-6- Oct. 18 at Atlanta, 7:20 p.m., Ch. 5
2j – Hoping Michael Turner is feeling the effects of 370 carries last year. Seems like the Falcons should be in for a letdown this season, everything went too well for them last year. The Bears will put them in their place. Bears 35, Falcons 17
Kmart – We beat the Falcons last year (if you blacked out Lovie Smith’s last minute brain-fart squib-kick). These teams are pretty evenly matched, but when you look at the quarterback comparisons Jay Cutler is much better than Michael Vick. Bears 30, Falcons 27
DC – As 2J rightly points out…Turner is carrying the “Curse of 370” this season so he’ll probably have suffered a double rupture of both ACLs by the time this game rolls around. Assuming that is true the Bears will win this game. If Turner is somehow still able to walk/run for this game, Atlanta is a scary team to play…especially at home. Atlanta will either prove they are a team on the rise or last season was a fluke. I don’t expect Matt Ryan to make any leaps this year…and Bears owe him a loss for the flukey win they stole from the Bears last season. Bears steal a close one. Bears 28, Falcons 27
Get after Matt Ryan -
There has been no shortage of pressure in 2009. Entering Sunday night's game in Atlanta, the Chicago Bears' defense has accumulated 14 sacks with eight coming from defensive ends Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson. Harassing Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a central key this weekend, but their offensive line has surrendered just two sacks. That is an impressive figure, when you consider Ryan has attempted 123 passes, just six fewer than Jay Cutler.
Hillenmeyer, Peterson still out -
Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (cracked rib) and running back Adrian Peterson (knee) sat out Thursday's practice as the Bears continued preparation for Atlanta.
Defensive tackle Israel Idonije returned to practice, as expected, for the first time since getting his left knee scoped. He was limited
Nose tackle Anthony Adams (toe) also returned to practice after sitting out Wednesday. He was limited as well.
How does Cutler stack up? -
A closer look at Cutler's numbers compared with those of Orton and Ryan
So how did the Bears make out in the big quarterback trade? Not terribly.
ESPN Stats & Information analyzed the Bears' QB trade with the Denver Broncos entering this weekend's games. We examined Jay Cutler versus Kyle Orton in a variety of categories. Keep in mind, the Broncos also got first-round picks in 2009 (18th overall; DE Robert Ayers) and 2010, along with a third-round pick (84th overall) in 2009.
Record: Cutler is a healthy 3-1. Orton is 5-0. It's all about wins.
The luck: If you count a miracle 87-yard TD pass to Brandon Stokley, Orton doesn't need a four-leaf clover.
The defense: Orton hasn't had to win games by himself because he has had the NFL's No. 2 defense. The Bears rank 13th and are without Brian Urlacher.
Best NFL Uniforms -
2,000 readers ranked each NFL team's home uniform on a scale of 0 to 5. Numbers were crunched, pie charts and bar graphs were rendered, pizzas were ordered and consumed. And when the dust settled, the best and worst NFL uniforms, as selected by Uni Watch Blog readers, looked like this, with the Bears on top and the Bills bringing up the rear.
Post a Comment