Week 2 v. the team america hates

Alright so i dont know if America hates the cowboys. But, they should and I sure do. They are right behind the Packers and Vikings on my hate scale. The Cowboys are coming off a pretty embarrassing loss to the Redskins. They were heavy favorites in the game and their supposedly high power offense did nothing and looked terrible doing it. They might have more questions on the offensive line then the bears do. So, here are the matchups to watch, the keys to the bears success and my hero of the day.

Matchups:

1. Chris Williams v. DeMarcus Ware. All Ware has done is record 11+ sacks in the past 4 years including 20 in '08. All Chris Williams has done is look like shit all preseason and in the first game when going against good pass rushers. No team can block Ware 1 on 1 and hope their QB lives through the game. The bears will double team, cut block and chip with backs and TEs all day but occasionally Ware will be 1 on 1 with Williams. Can Williams do enough to not get Cutler killed?

2. Tommie Harris & Anthony Adams v. the guards of the Cowboys. There is no question that Peppers will provide pressure from the outside he. He is that good that you can count on it every game. But will the huge man that is Leonard Davis, listed at 370, and the rest of the Cowboys huge interior line consume the bears' DTs? If the bears cant get penetration up the middle then the cowboys will run all over the place and with their dynamic passing attack be pretty much unstoppable for the bears D.

3. Devin Hester v. Terrence Newman. This isn't because hester has gotten so much attention this week for only catching 1 catch last week. Its because it seems that other teams deem Hester the bears #1 WR and put their best corner on him. The cowboys bring a lot of pressure and a lot of blitzing with their front 7 so Newman is constantly left 1 on 1 with the other teams top WR. If Hester can beat Newman a couple of times in the game, it will make the cowboys dial down the blitzes and give Cutler more time.

Keys for the Bears:

1. Get off the bus running. The bears ran the ball 31 times last week but only for a 3.3 yd avg. That needs to improve and they need to be able to pick up chucks of yardage on the ground against the 'boys. It will prevent hits on cutler and it will slow down the pass rush. The line must figure out how to run block against a 3-4 defense.

2. Contain Jason Witten. There was no question that last year the bears were vulnerable down the middle and to good TEs. Witten is about as good as they come at TE and he is questioned Romo's favorite target. Urlacher, Briggs and the safeties must locate Witten and not allow him to pick up big chunks of yardage down the middle of the field. Nothing is more disheartening to a defense.

3. Special teams be "special". For years the bears have had one of the best special teams units in the NFL but in week 1, they looked average. I think for the bears to win this game the special teams must come up with a big, momentum changing play, be it a long return or kick block or forced fumble. This is one area where the bears probably have more talent than the cowboys and it needs to show up.

Hero of the day: Johnny Knox. As i said above the cowboys bring a lot of guys on the blitz and leave their corners 1 on 1 with WRs. Knox and Cutler should have a few shots at deep balls in man coverage and Knox can out run any of the 'boys secondary. Look for a big shot over the defense's head and for Knox dancing in the endzone if Cutler can recognize the coverage/blitz and have time to put it up.

Final Score: I think this will be a very close game. A lot closer than the nine points that the cowboys are favored by. In the end, i think it will come down to a score in the 4th quarter to pull ahead and i have no idea which team that will be. I'll take the cowboys just because i think they have too much talent on the offensive side of the ball even though they didnt show it last week.

Cowboys 24, Bears 21

Week 2: Cutler's S.O.S.

It was just the 2nd preseason game. I have to keep reminding myself this. Hopefully, the bears can improve mightly in the 3 weeks before the opener. Here are what I took as the positives (not many) and the causes for concern out of saturday night's game:

Pros

1. The bears 1st teamers outscored the raiders first team 14-13 for one half of football. And this was basically without a kicking game because there didnt have a long snapper. The raiders may not be a great team this year but they will be solid and beating them at half is a positive sign for the bears 1st teamers.

2. Brandon Manumaluena can block and is a huge man. Mike Martz wasnt kidding when he described this guy as a 3rd OT at TE. He cleared the way for the bears running game with some punishing pancake type blocks. Matt Forte also showed us the burst that we all remember from his rookie season. Positive things happen in the running game.

VOTE: How many games will the
BEARS win this season? ---->

3. Julius Peppers is as good as advertised. He didnt tally a sack but he did cause havoc in the backfield on a lot of plays and flashed the ability that the bears are paying 13.5 million for.

Definite concerns

1. Is Orlando Pace still available? For that matter, can someone call John Tait and Rueben Brown back from retirement? Chris Williams, Frank Omiyale and Lance Louis got consistently beat in pass blocking. Williams was the worst offender. He made Cameron Wimbley and his speed rush look like oldschool Lawrence Taylor. But, Omiyale got pushed around on pass blocking as well. The 1st team O-line gave up 5 sacks and had Jay scrambling for his life. Now, some of it was Jay's fault as he failed to step up in the pocket and avoid atleast 2 of the sacks. But still, I'm not sure what the answer is to this O-line problems because i dont think a better option exists on the roster. It seems we must cross our fingers and hope for someone improvement from this young line.

2. Chris Harris can't play free safety. Harris can be a valuable player up in the box and near the line of scrimmage but the bears might be better off with me playing the deep safety. There has to be a better option on the bears roster at free safety than Harris even if Major Wright is hurt. Harris was late getting over and he just doesnt have the range to cover the necessary ground. After the game, he said that the safety spots were interchangeable in this defense but clearly they arent when every pass downfield had him getting there late from his deep coverage. The bears traded him 2 years ago because they knew he didnt have the range for free safety, why do they think he can play it now?

3. Someone has to step up on the defense. The Jason Campbell had too much time in the pocket on most plays, receivers were running down the stems open and raiders RBs were making people miss. Peppers looked good, Urlacher, Tillman and Briggs looked solid. But these are guys we know are going to perform. What will make this a good defense is if someone unknown can step up and make an impact. Tommie Harris had some flashes this game. But, I have pretty much given up on Mark Anderson to anything besides celebrate when his teammates do something good or for Danieal Manning to be anything but a confused athlete. Let's hope Irsael Idonije (who showed some flashes this game), Major Wright or Matt Toeaia (who i think can be a DT ala Chris Zorich) or anther defensive player can step up and become an impact player. Because without that, this defense is just middle of the pack.

Stay tuned for some updates on position battles and who to watch in next week's 3rd preseason game.