The 2011 NFL schedule makers did the Chicago Bears no favors. The first three contests will feature the 2010 NFC South Champion Atlanta Falcons at home, the 2010 Super Champion New Orleans Saints on the road and a home contest with the 2011 Super Champion Green Bay Packers. The Chicago Bears could easily start the season 0-3 and dig themselves into a deep hole. Everyone expects these three squads to be top teams in the NFC, so the Chicago Bears will be tested early. We will know a lot about this team after the first three games.

After a home contest with the Panthers, the Chicago Bears travel to Detroit for a Monday night contest. This is historical because it is the first time since October 8, 2001 that the Detroit Lions will be on the Monday night stage (remember, Detroit hosts a Thanksgiving Day game every year). This will be great for Detroit, but problematic for the Chicago Bears. This game could end up being a nightmare. The Lions are a much-improved football team, and playing on Monday night validates it.

Just because the NFL knows how much I love night games, they’ve decided to bless me with the Vikings at home the following Sunday night. Of course, after that, the Chicago Bears will play at noon in London against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (although this could be kabashed if the Collective Bargaining Agreement isn’t completed before the beginning of August). Just like the three beginning games are going to be difficult, the stretch leading into the bye week isn’t exactly a walk-in-the-park either.

Of course, another Monday night contest awaits the Chicago Bears after the bye week. The Bears will play in Philadelphia against the Eagles. A home contest with the Lions will be the last of the NFC we see for four more weeks. The Chargers will visit Soldier Field followed by a trip to Oakland before beginning December at home with the Chiefs and closing out this stretch in a match-up on-the-road with Denver. While the AFC West is a crazy group of teams, playing at Denver isn’t going to be a pretty scene for Jay Cutler. I am sure they’ll be waiting.

After the Chicago Bears close out the home schedule in a playoff rematch with the Seattle Seahawks, they travel to Green Bay for a Sunday Night contest with the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Night (although this can change if the game becomes meaningless). and a New Years’ Day game with the Minnesota Vikings (although this can change too).

I’m not a schedule ranking expert, but according to ESPN, the Chicago Bears have the 11th toughest schedule in the NFC based on the winning percentage of teams from last season. I would rather use the old eye test. This isn’t an easy schedule. There are many factors including start times and travel that make this even more difficult. While I would like to say the Chicago Bears are a good football team and will overcome this, it sets up to be a difficult season for the Chicago Bears. At this point, and I hope I am wrong, I cannot see the Chicago Bears making the playoffs. There are too many factors that will hurt their chances.

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October opens with Cam Newton’s most-likely team Carolina at home (10/2). The Chicago Bears first Monday night contest will be on the road against the much-improved Detroit Lions (10/10) and then home the following Sunday evening against the Vikings (10/16). The Buccaneers contest (10/23) will be played in London the following week unless the lock-out isn’t over by the beginning of August. If not, it’s Tampa. A bye-week will close out October.

The Bears open November in Philadelphia on Monday night (11/7). The following week will feature a home-rematch with the Lions (11/13). In the next four weeks, the Chicago Bears will play the AFC West portion of the schedule. The Chargers will visit Soldier Field (11/20) and the month will close out in Oakland (11/27).

The Chiefs will open December in Chicago (12/4). The following week will be the regular season homecoming for Jay Cutler in Denver (12/11). Think he’ll be booed? The Chicago Bears will close out the home portion of their schedule against in a playoff rematch against the Seahawks (12/18). The final two games give Chicago Bears fans two holiday division contests. Christmas night will be in Green Bay (although this could change) and then the Chicago Bears will close out in Minnesota on New Years Day.

I know one thing…this will not be an easy schedule. But the Chicago Bears will have a lot to prove on whether or not last season was a fluke.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been picked for this game the last two out of three years. There is good reason for it. They do not draw much in their home stadium and Malcolm Glazer owns part of Manchester United Football Club (a soccer team). Man U plays in the Premier League, which is the NFL of soccer. While the league hasn’t come out and said it, there is speculation that Glazer is considering a move to London. And why not…the wonderful fans of Tampa (with a state of the art facility) do not support the team anyway.

Meanwhile, what Glazer and the NFL  probably isn’t grasping is that this game would be a sell-out in Tampa. Chicago Bears fans travel as well as any team in football. It would be a nice revenue boost for Tampa. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the Buccaneers play the Carolina Panthers or Detroit Lions? Both of these teams aren’t close to the draw that the Chicago Bears are and the English most-likely wouldn’t know the difference anyway.

Let’s look at this another way…The Premier League doesn’t send its teams over here for regular season matches, so why does the NFL feel the need to do the same thing? I am not saying this as a bitter American that loves soccer, I am saying this because the Premier League seems to understand the importance of not disrupting the flow of a season.

You can call me selfish or a nationalist, but I want American Football to play its meaningful games in the United States. Follow the model of the Premier League and do not play games that are meaningful anywhere else but at home.

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Throughout the season, no matter how well the Chicago Bears played, there were many doubters and critics of the team’s success. Trent Dilfer and Bill Cowher regularly hated on this team. And yet, the Chicago Bears kept winning.

Of course, after beating heavy favorites Dallas in week two, the Cowboys weren’t any good despite being a Super Bowl contender. When the Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles and shut down Michael Vick, it was the turf at Soldier Field. A win over the New York Jets was a fluke as well. Might I also remind you that the Chicago Bears defeated the Green Bay Packers in week three and damn near knocked them out of the playoffs. The championship game helped prove how incompetent Lovie Smith can be at times.

Now, I take nothing away from the Green Bay Packers, but if the Chicago Bears actually would have had a respectable backup quarterback, perhaps the Super Bowl would have been a different game. In baseball, there’s always the belief that the baseball finds your worst defender when you’d least like it to…so the same thing happened during the championship game. How could Lovie Smith and company not recognize how horrible Todd Collins was? Why in the world wasn’t this addressed? The baseball found Collins, and the Chicago Bears were left holding their private areas.

Brian Urlacher is a beast. He had one of his best seasons and almost won the championship game for the Chicago Bears. Julius Peppers struck fear in offenses. These two really helped the Chicago Bears become a strong defensive unit. Devin Hester scares every opponent. He’s potentialy a big-play whenever the ball is in his hands.

Jay Cutler had his good and not-so-good moments. He’s a talented quarterback that does make mistakes. Matt Forte established himself as a legitimate NFL halfback. Devin Hester scares every opponent. He’s potentialy a big-play whenever the ball is in his hands.

So looking back on this team, what do I think? I believe that every NFL team that’s successful has a little bit of luck (see Detroit game and Calvin Johnson), some talent, catching opponents at the right time and intangibles. The Chicago Bears were guilty of all-of-the-above. And yet, a few bounces here and there may have been the difference of a trip to the championship game or a high draft pick. It’s always been my belief that good teams create their own breaks, and the Chicago Bears are just that…a good football team.

I enjoyed this season. The Chicago Bears made the final four. With a few tweaks here and there, I do not see any reason why this team couldn’t do it again. But this is the NFL, and things can change very quickly.

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Most gambling experts will tell you that a home team usually gets a three point advantage for being at home. So basically, the Green Bay Packers are almost a touchdown favorite.

Obviously, I’m not naïve. I know that the Green Bay Packers have been many people’s pick throughout the season and the Chicago Bears haven’t been as highly regarded. But, it makes me wonder what I’m missing. Do the experts know something I’ve missed? Are the Green Bay Packers that far superior to the Chicago Bears?

If you look at the two match-ups this season, and I do recognize that the teams have both changed, the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have matched-up fairly evenly. The teams split their regular season games including the finale which meant more to Green Bay than Chicago. And yet, the Bears played a heck of a game losing 10-3.

What’s changed in the three weeks since that affair? Have the Packers taken such huge strides and the Bears gotten worse? I’ll grant you that Aaron Rodgers is playing great football. But, didn’t Jay Cutler play well against Seattle? The Packers have won two games against better teams than Seattle on paper. I’ll argue that the Eagles weren’t that much better than Seahawks at the end. If you look at how the Eagles closed the season, if it weren’t for the Giants screwing up, they weren’t playing very well. This includes a home loss to the Vikings that in the previous week were destroyed by the Bears at home. Against the Packers, the Eagles kept it close. A Michael Vick interception at the end sealed their fate.

The Falcons game was impressive. There’s no doubt about it. Rodgers played a great game. But, the Packers did make some mistakes including a Greg Jennings fumble and gave up a kick return for a touchdown. Let’s also not forget how crappy Matt Ryan played. Granted, the Packers defense was a huge part of his problem, but Ryan’s horribly timed interception at the end of the first half killed the Falcons. Instead of being down seven, he put his team down 14 on a horrible three-yard pass. Again, kudos to the Packers for winning but they were helped by some horrible Ryan decisions.

Let’s turn to the Chicago Bears. All year we hear what this team cannot do. Then what happens? They do what the experts don’t think they’ll be able to do and it falls on the other team. For example, earlier in the season the Chicago Bears played the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas. The Cowboys were a Super Bowl contender and the Bears weren’t. After the Bears won that contest, then of course the Cowboys weren’t any good and the Bears caught them in turmoil. How about the win over the above-mentioned Packers in the next week? It was penalties that cost the Packers according to the experts. What wasn’t mentioned was that the Packers sloppy play led to the penalties.

Now let’s compare the two combatants. The Chicago Bears had a horrible game against the Giants in week four. It has been discussed and thrown in the Bears face since that day. Meanwhile, the Packers lost a critical game to the Lions. Now of course, in both games respectively, the starting quarterbacks were knocked out of the game. In the case of the Packers, they would have won if Rodgers played according to the experts (he wasn’t playing well before he got hurt). For the Chicago Bears, they had no chance of coming back even though they trailed by a touchdown at the time. Keep in mind that the Giants game happened in week four for the Bears and the Lions game happened in week 14 for the Packers. Oh, I failed to mention that the Chicago Bears beat the Lions in the previous week.

In fairness, I need to mention how these teams faired against the New England Patriots. In week 14, the Patriots demolished the Chicago Bears at home. Without a doubt, it was one of the worst games the Chicago Bears played all season. The next week, the Green Bay Packers traveled to New England and played a heck of a game with Matt Flynn at quarterback and lost at the end. While the Packers played an amazing game, a great man once told me there’s no style points in the NFL.

So I’m to believe that since that time the Green Bay Packers went from that team that lost a critical road game to the Lions to a team that is vastly superior to the Chicago Bears based on a loss to New England and the current playoff run. Well, my friends, the national experts feel that way and have crowned the Packers NFC Champions. Who am I to argue?

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Today’s opening game features the surprising Chiefs being visited by the Ravens (never more). Like the Chicago Bears, many experts didn’t think the Chiefs would continue their early season success. The Chargers were always the favorites to win the AFC West but in typical Chargers fashion…didn’t. Meanwhile, the Ravens were projected to be a Super Bowl contender and that could start today.

Ed Reed of the Ravens is dealing with his brother’s disappearance after being involved with a high-speed chase. Reed almost didn’t make the trip to Kansas City. But he did.

I had to turn to my in-house expert (my wife) who likes the Ravens because “their uniforms are cooler”. I’m thinking she’s right on the prediction and I’m indifferent to the uniforms. The Chiefs’ good run ends today.

In the most meaningful match-up of the day from the Chicago Bears standpoint the hated Packers visit the dog killing Eagles (or at least one member of that squad Mr. Mexico oops Vick). The Packers are still being projected by some to win the NFC while no one quite knows what to expect from the Eagles.

Despite the big comeback against the Giants a few weeks earlier, the Eagles haven’t played very well down the stretch cultivated by a Tuesday night loss to the Vikings two weeks earlier. This cost the Eagles any shot at a playoff bye.

Meanwhile, the Packers were in a dog fight (yeah I went there) with the Chicago Bears for the NFC North until the Packers decided to lose at Detroit. The Packers didn’t even know if they were making the playoffs until they beat the Chicago Bears last Sunday. While the game meant nothing to the Bears, Lovie Smith played his starters the whole game. It was a lot closer than the Packers would have liked.

My lovely wife thinks the Eagles will win today because of the home-field advantage, and I’m once again not going to argue. The Packers lack of a consistent running attack and the speed of the Eagles is a lot to handle.

Both teams squared off in week one with the Packers defeating the Eagles at home. This was before Vick was inserted as the starter (he entered because of an injury to Kevin Kolb). The Eagles mounted a comeback in the second half but it wasn’t quite enough. These are different looking teams since that game.

I think the Eagles will be in Chicago next week. Seattle scares me more because they’ve got nothing to lose. That’s a dangerous team. I presented incorrect information in yesterday’s blog when I said Seattle would be in Chicago when they won. They will be here if Green Bay wins which won’t happen. The Jets will travel to the Patriots and the Steelers get the winner of today’s AFC match-up.

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At home, the Bears will play Green Bay, Minnesota, Detroit, Seattle, Falcons, Panthers, Chiefs and Chargers.

On the road, the Bears will face Green Bay, Minnesota, Detroit, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Denver and Oakland.

Get ready for a lot of Sunday/Monday/Thursday night affairs. The Chicago Bears get ratings, and this schedule has some made-for-television drama. It would actually be nice to see the Bears play on Thanksgiving this year. It has been a long time and frankly, I think the powers that be may actually recognize that Detroit is a team on the rise and the Chicago Bears get ratings. Plus, you know the hype on Jay Cutler’s return to Denver for a meaningful game will also be hyped.

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However, I’m really beginning to understand why I hate the Packers and their idiotic fans more and more by the day. They still cannot accept the fact that the Chicago Bears are a better football team. They have more excuses than a cheating spouse. Here are the facts…thre Chicago Bears have more wins, more division wins and have even beaten the Green Bay Packers.

Despite being loved by the national media, the Green Bay Packers failed to win the NFC North and may back into the playoffs. Meanwhile, the doubted Chicago Bears clinched the division before any other team from any other division. Kelso can put that in his pipe and smoke it.

As we all know, the Chicago Bears are the two seed and can still get the one if the Atlanta Falcons lose to the Carolina Panthers at home. So at worst, the Chicago Bears are home in two weeks with a bye.

Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers have to beat the Bears or hope the New York Giants lose to the Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to the New Orleans Saints. 

So the idiots to the north assume that they’ll win tomorrow. However, they won’t. I’m saying the Packers season ends tomorrow. The Giants will be the final wild card team. Then imagine the bitching and excuse making from the Packers fans.

Chicago Bears 34 Green Bay Packers 20

This includes the chance the Bears rest their regulars. How do you like that prediction! I’m spite predicting!

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There’s really not a whole lot to be taken away from today’s game. The Patriots proved why they’re the best team in football. The Chicago Bears just weren’t ready to play.

On a positive note, the Chicago Bears left this game relatively healthy.

More to come on this one. But for now, the sky isn’t falling. The Patriots have been doing this to other good teams too.

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So does this mean it’s a bad win? Not at all…but I wouldn’t be fair if I said it was impressive.

In the first half, the Chicago Bears forgot how to tackle. Lions players were gaining way too many yards after contact. At the end of the first half, the Chicago Bears gave up two long plays leading to a touchdown. The scoring play was an exploited mismatch with DJ Moore covering Calvin Johnson.

While Moore has been solid this year, he isn’t the defensive player I want on Johnson. For those that don’t think Lovie Smith doesn’t show emotions on the sideline, he looked as if he wanted to kill somebody. Moore, to his credit, made some huge plays in the game including a sack of Drew Stanton, a pass break-up on fourth down and several key tackles.

Football is a game of adjustments, and credit needs to go to the coaches. The defense shored things up in the second half. When Jay Cutler fumbled on his own nine yard line on the second play of the half, the defense held the Lions to a field goal. This was the turning point for the defense. From that point forward, they held the Lions scoreless.

Offensively, the line had issues once again. While they were able to move the ball, Cutler took way too many hits. The play selection was consistently even between running and pass, so the commitment to the run didn’t waiver even when playing from behind. I’m a fan of running the damn football.

Earl Bennett is becoming a player. Not only is he catching passes, his blocking is as good as any receiver in the league. Kudos also go to my target Greg Olsen. His blocking was much better yesterday. Once again, Jay Cutler did a solid job of taking what the defense gave him. He made some good throws and was a solid field general. Brandon Manumaleuna finally is showing his value as a blocker. In a new twist he’s becoming a reliable short-yardage guy.

On special teams, kudos to the Lions for containing kickoffs. However, they decided to punt to Devin Hester. He almost broke it. While he just missed setting the all-time punt return for touchdown mark, he gave the Bears good enough field position for Robbie Gould to nail a 54-yard field goal. It was a thing of beauty.

Brad Maynard continued his strong season and consistently put the Lions deep in their own territory. The Chicago Bears had some lapses in tackling on returns, but shored things up as the game moved along.

With the Green Bay Packers winning, the Chicago Bears maintain a one-game lead in the division. The Detroit Lions proved to everyone they’re hoping to play spoiler. With the New England Patriots coming to town this week and the Packers heading to Detroit, this is the week the Packers are hoping to make their move. The Patriots have an emotional game tonight with the Jets, so we’ll know more about the boys from the Boston area tomorrow.

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