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.