Bears v. Vikes - Game that defines a year?

Bear-Vikings -- where fans root for their teams to win and also root for their teams to fire the coaches. - Sam Rosen, chicago tribune, 11/10/10

I couldnt put this game in any better words. But all joking aside this game is could be season determining for both teams. As of right now the bears are 2-0 within the division and if they win 3-0 would give them the upper hand on winning the division. The vikes are 3-5 overall and 1-1 in the division and if they lose to the bears you can almost write them off in the division and for any chance at a wildcard because you are gonna have to go atleast 9-7 to get a wildcard berth. So, lets everyone get excited for this game.

Key Matchups

1. Kruetz v. Williams Mountains - Every bears fan know that the Williams DTs kill the bears. The questions is can the bears block them well enough to have some semblance of the running game and to give Culter a pocket to step up into? It will be up to Kruetz and the guards to take care of these guys and drive this offense.

2. Favre v. Tillman & Jennings - The bears have been playing a lot of cover 2 and zone this year because they have had the opponents in 3rd and longs a ton. The zone is good because it lets the defensive players play an area and keep looking into the backfield. This lets the defense see where the ball is going and drive on the play. However, this weekend the king of the pump fake, Favre is in the backfield. The bears have to play disciplined coverage and not try to jump every route or pump fake which is hard for a defense that is so focused on getting turnovers. Otherwise, they could be beat deep a lot.

3. Adrian Peterson's hands - The bears have caused 8 fumbles on defense this year. Peterson has fumbled zero times this year. He has however fumbled 3 times in the last 2 games versus the bears. If the bears can get the ball to pop out, they should win the turnover battle and then likely the game.

Keys for the Bears

1. Unleash Jay. Yep, this is exactly what I have pretty much have been adovacating the past couple of weeks. But realistically, the bears dont have a good running game and its incredibly hard to run against the vikes. But, they can be had in the pass game. Some playaction and deep balls should available for the bears. I say this is the week to really see if Martz's offense can work. It may be a gamble but realistically the bears are going to need an explosive offense in the 2nd half to make the playoffs.

2. Contain AP. I'm not sure you can really stop the "Purple Jesus" as some call him. But you can make him work hard and contain him. He has historically had big games against the bears but if you keep him to 4 yds per carry and no big runs, it should be considered a win for the bears defense.

3. Maximize your weapons. Its simple on offense. Put your guys in the position to do what they do best. That means look for Greg Olsen to stretch the defense down the seam and in the redzone. Throw a couple deep balls to Johnny Knox to loosen up the defense and see if he can break one. Get Hester the ball out in space and see if he can run past people. And use Forte and Taylor out of the backfield to create mismatches. By now, Martz should have figured out what his guys to best and now he needs to show us he can use them in that way.

Hero for the Day

I could be a total homer and pick Matt Forte cause I just traded for him in my fantasy league but instead I will say Greg Olsen. I think he got back on track last week and I look for at least 1 td and a couple deep balls down the middle to him. Time for him to show that he can be an impact TE in this league.

Prediction

I think this will be too close for comfort at halftime with the bears possibly even losing. The vikes know they have to win this game and they will come out swinging. But, i think the bears are the better TEAM right now and will come out ahead.

Bears 24, Vikes 21

Week 9 Bears Review

The bears beat the bills. It wasnt an exciting game. It was close the whole way and the bears managed to pull it out in the end. However, there were some very encouraging signs from the bears. Sidenote: Lovie's teams still arent noticeable better coming off a bye.

The Good:

1. The offensive line - Yep, this is probably the first time of the season the O-line was a positive. Look this group will never be great. Heck, they might not even be good but they can become a serviceable or average offensive line. Thats pretty much what they were which was a huge improvement from what they have been. They only let up 1 sack and wore down the bills defense in the 2nd half. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come.

2. Jay Cutler's feet. Cutler had a great day of movement. Not just his scrambling ability on which he picked up 2 first downs was impressive but the way he moved around in the pocket. He rolled both ways and moved in the pocket effectively to avoid pressure. He looked like a quarterback who was comfortable in the pocket and in the offense.

3. Tim Jennings. I'm not sure enough can be said about his play at corner this year. Not only did he make a great inception but the guy constantly sticks his nose in run support and did pretty well in coverage. He gets his hands in on a lot of throws and likes to hit guys. About all you can ask for in a corner in Lovie's defense.

The Bad

1. As good as Jennings has been this year, (and it pains me to say this) Peanut Tillman has been almost as bad. I love Peanut and he has a unique ability to punch the ball out (most forced fumbles in the in last decade) but he probably shouldnt be a starting corner. He has lost a step and Bills WR Steve Johnson had a career day mostly matched up against Tillman. I'm not sure the bears have a better option at corner with zack bowman injured but I think very soon Tillman should be moved to free safety or nickelback to make this defense better.

2. The DTs. One of my keys to this game was Peppers so I specifically watched the D-line most of the game. Peppers and Idonije were being chipped or double teamed most of the game which would have left the bears DTs 1 on 1 against O-linemen. Sadly, the DTs didnt make many plays and got almost no pressure up the middle. They have been stout against the run but they havent gotten penetration either in the run or pass game. Tommie Harris is a ghost of DT and Adams and Toeneia are solid players but with Harrison not dressing there isnt a whole lot of talent at DT and it shows.

The Encouraging:

1. Martz, I want to shake your hand cause that was a great game plan. You ran the ball 25 times and called passing plays that allowed your QB to make quick decisions. You also called roll outs and got the ball to your best playmakers. Olsen was targeted 8 times and caught a TD. Taylor was used near the goalline and ran one in. I hope this type of game planning continues because in the weather of december at soldier's field this will win us games.

2. Earl Bennett. For me, there is no question who the bears's best WR is. Mr. Bennett. He runs good routes, is always wear he needs to be (runs past the first down marker on 3rd down) and catches everything. He keeps improving and is the type of WR that Martz's offense needs. Look for better and better things from Earl.

Where do we go from here??

Well bears fans we have reached the bears bye week and I'm pretty sure we are all more confused about this team than we were before the season. This will be a season-so-far recap mostly because if i just talked about yesterday's game there will be too much swearing. A few words about yesterday's game. Classic bears. Defense good. Offense pissed away the game. The game left me wondering if this team really does have a chance to make the playoffs and if I might be partially rooting for the bears to lose in order to get rid of Lovie. But here is a look at the season so far:

Encouraging:

1. Defensive turnovers. The defense as a whole has been impressive and pretty much as good as advertised. They have keep the bears in every game and they are creating turnovers like the '06 bears. No one is better than Peanut Tillman at punching the ball out and the pressure created by Peppers and Co. have forced errant throws and made it hard for the quarter to identify the coverage. Urlacher and Briggs are still at the top of their games and the defense is getting valuable contributions from Idonje, Jennings, and Chris Harris. Perhaps the 2 most impressive things have been the bears ability to mask coverages and therefore confuse opposing offenses. (Lovie's defense has never been big into disguising what they are doing). Danieal Manning has been very surprising with his safety play. He has played great in run support and his coverage has been so good on TEs that none so far have had a good day against the Bears.

2. Matt Forte and Chester Taylor. I know the bears dont run the ball much (see below) but this combo of backs has really impressed me with their versatility and consistency. They make people miss and are great runners after getting the ball in their hands. In my estimation, these 2 guys are the best play makers on the offense and need to touch the ball more either on running or passing plays. I would like to see these 2 get 30+ touches combined a game as we saw in the Carolina game and the Bears will win those games.

Discouraging:

1. O-Line. I understand they have not started the same O-line in more than 2 games but that is not an excuse. These guys are paid professionals and are just getting beat on a consist basis. There really arent encouraging signs for this group because it is mostly low draft picks/free agents without much potential. They have been unable to communicate more than getting beat 1 on 1. I would say half the sacks so far are attributable to miscommunication or lack of communication in pass protection which is really only shooting yourself in the foot. This communication has to be fixed right away because this line is gonna get beat some based on their talent level. This line will never be good. It can maybe an average offensive line but it has a long way to even reach that. Prayers are welcome to try and improve this.

2. Jay Culter & his WRs. I said in my season preview that Martz's offense depends heavily on the QB & WRs being on the same page. Well from their play Culter and the WRs might have been given different playbooks. I know Martz's offense is very complicated and has like a million plays but these guys are professionals and need to sort this out. The 4 picks yesterday half were the WRs fault and half were Culter's. Cutler has played alright this year minus yesterday's game considering every time he drops back he has to believe that his head has a chance of being removed from his shoulders. Culter can play better and the WRs have to play better and make the tough catches that make their QB look good. *Sidenote: I think Earl Bennett has been the only WR that has performed better than expected. He seems to get the offense and runs very precise routes and has great hands.

3. Coaching................or lack there of. This isnt just Lovie that I'm talking about. This falls on every coach on the team especially the offensive coaches. Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith have said many times that they have the talent needed to win on this roster. But there are some major problems that are lacking with this roster. Either Lovie & Angelo are full of it (entirely possible) or the bears' coaches arent coaching up or getting the best out of the players. Martz has refused to compromise his system to the talent he has on this roster. His offense is running the ball 36% of the time (if you exclude the Carolina game). His offense is not scoring either. Once they get inside the 30, they have shown an inability to put the ball in the endzone. Shouldn't the genius that we were all told Martz was be able to dream up plays to score? Mike Tice's offensive line is a mess. Darell Drake's WRs are running the wrong routes and dropping passes. And Lovie is letting Martz run the offense totally on his own and now looks like a tool because he doesnt know what is going on on that side of the ball. Plus, Lovie is a bad in game coach. He makes terrible challenges (see this week) and is terrible, terrible at managing the clock.

Where now?

I dont know where this team goes now. I think they have the talent to compete and win this division but not the coaches or the system. In an earlier post, I said that if the bears could go into the bye week 5-2 they will be likely to win the division. Now, at 4-3, their record is the same as the packers and their schedule is incredibly tough the 2nd half of the season. Unless there are great giant steps made over this bye week, the bears are staring directly at a .500 record and being left out of the playoffs for the 4th straight year.

Hello, D.J. Moore!

I had to let the bears victory over the cowboys sink in for a while before i wrote this, otherwise it would have been to homerific and optimistic. The Bears won in impressive fashion against the Cowboys yesterday there is no doubt. The real question is how good is this bears team and we should get an indication on next Monday versus the Packers in Soldier Field. Either way the bears have started better than pretty much everyone (including myself) expected them to.

The Good:

- Jay Culter. A couple more games like the first 2 and we will be talking about Culter not just being in the pro bowl but starting it. Honestly, Im not sure Jay could have been more impressive than he was in this game. He made the right reads, he was spot on accurate and he took some nasty hits but got right back up. He looks like the franchise quarterback that everyone has hoped he will be.

- DBs. The bears gave up a lot of passing yards but that show how impressive Zach Bowman, Peanut Tillman and the rest of the crew were in the secondary. When a team throws 51 times you are gonna give up some yards. But DJ Moore had 2 picks and Tillman punched another fumble and this team is all about turnovers. But more so than just turnovers, the cowboys didnt get big plays. Romo checked the ball down a lot and the bears DBs played good coverage so there was no opportunity for good plays.

- Frank Omiyale. I dont particular like the player that "Ole" Omiyale has been with the bears. But he had a spectacular game on sunday. He switched over to the left tackle after Williams went down and he played very well. His play was a big reason why the line settled down after the first 2 series.

The Bad:

- No run game. To be a good team, the bears are gonna have to figure out how to run the ball. They averaged below 3 yards per carry yesterday and that is just not acceptable. I'll give Martz credit, he stuck with the run but he needs to come up with a way of the bears being more effective on the ground.

- The OL's start. After the first 2 series, I was almost hoping they would pull Cutler because he literally was gonna get killed. But to the O-line's credit, they somehow pulled together and had a decent game. They still couldnt block DeMarcus Ware but no one really can. Still I'm sure Jay is waking up today black and blue.

- No sacks. I dont need 12 sacks a game but i would like consistent pressure. Besides Peppers, who was basically double teamed every play, the bears didnt get a lot of pressure on Romo. Toenia and Melton gave some noticeable pass rush push but almost everyone else on the D-line had a subpar game. Tommie Harris may be healthy but he isnt the tommie harris that went to 3 straight pro-bowls anymore. The bears still need to find more consistent pash rush.

The Splendid: Devin Hester and your WRs. They were great all day and made big plays and the right adjustments. Not only did Cutler have maybe his best game as a bear but the WRs might have had their best day as group. This is a dangerous group and I think they can only get better and you will be seeing more run after the catch from this group as defenses become more frighten of getting beat over the top. And how bout that Hester 1-handed TD grab!