Anyways, I’m sure I’ll have another rant like that during this entry. I like to keep it a one rant per blog, but it might not happen, sorry. Time to break down the offense. They looked somewhat deflated after being pumped from demolishing the Seahawks. I do think they were a play away from tying the game. Cutler overthrew Devin Hester in the red zone and that stalled a drive. There were several plays like that, and you can’t win games when you over throw your receivers on key third downs. Cutler didn’t look comfortable at all and it was due in part to the knee injury he suffered sometime during the first half. One play that stands out in my mind when he broke a tackle running the ball for a first down. Classic Jay right there. I think Jay had a great year, I just wish that it didn’t end this way. It’s basically a scandal it the sports world because of all the haters are taking this injury and spinning it so that Jay is the bad guy. It really disgusts me.

Onto Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie. I know everyone is wondering why Collins was even in the game and the only reason I can come up with is experience. That’s the only thing that kept Hanie from being the #2 QB in my opinion. Even with the experience, I would of put Hanie above Collins. As we saw from yesterday, Hanie definitely has talent and could possibly be a great back up for Jay Cutler for years to come… or the Bears will trade him for a late round draft pick. Either way, I’m very proud of Caleb Hanie and I do hope they give him some type of extension. Don’t pay him starter money, but give him a little more than what back up makes.

Matt Forte and Chester Taylor had a pretty good game. Especially Matt Forte, he caught several passes and ran for 70 yards on 14 carriers. Unfortunately he didn’t have any touchdowns. I was really hoping that he’d break one and stroll into the end zone. I think Forte had a great year, it’s similar to his rookie season. Not as great, but it was close. I just wish he had a better start to the season, but that’s not completely his fault. The line was non existent and Martz was trying to find a rhythm to his offense. If he’s able to continue his dominant performance after the regular season’s bye week and the NFC title game, he will be at least a top 5 running back if there’s a line to block for him. I hope they give him an extension and pay him some big player money. I don’t know what the future holds for Chester Taylor. He did sign a four year contract so he’ll definitely be back next season, but it’s cloudy after that.  A lot of Bears fans I interact with think he should be cut because of his lack of yardage on the season. I say let the Bears get a real offensive line and lets see what happens after that.

The wide receivers had an okay day. I would of preferred to see them go after the ball more often. It probably didn’t help that they had three different quarterbacks. Matt Forte lead the team with ten catches. Seven more than Olsen and Bennett who had the second most for the game. If Jay Cutler was healthy and the line blocked for him, it definitely would been a better day for the receivers.

The line didn’t do it’s job in the first half, wish they could of blocked better for Jay. If they had, I’m positive that Jay wouldn’t have an injury right now and wouldn’t be called a wimp and other hateful words. They did do a good job in the second half in the run game and part of the passing game. I think there will be a lot of adjustments to the line during the offseason. I’m expecting the Bears to draft at least one offensive linemen.

Now onto the defense. I’m not going to sugar coat this, they started out flat and looked horrible in the first half. They ended up stopping the ‘great’ Aaron Rodgers and left it up for the Bears offense to win this game. At one point during the game, Joe Buck or Troy Aikman said that Aaron Rodgers was ‘Mr. January’ because of his performance in the playoffs. I thought that was hilarious because he ended up with a 55.4 qb rating, two interceptions and only one rushing touchdown. I really despise Aikman, Buck and Aaron Rodgers. I mainly dislike Aikman and Buck more. They are easily the most biased sports commentators in NFL history for crying out loud. I felt like my ears were bleeding throughout the game just listening to those two knuckleheads. Sorry for the rant, back to the defense. They really stopped the Packers passing game and running game in the second half, something they weren’t able to do in the first half. I was very impressed when they were able to stall the supposed hottest offense team in the playoffs.

Brian Urlacher had a great game, getting a sack, key interception and ten tackles. He was easily the MVP of the defense that game. He wasn’t the only linebacker who had a pick yesterday. Lance Briggs had a great interception off the foot of a packers receivers. I was very impressed with the play from both minus the Urlacher miss on a key third down. That was ugly.

I would like to say special teams didn’t play as well as I thought they were going to. Brad Maynard needs to be cut this offseason. Especially with that horrible, horrible, horrible punt of 24 yards. That was ugly and gave the packers great field position. I also wished that Devin ran one back to tie the game, it would of been sweet if he did that.

I know, this is a lot to read, but I want to write a few more things. I believe that Mike Martz made a stupid choice to give the ball to Earl Bennett on a hand off when the game is on the line. You need to give the ball to your best play maker on the offense, Matt Forte. Don’t do a trick play, save that for when your in the lead by a few touchdowns. Not when your trying to tie the game in the NFC Championship. Get your head out of your butt and start to call smart plays.

Anyway, I’m done. I hope you enjoyed my writings for this stellar season we had. I was hoping they would make it to the show, but we’ll get there soon. Go Bears and BearDown!

For the Bears offense to take control of this game, the line needs to block and Jay Cutler needs to make smart decisions. The wide receivers also need to play smart as well. If they don’t run the right route it will end badly. They also need to be extremely physical. Anyway, let’s start off with the offensive line. Ever since the bye week they have improved greatly. They’ve taken a few stumbles here and there, but for the most part they have been improving. You saw it a lot last Sunday against Seattle. It was a thing of beauty seeing the line giving so much time for Jay Cutler on numerous plays. They also opened up holes for Matt Forte and Chester Taylor. Something they’ll have to do again against the Packers. Last time they played them in week 17, Forte had 15 carries for 91 yards. If he’s able to do that plus get an extra 5 carries or so, he will have a field day against the Packers.  Now onto the wide outs. Everyone of those receivers need play their best football. It is key that they run the right routes and play physical. If they can’t do either of those things, then Cutler will have a long ugly day. Speaking of Jay, he needs to do a few things. Needs to stay focused, pressure free, make smart decisions and don’t let the Packers get to him. He needs to throw the ball away instead of taking a sack. Just chuck the ball out of bounds in the area of a eligible receiver. He also needs to throw the ball away if no one is open. It’s not worth the risk of throwing it in double or triple coverage, especially in the playoffs. If he’s able to stay away from bad decisions and sacks, he will have a great game.

Now it’s the defense’s turn. They played outstanding against Seattle last week and Green Bay in week 17. The score was a bit deceiving, they gave up a lot of garbage yards in the prevent defense. Not to mention Matt Forte threw an interception and a tip of the ball gave the Seahawks a touchdown. Other than that, it was a complete shut down of the Seahawks offense. The same offense that ripped the Saints apart. Unfortunately the Bears defense didn’t get a lot of credit because it was Seattle, but I swear if it went the other way we’d be hearing how that offense is one of the best in the league. That’s how it goes in the media, no respect for the Bears. I wonder if the Bears have a huge banner in their locker room that says “NO RESPECT!” Anyways, the key to this game on defense is forcing turnovers.They need to force fumbles and intercept Aaron Rodgers. Something the Bears are pretty good at. I”m really hoping they pick Rodgers off at least two times.

The only way that can happen is if they get pressure up front. Peppers, Harris, Idonije, Adams, Toeaina, Melton and Wootton need to get pressure from the start of the game and to the end. If they are able to pressure and contain Rodgers I have a great feeling that the Bears defensive backs and linebackers will be able cover Green Bay’s receivers if they are able to pressure Rodgers. Everyone on the defense needs to be on their game. They cannot give up the big plays. You saw what the Packers did to the Falcons last week. The Falcons defense gave up way too many big plays and now they’re out of the playoffs. It’s simple as that, but it necessarily won’t be an easy thing to stop. Another thing the Bears need to do is stop the Packers run game. Kuhn and Starks is a deadly combo. They can’t underestimate those two like the Eagles did. With that being said, the Bears need to pressure Aaron Rodgers, create turnovers, stop the run and don’t give up big plays. If they are able to do all of that, the Bears defense should dominate this game.

Special teams will play a big part in Sundays game. Field position is a key and I think the Bears will win that easily if the defense does their thing. I truly believe that Devin Hester will have a few chances to run one back and I think he will. This game has punt/kick return for a touchdown by Hester written all over it. Robbie Gould needs to be gold as usual and Brad Maynard needs to boot the ball. Can’t give the Packers good field position.

Alright folks here’s my prediction….

Final Score
BEARS 24
Packers 20

GammaBears

From what I saw, the Bears offense was pretty solid. Jay had a touchdown pass, and no interceptions. Which is a huge win for him if he plays mistake free football. Something that we have been looking for some time. Earl Bennett had a great game. He had 5 third down conversions from what I heard and he had a career day as well. He had some huge plays when he broke off tackles like a certain running back. Chester Taylor and Matt Forte had a good day running the ball. Both had touchdowns and anytime both the number one and two running backs have touchdowns, it’s a good day.

Devin Hester almost ran one back, but he was taken down by the punter. If Craig Steltz had picked up the punter with a good block he would of just strolled into the end zone. Oh, I almost forgot. Lovie Smith showed a lot of emotion during half time from what I heard. I would love to hear what he said and if he put in a few curse words. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him angry on the sidelines or in a interview but whatever he did sure helped. They held the Lions to under 50 yards in the second half I believe. Half times adjustments are always a key in winning a game. I’m just glad they were able to do it and not lose to the Detroit Lions.

GammaBears

For the Bears to win this game, the defense will have to completely dominate. I mean get into Drew Stanton’s face every time he drops back to pass the ball. If you haven’t heard, he’s replacing Shaun Hill, who is out with a broken finger. So that means the Bears will be facing a third string quarterback and this wouldn’t of happened if Julius Peppers didn’t destroy Stafford in the first game of the year. I’m sure they are still angry about it too. If they are able to keep Stanton and the running game in check they will most likely win this game.

Jay Cutler needs to be spot on as well,but for that to happen the Bears need to establish the run game early like they did against the Eagles last week. Forte usually has pretty big days against Detroit and if that trend continues it will be a good day for the Bears offense. The only thing that worries me is that they will feel too over confident and end up blowing the game by stupid decisions. Jay just needs to remember to throw the ball away and don’t force anything.

Final Score
Bears 31
Lions 13

GammaBears

Jay Cutler looked amazing playing against a high ranked defense. He threw four touchdowns, and didn’t throw one single interception. He also had a sky high QB rating of 146.2! Cutler showed a lot of emotion on his sleeve last night, especially when he went to the referee and a Dick Butkus demonstration and received a personal foul penalty as a result. He had a reason to be angry, Forte was mugged and the refs decided not to throw a flag. They didn’t give the Bears much love throughout the game either so it didn’t surprise me that they didn’t call it. Plus it was a key third down that the refs fudged up on. So yeah, I’m okay for Jay Cutler being angry.

Cutler wasn’t the only one on offense who had a great game, all of the Bears wide receivers and tight ends had a great game. Earl Bennett had an outstanding game. He led the Bears with receptions and touchdowns and it was easily his best game I’ve seen him from all year. Matt Forte had a great day running the ball as well, especially that 61 yard run. It was amazing to see him find the hole, cut, and run for 61 yards. If he had gotten touchdown on that run it would of made it all the better. He ended up having 117 on the ground yesterday. Forte definitely helped out the passing game with his ability to grind the ball and get yards.

The defense played extremely well. They did great on all fronts, they made plays in the backfield and were able to contain Vick the whole game. Forcing him to pass the ball. He was extremely lucky on the touchdown pass to Celek at the end of the game. Other than that, the Bears defense played lights out. Here’s an awesome stat you don’t see often. All starting four defensive lineman had a sack. When was the last time that happened? I’m guessing around the time the Bears won the Super Bowl in ‘85. Tommie Harris finally showed up to a game, deflected a pass in the redzone which led to Chris ‘Hitman’ Harris intercepting the ball. This was the first time Vick has been intercepted all season and I swore there was a stat that said it was the first since 2006. Brian Urlacher had an outstanding game with 10 tackles and kept Vick in check throughout the whole game. If he was going to run straight up the middle he would of met a Bear that would of body slammed him into the ground. Another player that had an outstanding game was Julius Peppers. He had 4 tackles and a sack and made one helluva play when he ran down Vick to stop him from gaining at least 10 yards. I’m pretty sure he shut his critics up with that play. He also had a forced fumble in that game as well. Izzy had a great game as well, seemed like he was around the ball each time the Eagles ran it. So many players had a great game yesterday. It was a beautiful day in Bears football for sure. If there was anyone I missed please let me know.

Oh also, the Bears are now in first place after the Packers lost to the Atlanta Falcons. The Bears remaining schedule includes the Lions, Patriots, Jets, Vikings and Packers. They will all be challenging games, but I think they can pull out some more wins.

Bear Down!

GammaBears

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The Bears offense will struggle at times against the Eagles defense. They are no slouches on ‘D’ and they will bring their ‘A’ game.  The thing that worries me the most on offense right now is still the line. I don’t know if they will be able to keep the cornerbacks from blitzing and just demolishing Jay Cutler. Not to get off topic here, but at point during the season my dad said to me “If the Bears don’t get an offensive line for Jay Cutler, he would be found on Lower Wacker Drive.” I laughed and I laughed, but at the same time I knew it was true. That’s why I am really nervous about coming into this game. Another reason why I’m nervous is Jay Cutler throwing multiple interceptions. When he’s nervous, it’s like he loses all football smarts and doesn’t want to throw the ball away. Which is something he needs to work on every week until it’s natural for him.

Matt Forte and Chester Taylor will have to have a huge game on Sunday. The only way Jay Cutler will be able to throw the ball efficiently and hopefully mistake free is if they run the ball. Similar to the way the Bears were able to beat the Dolphins, they needed to run the ball to open up the passing game. If they are able to do that, then they will be able to tear up the Eagles defense and score points on long time consuming drives.

Keys to winning the game…
1. Defense needs to stop Vick, keep him in the pocket.
2. Neutralize DeSean Jackson.
3. Run the ball efficiently, open up the passing game.
4. Jay Cutler needs to play mistake free football.
5. Finally, the Bears offensive line needs to block.

If they are able to do all of that, the Bears should win this game…

Final Score
Bears 28
Eagles 24

GammaBears

As I said above, the Bears intercepted the old man three times and made him cough up the ball. The defense were on fire, they held the Vikings to 1-9 on third down. Would have to say that’s one of the best games the defense has had all year. They weren’t able to sack Favre a lot, but they were able to get enough pressure in the backfield to stop a few runs and cause bad passes. I might as well throw a shout out to special teams. Devin Hester looked amazing out there. I don’t think I’ve seen him break so many tackles in one game. I was hoping he would run one back to throw that in the Vikings’ face. The only problem I had with special teams was Brad Maynard. He had maybe one or two good punts but the wrest were just horrid. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Whether it’s an injury or he’s just getting old, he’s lost a quite a few yards.

The offense looked pretty solid throughout the whole game. Converting third downs is always fun to watch. Johnny Knox played extremely well and didn’t give up on throws. He was constantly going after the ball and that is a major plus in the passing game. Earl Bennett also had an outstanding game as well. He caught a lot of key passes to keep the drives alive. The same goes for Devin Hester. The catch and run for the touchdown was probably the best I’ve seen from him since he started to play wide out for the Bears. The offensive line played extremely well. They only gave up one sack and gave Cutler plenty of time to throw in the pocket. Matt Forte and Chester Taylor ran the ball well. Of course they could of done better, but the line still has it’s faults.

There’s two players who seem to get flagged for every game now. Frank Omiyale and future Hall of Famer in my book, Olin Kreutz. I think this is his second consecutive game he’s been flagged, but this is like Frank’s fifth game. It’s highly unproductive and it kills drives. Other than Cutler’s interceptions, penalties, the Bears offense played extremely well.

Grades:

Offense: A

Defense: A+

Special Teams: A

GammaBears

Even though the Vikings are a struggling team at 3-5, they are still a legitimate threat and a division rival team. So this is a very big must win for the Bears. I don’t need to tell you how important it is to beat the Vikigns and Favre. It’s more than just a W, it’s bragging rights, and it’s most likely the last time he will be playing at Soldier Field.

The defense will have a challenge this week against Favre’s arm and Peterson’s legs. They really need to stop the run so they can focus on Favre, but they really need to watch out for the play action pass that he relies on most of the game to fool the defense. The defense needs to create a lot of pressure as well, so we can see some vintage Favre interceptions.

The Bears offense really click on Sunday to win this game. Especially the receivers and offensive line. Jay Cutler might end up running for his life if the blockers can’t get the job done. The same goes for the wide receivers, they need to run their routes correctly and jump for the ball when it’s thrown to them. They can’t give up on bad passes. Saw that in the ‘Skins game and it resulted in one interception. The Bears running backs need to a good job of running and holding onto the ball. Fumbles has been a costly mistake for Matt Forte and he really needs to bring his ‘A’ game.

Final Score
Bears 21
Vikings 17

GammaBears

The Bears offense struggled at times throughout the game and it really surprised me. Especially when running the ball against the worst run defense in the league. But hey, at least the Bears won. That’s all that matters right now. A win is a win.

The passing game just seemed a little off throughout the game, but Jay Cutler did not throw an interception. It wasn’t his greatest performance but he got the job done. I think the Mike Martz offense is a bit more complicated than people think. Jay Cutler is a pretty smart guy and he’s still struggling with it. Earl Bennett had a good game yesterday. He caught his first touchdown of the season. Greg Olsen also reeled in a touchdown as well.

The running game wasn’t real pretty. The Bears ran the balls the four times in their first two possessions. Matt Forte rushed for 49 yards on 14 carries. He didn’t really play an excellent game but he did have a key play when scored the two point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Chester Taylor scored his first touchdown of the year and the line actually blocked for him It was the first time all year I think the Bears have scored from the goal line.

The defense struggled some, but as usual they came up big when they were able to create turnovers. Israel Idonije played extremely well throughout the game. He blocked an extra point and registered half a sack. The blocked extra point was key in the game and it was the kickers first blocked extra point in his career. Leave it to a Bear to create a stat like that. If you have ever noticed, Israel actually resembles a Bear. He his tall, full of muscles and has a pretty cool beard. Tim Jennings came up big in the game by intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bears would score a touchdown from that turnover. Chris Harris also caused a key turnover by sealing the game with an interception. Seeing Chris intercept Fitzpatrick reminded me of his days in 2005-2006.

Overall the Bears defense played a good game besides getting burned a few times. Can’t help but wonder why Lovie kept calling plays on defense where the CB’s were lined up about 5-10 yards from the line of scrimmage instead of having them bump the receivers. I personally don’t like seeing that type of coverage because the QB can easily pick the defense apart with short slant routes that go for 5-7 yards.

Grades:
Offense: B+
Defense: A
Special Teams: B

GammaBears

I have a feeling the Bears will be running the ball a lot more this game, due to the Bills horrible horrible run defense. I don’t expect Forte to have a career record day, but he will be running the ball efficiently. The same goes for Chester Taylor. I’m sure they will get the ball evenly throughout the game.

The passing game is what worries me. Every time Jay Cutler steps back to throw, I’m worried that he is going to be crushed by a 300 pound defensive linemen or he’ll throw an interception on a bad pass or the receiver actually running the wrong route. That’s one of the main reasons why the passing game is struggling so much. It seems like no one is able to run a simple route and go after the ball. Speaking of the passing game, where the heck is Dez Clark? He is able to run routes and catch the ball more often than not.

I’m not really worried about the defense. They’ve been spot on and Lance Briggs had plenty of time to rest this week so he should be able to go. I also read that Major Wright could be back playing this week, so it could be a very good day for the defense.

Final Score
Bears 24
Bills 14

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