Posts Tagged ‘Tommie Harris’

NFC Championship Bears vs Packers

Friday, January 21st, 2011

I’m sure you heard from literally every sports fan, this will be the second time these two franchises play against each other in the post season. I’ve heard it like a billion times from the NFL Network, ESPN, and read it everywhere all over the internet. I am quite sick and tired of it, but that’s okay. It involves the Bears and I think it’s time to improve that record to 2-0 against the Packers in the postseason.

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

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Bears clip the Eagles

Monday, November 29th, 2010

This was probably the best game I’ve seen all year from the Bears. They were dominant in all phases of the game, except for Eagles last touchdown. How lucky can they get, plus it was just the prevent defense doing their thing. The offense played extremely well, minus Frank Omiyale and J’Marcus Webb for missing blocks. Omiyale has some serious explaining to do. He has been called for a penalty each week since Week 3 I believe. They did pick up their blocks later in the game, but they need to minimize their mistakes.

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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Bears Defensive Line

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

The Bears have had a rich history on the defensive line. There have been many legends who played on the line for the Bears since 1920. There’s Doug Atkins, Dan Hampton, Richard Dent, Steve McMicheal, and the “Fridge”. Those are just a few off the top of my head, so forgive me if I forgot anyone. There’s also Alex Brown, he was a very good defensive lineman for the Bears and all around great guy and I don’t think anyone can disagree with that.

I will be starting things off with the Left Defensive End position this entry. Alex Brown played the majority of the year and was cut this off season. I could go on and on about how it was a really really bad idea to cut Alex, but I’d rather not turn this entry into a Jerry Angelo bash fest. Anyways, there will be plenty of competition at the LDE position this year between Mark Anderson and Israel Idonije. They are competing for the starting job while Corey Wootton is pretty much slated for a back up role. I do think he will be playing some this year, but not a whole lot unless Mark or Izzy is injured. Now, Mark and Izzy didn’t get much playing time but did rack up a total of 5.5 sacks combined. Mark ended the season with 28 tackles combined and 3.5 sacks while Izzy only had 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks and one forced fumble.

Mark Anderson only had one outstanding season and that his rookie season. He racked up 28 combined tackles and 12 sacks and four forced fumbles. Pretty much everyone thought he was going to be the next big thing for the Bears. He hasn’t reached that peak since then and that was in 2006. He didn’t even start that year either. So I really don’t know what happened to him. Israel Idonije on the other hand was never given a chance to shine in my opinion. Only thing folks know him for is his kindness off the football field and his ability to block field goals and passes. I do believe with his speed and jump off the ball he will be starting, but I think that Lovie Smith will rotate them throughout the game evenly. Which isn’t bad either and it gives both of them a chance to rest.

Now time to move onto the defensive tackles. Tommie Harris is starting without a doubt. It’s his year to lose the starting job if he plays that horrible. Over the past few years he has been a disappointment. With his injuries and not properly rehabbing them has put a damper on his career. He really needs to turn his career around this year.
The Bears signed a monster in Julius Peppers to help Tommie out. They should be able to create more pressure and sack the quarterback more often this season. I guess we’ll find out right? The Bears have Marcus Harrison and Henry Melton competing as the back up. They also have Marcus Harrison competing for the back up position for the Nose Tackle. I’m sure he will be lining up as a DT and as a NT throughout the season. Henry Melton will see some playing time, but not a whole lot. He went on injured reserve last season so I’m sure he is ready to go and play some football.

Now it’s the Nose Tackle’s turn. It’s a complete free for all for the starting job in my opinion, even though they have Anthony Adams listed as the starter. The players listed on the depth chart are Anthony Adams, Marcus Harrison, and Matt Toeaina. There is another player on the depth chart, Mick Williams. He will most likely end up being cut or put on the practice squad.

In 2009 Anthony Adams started only 8 games last year, registered 44 tackles and 2 sacks. It was another quiet year for him, but it was the most sacks he had since joining the Bears in 2007. Marcus Harrison had another quiet year, only registering 24 tackles and one sack. So it wasn’t the best year for nose tackles last season. The whole defensive line wasn’t playing that well except for Alex Brown. Why oh why Jerry? Both Anthony and Marcus play well, but they haven’t shown me a whole lot that they deserve to be the starter at nose tackle this year.
Now the fan favorite right now, Matt “The Big Toe” Toeaina is having a wonderful camp this year. He didn’t do anything last year and was pretty much pushed back in the line rotation. It was pretty crowded and hectic last year, but this year he’s having a terrific camp and it’s putting him in the spotlight. I really want him to be the starter or at least the first back up. I really wished they would of given him a chance for the job the last two years at least.

Another no brainer, Julius Peppers will be starting at Right Defensive End this season and hopefully for many more seasons. I also hope he will continue having 10+ sacks a year. If Julius doesn’t have at least 10, he will most likely be labeled as a bust of a free agency signing.

Now his back up Jarron Gilbert might actually be cut this season. That’s the rumor going around some of the sports blogs. He has a lot of athleticism and potential to be great in the NFL. He became a bit famous for his athleticism when he was recorded jumping out of a pool. He also was a phenom for San Jose State in his college playing days. in 2008 he had 52 tackles, 22 of them were for losses and 9.5 sacks. So the talent is there, but he just didn’t do much last year in NFL. Only racking up one tackle, which isn’t the best thing for a defensive end or any defensive player really. Me personally, I don’t think he will be cut this year. He only had one bad year and now he has some time to learn from a great player, Julius Peppers.

The other rumor/idea is that he will be converted to an offensive lineman. It’s something that has been done before, and it’s not a bad idea. If they were to convert Jarron, he would need to bulk up and I do mean bulk up. He weighs under 300 pounds at the moment according to the Bears website. If they do move him, I think he would fit perfectly at right tackle to back up Frank Omiyale and J’Marcus Webb. I would love to see someone other than Frank Omiyale at Right Tackle. He needs to be replaced, but that’s just my opinion. What do you think?

There are two others listed under Right Defensive End, Barry Turner and Maurice Evans. Out of those two, I think the Bears will keep Barry Turner. He was quite a force at Nebraska. His career stats include, 115 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 17 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. If Ndamukong Suh didn’t play at Nebraska, I’m sure Barry would of received more media and national attention. Unfortunately for Maurice Evans, he’s been bounced from one team to another. He’s been with 5 different teams including the Bears. That should do it for the Bears defensive line this year. Sorry that it took so long to write this entry Bears fans. Next entry will be about the Bears DB’s.

GammaBears

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