Da Bear Cast Blog

Quarterbacks: A-
Jay Cutler had a solid outing against the Lions. He passed for 372 yards and threw two touchdowns, and both of those were to Matt Forte. He had one mistake, and that was throwing the interception. Completely his fault, but otherwise he threw the ball away if there was no one open instead of forcing the throw.

Running backs: B
I gave the RB’s a ‘B’ for one real reason, their ability to catch the ball and create yards after the catch. Forte had an abysmal 50 yards rushing but ended up with 151 yards in receiving. He had two receiving touchdowns, which were the Bears only touchdowns in that game. One thing that hurt the Bears was his inability to hold onto, he can’t do that against good teams like Dallas. Chester Taylor had an okay outing, he had 29 yards rushing on the day and 44 receiving on the day.

Wide Receivers: B+
It’s pretty obvious that Jay Cutler’s new best friend is Devin Aromashodu. He had an excellent game with 5 catches for 71 yards, but unfortunately no touchdowns. He dropped an easy touchdown in the endzone. He needs to capitalize on those opportunities. Cutler would of had 3 touchdowns in that game if he had caught that ball.  Johnny Knox had a pretty good game, catching the ball three times for 52 yards. He had a successful season in his rookie year and I expect him to continue that. Devin Hester was once again quiet with only one catch. I don’t think he will be too spectacular this year, but will help distract defense backs with double coverage.

Tight End: C+
Greg Olsen had… an okay outing. He could of done a lot better by holding onto that ball. Just one of four turnovers by the Bears. If he hadn’t of done that, the TE’s would of gotten a better grade. He needs some work holding onto that ball.

Offensive line: D+
Their inability to create holes for Forte and Taylor and protect Jay Cutler deserves this grade. Also for not pushing the Lions back on the one yard line for Forte to get a touchdown. It was just horrendous out there. They were being pushed around like rookies. They gave up four sacks to the Detroit Lions. They are going to be in trouble when they face Dallas, Green Bay and Minnesota this year.

Defensive line: A
They were harassing Matt Stafford and Shaun Hill all day long. They were only to get two sacks total, but the numbers lie. They were creating lots of pressure, causing Stafford and Hill to make bad throws. They were able to shut down the Lions running game for the most part. Both of Jahvid Best’s touchdowns were little run-ins.  Julius Peppers proved his worth by sacking Stafford and causing a fumble. Unfortunately for Stafford he was injured on the play and could be out for 2-6 weeks.

Linebackers: A+
Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Pisa Tinoisomoa were a force to be reckoned with. They were all over the place delivering pain. Urlacher shut up his critics in the first game of the season by registering 8 tackles and one sack. Having a year to rest does wonders in my opinion. Briggs was also a key player on Sunday when he forced that fumble inside the five yard line. Too bad the offense wasn’t able to do much with the gift.

Secondary: B+
The Bears secondary didn’t give up really any big plays, but they didn’t look too spectacular when Lovie called in the prevent defense. I know that the defense isn’t designed to bring the pressure in the prevent defense, but they should of at least got in the receivers face in the first five yards. They should of also double teamed Calvin Johnson. This whole debacle in the end zone wouldn’t of happened and the Bears wouldn’t of won on an iffy ruling.

Special Teams: B
They didn’t up any big returns, but they also didn’t have many themselves. I wished Hester would of ran one back when they kicked to the fifty yard line. Every time a team does that, it reminds me of a PR TD in a Vikings game at home.