Da Bear Cast Blog

The Bears won an ugly and hard fought game against the Lions yesterday and are now tied for first in the NFC North. I know what your thinking, it was all because of the call in the end zone and you’re right. It was an iffy call and I couldn’t be happier about that right now. I just look at it this way, the Bears were screwed over last year many times because of non-calls. Now the Bears are finally even with that ruling in the end zone. It’s done and no one can do anything about it, so let’s look forward to taking on a miffed Dallas team.

Jay Cutler preformed well against the Lions, throwing over 300 yards and two touchdown passes. I’m very pleased with the Mike Martz offense, minus the inability to score when you’re three inches away from the goal line. I’m positive would have at least two more touchdowns if the Bears didn’t cough up the ball four times.

The Offensive line was okay during the first half and looked awful after that. If Jerry Angelo can’t see the problem with the offensive line after yesterdays game, then I think he’s legally blind. They did help Forte on that monster screen pass that gave the Bears a touchdown. They need to step up there game when they face Dallas next Sunday.

Matt Forte returned to his rookie form on Sunday in my opinion. Haven’t seen that kind of burst from him since he first joined the Bears in 2008. It was just unfortunate that the line didn’t block for him or create holes for him to run through. He did have a wonderful game catching passes though. He had 7 receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns. I would of liked to see him have more yards on the ground, but I’m happy with those receiving yards. Chester Taylor saw some action against the Lions too. Only running for 29 yards, but catching for 44. I think there’s still plenty of gas left in his engine to make some big plays for the Bears this year. Mark my words folks.

The wide receivers had a good game as well even if they didn’t really find the end zone. Devin Aromashodu led the receivers with 5 catches for 71 yards. After Sunday’s game, it’s clear that ‘Shodu is Jay Cutler’s favorite target. I expect to see a lot more from him this season as well. Johnny Knox also had a few receptions on the day, but nothing spectacular.

So the offense overall still needs some work, but they played OK out there even with all those turnovers.

The defense played fairly well in the first half and completely dominated in the second half… except for the last drive of the game. They are experts in the Lovie Smith Prevent defense where they barely win games and lose a lot.

The D-Line had pressure on Stafford and Shaun Hill for the most part of the game. Julius Peppers looked fantastic out there with a sack and forced fumble on the same play. He also injured the second year quarterback Stafford, knocking him out of the game and possibly two to six weeks. Which is a shame, he’s a nice guy. It’s just that he’s playing for the wrong team. The Bears d-line will have a tough game against Dallas next week. Hopefully Peppers and crew will dominate that line and have at least five sacks total.

The Linebackers were on fire Sunday, creating all sorts of havoc. Lance Briggs created a turnover on the two yard line, unfortunately the Bears offense didn’t capitalize on that. Briggs had a solid day and I hope he keeps that up. The same goes with Brian Urlacher who looked like his rookie self out there. He was energetic and hit folks like there was no tomorrow. Urlacher also had a sack in that game, which rarely happens because they usually keep him back in coverage where he’s monster.

The Defensive Backs looked alright in that game, didn’t give up too many big plays. Charles “Peanut” Tillman had a nice interception when Calvin Johnson tripped himself. That won’t happen too often so I’m glad that Peanut was able to capitalize on that gift. I just don’t know if the Bears secondary will be able to handle all the weapons Dallas has at their disposal. I just hope they step up their “A” game and create lots of turnovers.

GammaBears