Week 4: Midweek Report

As the Bears head into their week 4 match up against the Carolina Panther, there are many issues the Bears are addressing heading into the game. On the Carolina side of the ball, the game represents the return of head coach Ron Rivera and Greg Olsen to Chicago. Ron Rivera was the Bears defensive coordinator for the Bears from 2004 to 2008 when he left to coordinate for the Chargers. Greg Olsen's return makes his first time back since being traded this off season after the lockout was lifted. Both Rivera and Olsen will have a good idea of what the Bears will be doing on defense, seeming that most of the same players are there from the time the two spent with the team. With the Bears, many issues need to be straightening up or else the Bears could fall to a 1-3 record. First off, the Bears need to address the issue of a balanced attack on offense. In the previous two losses, the Bears have passed 82 times compared to only running the ball 25 times. The Bears don't have the offensive line to be passing the ball nearly three times as they run it. If Mike Martz doesn't get the hint and start running a more simple styled running game, the Bears will have trouble winning games. The running game will gain a valuable boost with the return of Marian Barber, who hasn't played since the third game of the preseason. He should provide a nice change up to Matt Fortes style and will help boost the Bears bad third down conversion rate. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears have to shore up their play because they have given up 57 points in the last two games. This has to start with the defensive line, who have not been able to consistently create pressure on the opposing quarterback. The Bears will have trouble with the mobility of Cam Newton but should be able to rack up some consistent pressure on him seeing that his is a rookie. Another area the Bears need to shore up is the safety position. Last week, the Bears started two new safeties in Brandon Meriweather and Craig Steltz and struggled with their lack of experience and knowledge of the system. The Bears may receive a boost with the return of Major Wright but could still be without veteran Chris Harris. Harris re-aggravated his hamstring injury this week during practice and is unlikely to play this week against the Panthers. It will be important to see how the Bears come out and play against a Panthers offense that has leaned on the passing game more than the running up to this point in the season. So until next time, Bear Down Chicago.

Week 3: Green Bay Packers

Coming into week 3 against the Packers, the Bears were trying to get the bad taste out of their mouth from the beating they received from the New Orleans Saints. However, thing seemed all too familiar in Sunday's game against Green Bay and many issues come to surface in my mind. The Bears came out and looked very lethargic on offense. The unit seemed to have no real flow or feel for the game. I can point in a few directions to why I think this is happening. First off, what Mike Martz likes to do and is trying to do just isn't working with this Bears offense. We all know Martz helped orchestrate the "Greatest Show on Turf" when he was in St. Louis, but his style is simply not working in Chicago and needs to change. He needs to realize that he doesn't have Kurt Warner, Marshal Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt running out there every game, with Orlando Pace anchoring a dependable line. (No disrespect to Jay Cutler and Matt Forte but Warner and Faulk are hall of fame players) Martz needs to take a step back and realize that his offensive line just is not good enough for him to call play that require 5-7 yard drop backs, and takes 4,5 or 6 seconds to develop down field. If he continues, he will basically have a dead quarterback and an angry mob waiting for him daily after work. Martz needs to realize that he needs to simplify things on offense so this unit can start to gain confidence in itself and succeed. He also has to put more emphasis into a more simplified running game, even though it has struggled these last few weeks. In order for the Bears to be successful in running the ball, I believe every running play shouldn't consist of two linemen pulling in order to set blocks. He needs to let his offensive linemen fire off the ball a few time and just hit someone so that they can start gaining confidence, and in the long run this will help the team. Besides Mike Martz, I feel like offensive line needs to come out angry and hit someone in the chin. The unit simple looks scared to hit someone, even though they have the personnel and size to be a very good running team. I think things may turn around in the running game whenever Lance Louis is able to return, because I feel like he has a nasty side that will rub off on the other linemen. Throughout the game, Jay Cutler did show some promising signs in making the correct reads on certain plays and hitting his hot routes when the Packers blitzed, but fell victim of dropped passes. Roy Williams, Johnny Knox and Kellen Davis all had big drops, which simply cannot happen week in and week out. One thing I believe is contributing to the struggles of the Bears on offense is the fact that the receivers are not making the big plays when they need too. Jay Cutler and his receivers need to do whatever it takes to develop the chemistry needed to trust each other and make the plays needed to get this offense on track.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears were lead by linebacker Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs who made all the big plays when necessary. On consecutive defensive series in the 4th quarter, Lance Briggs forced James Strack to fumble the ball and Brian Urlacher intercepted a ball intended for Jermichael Finley. The Bears played a good game on the defensive side of the ball, but did miss the presence of starting safety Chris Harris on a few key passing plays throughout the game. Look for the Bears defense to come out and make a stand next week against Carolina to help prevent the team from going 1-3. So until next time Chicago, Bear Down.

Week 3: Midweek Report

After coming off a tough lose to the New Orleans Saints, the Bears head into the game against the Green Bay Packers looking to turn things around. The Bear ran into a desperate team in the Saints who were looking for their first win of the season in their home opener. Thing won't get much easier when the Bears face their long rivaled division foe on Sunday at Soldier Field. Green Bay heads into Chicago a perfect 2-0 after a shoot out with the Saint's and a come from behind win at Carolina. The Bears returned to practice yesterday and were dealing with major injuries on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. On offense, the Bears lost rookie right guard, Gabe Carimi, to a dislocated knee against the Saint. He is projected to be out for an extended period of time. This really hurts the Bears because if forces them to start Frank Omiyale, who has started 28 games in his career but is a step back in regard to skills compared to Carimi. Another offensive line start who is still trying to come back is right guard Lance Louis, who suffered a high ankle sprain in week one against Atlanta. His certainty for the game is still unclear and Chris Spencer will be taking his start spot if he isn't ready for Sunday’s game. These two injuries really disrupt what the Bears were trying to do on the offensive line and really disrupt the chemistry as well. Another injury the Bears sustained against the Saints that will affect the offense was Earl Bennett. He has arguably been Jay Cutler’s favorite target and will be missed against the Packers. However, the Bears are hoping to have Roy Williams back which should add a boast to the Bears receiving core. Also expected back is running back Marian Barber, who has been sidelined since week three of the preseason with a hamstring injury. His return should help the running game, due to his bruising style and should hopefully open things up for Matt Forte. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears may be without both starting safeties against the Packers. Major Wright is not expected to play because of a stiff neck and Chris Harris is 50-50 chance to play. Losing both safeties would be a huge loses for the Bears due to their relative inexperience with the backups and also considering they are playing Aaron Rodgers, who has the ability to dissect any defense in the league. However with all these injury's I expect the Bears to come out and play like they did against the Falcons and have a very competitive game. I would look for them to come out and try to get the run established so they can take some pressure of the offensive line. I look for it to be a close game, but in the end I think the Bears pull away to a 31-24 victory over the defending champions. So until next time, Bear Down Chicago.

Week 2: New Orleans Saints

Coming into Week 2 against the Saints, the Bears were riding high after an impressive victory over the Atlanta Falcon. However, those emotions didn't last as the Bears lost 30-13 to the Saints. The game started off slowly but the Bears quickly gained momentum. On the second series of the game, Matt Forte ripped of a 42 yard run that set up a touchdown pass to Dane Sanzenbacher. After that series, the Bears offense never seemed to click. One reason to why that could have happened is due to the unbalance nature of the play calling. Offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, called a total of 53 passing plays and only 11 running play! Last season when the Bears were successful, the balance on offense was more 50-50 run to pass, with a stronger emphasis to running the ball. I just can't understand why Martz continually tries to throw the ball 50 times a game. When your best offensive player is arguably your running back, you should have a stronger emphasis on the run. This would not only allow you to slow down the blitz of teams such as the Saints and Packers but it would allow for the offensive line to gain some confidence. The Bears line is much bigger and more physical then it was last year and that plays perfectly into running the ball. The Bears should be able to punish defenses with their big line and average around a 100 of rushing a game. This would also protect Jay Cutler and allow him to utilize his speedy weapons on the perimeter. The Bears offensive line also seemed to struggle in the game against the Saints. They allowed a total of 6 sacks throughout the game; however 5 came in the final quarter. The line also took a big hit when they lost starting right tackle Gabe Carimi at the end of the second quarter. I think that in order for the line to be successful, the Bears are going to have to become more committed to the run in order to utilize the lines strengths. The defense played a pretty decent game but still had their fair share of problems. The defensive line, that I thought was going to be one of the strongest part of the team, was almost non-existent. They failed to put pressure on Drew Brees throughout the game and only recorded one sack. In order for the Bears to be a productive defense, it is imperative that the line creates pressure on the quarterback so there is a possibility that he creates a turnover or forces a bad pass. The Bears secondary also struggled with Chris Harris on the bench. On the 79 yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson, Major Wright made the cardinal sin of allowing a receiver to get behind the 2 deep safeties. It just seems like the Bears defense is not the same when then do not have Chris Harris on the field. Overall, the Bears played a poor game and lost but I expect them to come out and play very well next Sunday against the Packers. The will look to correct some of their problems and reestablish themselves as a NFC contender. So until next time Chicago, Bear Down.

Week 2: Midweek Report

The countdown to the Bears week two game against the New Orleans Saints is only four days away and there is plenty that need to be caught up with regarding the Bears. The main new of the week regarding the Bears dealt with the death of Brian Urlacher's mother on Tuesday. It was reported that he had left the team to attend to family matters on Tuesday and his status for the game was unknown. Losing Brian Urlacher for the game against the Saint's would be huge because of the potency of their offense. In the Tampa 2, the middle linebacker not only has the responsibility of covering the back and tight ends but is also required to cover deep down the field on passing situations. Losing Urlacher for a game not only would hurt personnel wise but would also hurt leadership. Many players have come out this week and proclaimed that Urlacher is the heart and soul of the Bears defense and that the defense usually beats to his drum. However, on Thursday, it was reported that Urlacher reported back to Halas Hall to resume practice and will play. This gives the Bears a huge lift and an even better opportunity to win the game. In injury news, some key players sat out of Thursday's practice and their status for the game is up in the air. Running back Marion Barber who practiced on Wednesday sat out on Thursday with soreness in his calf. Not having Barber in the running game would significantly change the Bears approach to the Saints. With Barber, he would be able to come in the game, and soften up the defense so by the 3rd and 4th quarter Matt Forte could come in and rip off some long runs to finish of the game. Wide receiver Roy Williams also sat out practice on Thursday and his status for the game is still up in the air. However, losing Roy Williams does not hurt the Bears as much due to their tremendous depth at the wide receiver position. Also, Lance Louis is expected to be out for Sunday’s game, which will allow Chris Spencer to slide into his starting right guard position. On the defensive side of the ball, there was only one significant player that sat out Thursdays practice and that was Chris Harris. He was still nursing a sore hamstring and will be a game time decision. All in all, the Bears are pretty heading into the Saint game which should allow them attack with all key pieces in place. So until next time Chicago, Bear Down!