at the Bears 28.

Quick screen to Johnny Knox for seven yards.  Steve Rosenbloom thinks Knox is the Bears’ Eddie Royal.  Rosie may be right but Jackass reminds me of Wes Welker. 

Nothing from Forte.

On 3rd and 3, Cutler stepped up to avoid heavy pressure from the left side and threw a dart to Devin Hester.  He had about a seven-inch window.  He fit the ball in.  First down.         On first and ten, Cutler made the most important play of the game.  From his back foot, he served a beautiful ball in the air to Jersey Greg, over the middle.  Olsen took his second big shot of the day.  This time he held onto the ball. (Note on Olsen: Great fourth quarter after a lackluster first three.)

Cutler hits Kellen Davis and G-Reg on consecutive plays for fourteen more yards.  The Bears might not have an elite pass catcher but they have a lot of guys out there catching the ball.

First and goal at the 9.  Cutler wisely throws the ball away under pressure.  I’m not sure he doesn’t try to make something happen on the play if last Sunday night doesn’t happen.  In that regard, Cutler’s Green Bay performance may be remembered as an essential disaster.

The Double Deuce gains a deuce.

Third and goal at the 7.  Cutler takes the snap and two linebackers are coming, untouched, from the right side.  Instead of turning and looking in the other direction, Cutler stares through them and hits Jackass on a perfectly executed slant pattern.  14-14.  It is not a throw a Bears quarterback of the last twenty-five years attempts, let alone completes. 

And it punctuated a drive that announced Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears and the city of Chicago.  For the first time in my life, the Bears are capable of dropping back in the shot and throwing it every down.  They won’t do that, and they shouldn’t, but they can.  And that’s something.

• What were Jay Cutler’s facial expressions like last night?
• Is Robbie Gould the best kicker in the history of this franchise?  More to the point, is he becoming one of the best kickers ever?
• Isn’t it strange that on a week where I took time out to write about our receivers’ coach, the team forgot how to catch?
• Is Johnny Knox really our number one receiver?  I don’t have any problem with it but damn I’m surprised.  This draft will have yielded Jay Cutler and Knox and that’s okay by me.
• Do our corners have to play five yards off receivers on every damn play?  I don’t want to criticize these guys because they have no chance to do anything from the positions they are put in.
• Did you notice a marked difference between Hunter Hillenmeyer and Brian Urlacher?  I sure didn’t.  And let me add this: Hillenmeyer is a fiery leader out there and I like it.
• You think Greg Olsen wants to forget yesterday?  Even with his huge catch late, Olsen left about fifty yards and a touchdown on the field.  Inexcusable.
• How hurt is Alex Brown?  I don’t want to think about it.
• Was that Tommie Harris making plays and flying all over the field?
• How much better is this Monday than last Monday?

See everybody later once I’ve re-watched the game…

No matter what you’re told, Sunday is not a must-win ballgame for the Chicago Bears.  Falling to 0-2 puts the shovel to dirt but it does not even dig the hole, let alone bury the club.  What’s most important for this team is marked improvement on a week-to-week basis through the first six games of this season.  Get better each week and be ready for the final ten games, featuring an absurd number of winnable ones.

In that vein, I’m keeping my eyes on the following players:

Greg Olsen
Whether Ron Turner is responsible or not, Jersey Greg must become the go-to target Jay Cutler needs him to become.  With the Steelers committing so many linebackers to pressuring the quarterback and the best safety around on the shelf, Olsen should open multiple times over the middle of the field.

Orlando Pace
The worst mistake the Bears can make this season is sticking with Pace at left tackle after the born-on date.  Just because Jay Cutler possesses scrambling ability doesn’t mean he should have to utilize it every time he drops back to pass.  Pace must improve now because 34 year-old offensive linemen don’t gain steam as the season goes on.

Kevin Payne
Danieal Manning is sliding to nickel on obvious passing downs, giving Kevin Payne a chance to redeem himself at free safety (though he strikes me as much more a strong safety).  If Payne is more disciplined with his tackling and less gullible to obvious play fakes, he has a chance to be a terrific player in this system.  The system will still be garbage but the player can be good in it.

Three links of interest…

(1) I had zero knowledge of Daryl Drake’s impact on the receiving career of Hines Ward but kudos to Brad Biggs for the information.  Ward is the most well-rounded receiver in the sport and this bodes nicely for Drake’s ability to develop Hester, Bennett and Knox.   

(2) Has any single play had the roster fallout of Greg Jennings’ game-winning touchdown reception on Sunday night?  Nathan Vasher was demoted (click that link) and now Kevin Payne has lost his job at free safety, as Danieal Manning will fill the position we all expected him to fill.  This feels like a “lesson benching” and I still believe Kevin Payne has a sterling future in the Bears’ secondary.

(3) Lindsey Willhite breaks down the Packers’ rush scheme in the Daily Herald, putting a particular focus on our struggles on the offensive line.  If the Bears don’t block the Steelers, the Bears won’t beat the Steelers.    
Now onto the picks for Week Two after a disappointing 1-2 opening week…

WASHINGTON -10 over St. Louis
Washington is not ten points better than anybody but I made the mistake of treating myself to a mid-week viewing of the Rams’ dreadful performance against the Seattle Seahawks.  St. Louis, especially on defense, is a miserable team and I’d argue they have a more difficult rebuilding project than the 0-16 Lions.  Jason Campbell chews up that secondary with a steady diet of Sanatana Moss and sets up a boring fourth quarter.  Can the Rams put up 14?  I don’t see how but I’ll give them a garbage time touchdown.  Redskins, 27, Rams 13 

BALTIMORE +3.5 over San Diego
Four things that would worry me if I were Norv Turner.  (1) The Ravens defense has to be enraged by the public perception that they allowed Kansas City to score 24 points.  Most of the scoring from the Chiefs came off of defense and specials.  (2) If Jeff Garcia were the starting quarterback of the Raiders on Monday night, SD would be 0-1.  (3) The pass protection for San Diego was pretty atrocious in Oakland.  That was Oakland.  This is Baltimore.  (4) And against Baltimore, that Darren Sproles underneath stuff just won’t fly with EdRay patrolling the middle of the field.  Ravens 33, Chargers 20

Indianapolis -3 over MIAMI
For years, defenses couldn’t double-cover a Colts wideout.  Double Wayne, Harrison kills you.  Double Harrison, Wayne kills you.  That ain’t the new-look Colts; learning to control the ball and win close ones played in the 20s.  Miami didn’t turn the ball over at all in 2008 and opened 2009 by wrapping it up four times and leaving it under Atlanta’s Christmas tree.  Colts 23, Dolphins 16  

I remember sitting at Rod’s in Sea Girt in December of 2005, watching that tough Chicago Bears team lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the snow. 
I remember thinking to myself, even as the clock wound down on our
fifth loss of the season, that this was the kind of football game I
liked.  Nothing but inside runs and gang tackles and thick clouds of
breath in the Pittsburgh air.  Well…forget about all that.  In 2005,
Pittsburgh ranked fifth and Chicago eighth in the league in rushing. 
In 2008, twenty-third and twenty-fourth respectively. 

This
year looks to be no different.  Against the Tennessee Titans, Pitt ran
the ball 22 times for 33 yards.  You could kneel down 22 times and
average more yards per carry.  Against the much-weaker Packers front
seven, the Bears gained only 70 yards on 28 carries.  In other words,
don’t expect a battle for time of possession on Sunday afternoon.  But
will the two teams combine for 80 pass attempts, as predicted by Brad Biggs? 

I think so.  With Zack Bowman making his first start at corner and the Bears whacking Trumaine McBride
after singing his praises only a week ago, one has to think Big Ben is
salivating at the thought of facing this secondary-in-flux.  Tennesee
has a terrific back four and Ben dissected them for yardage, hitting
Holmes (9-131), Ward (8-103) and Miller (8-64) seemingly at will.  I
thought coming into the season that offenses would be quick to abandon
the run game and attack the Bears defense through the air to the tune
of at least 40 attempts per game.  I think that starts Sunday.

And don’t sleep on Chicago’s passing game.  Sure it’s the current fashion to criticize Jay Cutler’s facial ticks and decision making
but this is one confident kid and a hell of a ball-thrower.  Even on
one of the poorest nights of his career, he completed six balls over
twenty yards – unheard of for a Bears quarterback.  Deep down the field
is where the Bears had their most success and deep down the field is
where Troy Polamalu used to prowl.  Our wide receivers are
inconsistent but one thing they do brilliantly (specifically
Hester/Knox) is run faster than everybody else.  The world (including
me, this morning) is expecting a more conservative, checkdown-oriented
#6.  The opposite just might be the key to beating the champs.    

We’re moving the weekly Bears game pick to Thursday morning on a permanent basis.  It allows a solid day for debating the upcoming week’s ballgame and lets me use Friday and Saturday to update whatever news might be pertinent.  Off we go…