Building to The Chicago Bears Strength

It is fairly easy to find the things the Chicago Bears do not do well. In fact, the pro-White Sox media (OK, had to throw this in here…) seems to find many things wrong that the Bears do. But, this is not the worst football team on Earth. Here are a few areas of strength for the Chicago Bears.

Special Teams

Brad Maynard and Robbie Gould are one of the premier kicking duos in football. Both kick in one of the toughest venues in football and do it at a high level. The Bears also have a strong group of returners. The best of all of these dudes is Devin Hester (will the old Devin Hester please stand up). Johnny Knox and Daniel Manning have both proven valuable in this roll as well. The Bears also cover kicks and block very well. Kudos to this group!

Starting Quarterback

Jay Cutler is a gifted quarterback. He has a cannon for an arm and can move out of the pocket. While he made some bad throws last year, he didn’t get much help. With a new system in place and more experience for his wide receivers, Cutler is due for a strong season.

Tight Ends

Finally the curse of Coach Ditka is gone. The Chicago Bears are blessed with good tight ends. While I am not the biggest Greg Olsen fan, he does bring some things to the table. Desmond Clark is a solid tight end and the most valuable of the group is Brandon Manumaleuna. Having this guy will help with the blocking on the offensive line. And when you are not looking, he will slip out and catch a pass.

Linebacker

You have one Hall-of-Famer (Brian Urlacher), one possible Hall-of-Famer (Lance Briggs), and a really solid player (Pisa Tinoisamoa) starting in this group. In addition, there is one solid backup (Nick Roach) and a veteran (Hunter Hillenmeyer) in this group.

In Closing…

I wanted to give us all some good thoughts for the day. It is easy to be negative, but today, its all about the love.

Ah Jonathan’s favorite Bear (cough cough). Can you spell overrated? But I must take off my Greg Olsen hater glasses for a moment and give an unbiased look at the dude. So here we go…

What will his role be???

Even with my hater glasses off, Greg Olsen cannot block. In order to work within the Mike Martz offense a tight end needs to block. But, Olsen can catch passes and has shown some moves in the red zone. So, does this mean that Martz will find a role for the Blond Bomber or will Olsen be a high paid third tight end?

The Verdict…

My guess is that Olsen will be used as a sort of H Back, or a hybrid tight end/full back that is able to get open in shorter underneath routes and once in a while get into the ten to fifteen yard range. He will be a sneaky little third target for Jay Cutler to use when needed. Olsen will be helped by not having to worry about blocking, so perhaps this will allow him to do the things he is good at…making catches. But Olsen is soft and will certainly drop his share of passes and fumble in crucial times in games…crap, my hater glasses are back. It is time for Olsen to stop talking like Tony Gonzalez and play like him. Gee, I am really sorry linebackers are kicking your tail all over the field. I am sorry safeties are all over you on a regular basis…but the great tight ends are able to make plays. So it is enough of the hype…play like your talent indicates!!!

Over the weekend, reports have Terrell Owens out clubbing with Greg Olsen and Jay Cutler. On Terrell Owen’s Twitter page, he indicated that he would like to play with Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears. While beggars cannot be choosers, would Owens be a good fit with this team? Here are my thoughts…

The Good

T.O. has proven to be a play maker in the past. He will get open and make great catches. He also is a good blocker and will give Cutler a legit target at wide receiver. He basically took a year off last season in Buffalo, so there may be some thread left on the tires. He can be a huge difference maker on offense.

The Bad

Teams love getting rid of Owens. He has been considered a cancer to a ball club by many executives and usually leaves teams in worse shape than they were before he got there. He is older and certainly his skills have diminished. Is T.O. at 85% worth the downside?

My Thoughts

This guy is a piece of crap. He always has been and always will be. It is everyone else’s fault but his own. Considering he is a great talent but could only land in Buffalo last season, that should tell people everything he or she needs to know. Now all of this being said, perhaps Owens will have something to prove. He may be willing to keep his mouth shut and play football considering he is at the end of a long and frankly disappointing career. Is it worth it to the Bears??? Well maybe. Give him a contract where he can make a boatload of money for his playing talents and this may be the move of the century. Include in his contract the ability to fine him for every stupid thing he does and that may help too. I am a character guy, and T.O. appears to be anything but that…

The feedback from Jay Cutler and other Bears was quite positive. “Mike (Martz) does a great job of mixing things up and keeping the defense off balance, putting guys in match-ups where they can win.” Cutler said. “It’s exciting. It’s changing. It’s always different.”

It should be noted that Cutler was picked off twice Friday by Brian Urlacher and Zach Bowman, but he also completed some passes to several players including Greg Olsen. I mention this because it has been reported that the Bears were shopping Olsen in the off-season and Martz has not liked tight ends that do not block well in his past positions.

Much has been made about issues of a working relationship between Martz and Cutler. According the coach Lovie Smith, the relationship is solid. “What I hope to see is exactly how it’s been from Day 1,” Smith said. “They have mutual respect for each other. Of course being in the middle, I knew both of the guys, knew that it would be a good fit.”

I know two things for sure. Jay Cutler is a talented quarterback and Mike Martz is a talented coach. If both can work together, this will be an exciting offense. Both guys have bad reputations, so the opportunity for both to prove critics wrong may be strong motivation. Look, going from Ron Turner to Mike Martz is like going from a ham sandwich to a filet mignon. This will only help the Bear’s offense.

Your thoughts please!!!

1. Kevin Butler

How many big kicks did he miss as a Bear? Sure, he got a lot of love because of his tackles on special teams, but for my money Kevin Butler sucked. Plus, his kickoffs were not good.

2. Dave Duerson

Being a Golden Domer and a Chicago Bear usually adds up to someone overrating your talents, and presto…meet Dave Duerson. He was at the right place at the right time, and if Todd Bell would have played in 1985, Duerson would have been a footnote on the history of the Bears.

3. James “Robocop” Thornton

Guy looked like a million bucks and played like a wuss. He could never extend those awesome biceps out to catch passes, and opposing defenders used to love watching his attempts at blocks.

4. Greg Olsen

I know I know, he catches TD passes. But have you seen this pretty boy block? Really…For all the good things he has done he also does plenty of bad ones. To even compare him to Tony Gonzalez is a joke. At least Mike Martz recognized his lack of blocking.

5. Muhsin Mohammed

Man did I hate him…but others picked up on this too…I would scream Moose Sh!t from the stands. He loved blaming everyone else but himself for dropped passes.

6. Thomas Jones

OK, let me preface this by saying that I think he was a good running back. But he was not a great running back. The problem with Jones was that the Bears kept Cedric Benson around instead, and Benson’s lack of development with the team made this move seem like a disaster.

7. Olin Kreutz

He has some positive qualities, but blocking defensive tackles ain’t one of  ‘em. Last season, it was scary watching him screw up snaps and miss defenders trying to kill Cutler. Seriously, how hard is it to snap the darn ball…

8. Tom Thayer & Keith Van Horn

Hilgenberg, Bortz and Covert were awesome linemen, which made up for the two weak links on the offensive line. Thayer has turned a lack of talent in football to a crappy career as a broadcaster. I would love to put Jeff Joniak on this list, but its for players only. Man, it is like listening to Niles North  High School (a shout out to my old school) students broadcasting the game.

9. Steve McMichael

Good player, not a great player. Since he has retired, people have built him up to be a superstar, but he is anything but that. Not taking away from his contributions, but come on, at best a good player.

10. Adewale Ogunleye

Man, for a guy that talked a lot he really never backed it up on the field. Again, good player but nothing to write home about. Since the has not been resigned by the Bears, he is out of the game.

OK your thoughts please…

The Lions go into week five without a win and hope the firing of Matt Millen will produce some positive change. Look for Rudi Johnson and rookie Kevin Smith to split the carries until one shows they can break the Bears defense. Jon Kitna and Calvin Johnson will need to have some big hook ups, if they hope to match up against the Bears.

The Bears are the promising team in this match up and if they can limit the amount of turnovers, they will prevail. Look for Matt Forte to destroy the Lions defense and and possibly have a career day. For the Lions to have any chance, they will need to get the run game going early, which will open up the passing lanes for Kitna.

Lets take a look at how the Bears did, position by position.

Quarterback- 18/34, 199 yrds, 3 td, 2 int- Rating: 3/5

Kyle Orton started off great.  Taking the Bears down the field in three plays, all passing, on their opening drive resulting in a 19-yard pass to Greg Olsen.  Orton would finish with three touchdowns, a career high.  All three touchdowns came in the first half though.  The second half was a different story though.  In the third quarter Orton turned the ball over three times, one interception and two fumbles.  All three turnovers came on three consecutive possessions.  In the end, Orton turned out a pretty good performance, but needs to play like he did the first half more consistently if the Bears are going to make a run at the division.

Running Backs-  26 carries, 78 yrds, 3.0 avg- 6 catches, 43 yards- Rating: 3.5/5

This was not the best rushing performance by the Bears run game, but it did the job.  They picked up yards in key situations.  Matt Forte carried the ball 19 times for just 43 yards.  Kevin Jones spelled him three times for 16 yards.  Devin Hester gained 15 yards on an end around, and Marty Booker picked up three yards on what looked to be a wide receiver option.  Forte continued to be a reliable receiving option for Orton out of the backfield though, as Orton found him five times when he was getting into trouble.  In the end, you would like to see the ground game pick up more yards, but in a game where Orton shined in the first half, the ground game was able to eat away the clock in the fourth quarter.  Forte turned in a total 24 touches for 88 yards.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends- 12 catches, 157 yrds, 3 TDs- Rating: 3.5/5

The Chicago Bears reveiving core looked great as a group, but no one stood out alone.  Hester, Booker and Olsen all caught touch down passes.  Hester also dropped a pass over the middle of the field that would proably have ended in a touchdown.  He redemed himself with a 20 yard grab down the sideline for a second quarter touchdown that put Chicago up 21-14.  Olsen had three catches, and zero turnovers! Booker also got his first touchdown back with the Bears.  Brandon Lloyd, last weeks leading wide out, had two catches for 33 yards before leaving with an injury, which he did not return from.  Besides the dropped catch by Hester, the wide outs performed well.

Defensive Line- 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks – Rating: 4/5

The Chicago Bears were without pro-bowl defensive lineman Tommie Harris and did not have to face pro-bowl running back Brian Westbrook or pro-bowl guard Shaun Andrews.  They held running back Correll Buckhalter to just 66 yards rushing but he averaged 4.1 yards per carry.  The were able to keep Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb on the run though, sacking him 1.5 times.  The line made a huge stop in the fourth quarter though.  As the eagles drove 75 yards down the field with hopes of tying the, the Chicago Bears stopped them at the one yard line on 3 consecutive plays, yielding a turn over on downs.

Linebackers- 11 tackles, 1 sack- Rating: 3.5/5

The Bears linebackers played a great game Sunday, although not putting up huge numbers.  Lance Briggs was continuosly chasing guys around the field, and had two crowed ‘awwing’ hits.  Hunter Hillenmeyer sacked McNabb once, and Brain Urlacher was all over the field as usual, picking up 8 tackles.

Defensive Secondary- 22 tackles, .5 sack, 1 int- Rating 4/5

The Chicago Bears secondary played very well Sunday, allowing the least amount of passing yards and touchdowns by McNabb for the season.  Danieal Manning got into the back field to assist Ogunleye in a sack.  Kevin Payne tied Urlacher for the team lead in sacks with 8 tackles, he also returned an interception for 49 yards, almost scoring a touchdown.  The secondary had a touch time trying to cover speedy rookie DeShawn Jackson who scored the only receiving touchdown for the Eagles.  Charles Tillman left in the fourth quarter after being in obvious pain after missing a tackle.  The Bears secondary was able to prevent any really big plays, something usually tough for the opposing teams to do against the Eagles offense.

Overall Team Rating: 4/5

The Chicago Bears were the clear underdogs against the Eagles, as nobody was really giving them a chance.  The Bears showed early that they were a team that should not be looked over.  The second half play by the Bears offense, mainly Orton,  was clear to why they blew second half leads the last two weeks and are only 2-2.   The defense showed its true character with their goal line stand, which was definitely the focal point of the second half.

While it was first half offense that got the Bears going in week 4, it was traditional Chicago Bears defense that finished of the game in the second half.

The Eagles on the other hand weren’t the same without Westbrook and I’m sure they would contribute his absence to their loss. The starting running back, Correll Buckhalter, had 16 carries for 66 yards and two catches for 24 yards. McNabb threw for 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception. McNabb’s only touchdown went to rookie DeShawn Jackson in the first quarter.

The Bears went into the fourth quarter with the lead and finally managed to hold it. After two huge defensive stops at the goal line, the Bears walked away with a 24 to 20 win. It was a lot closer than many fans would like to have seen, but a win is a win.

The Bears will travel next week to Detroit to face the Millenless Lions.

The last two games have been a big disappointment to Bears fans everywhere. During the last two games against the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears have managed to let a significant lead disappear late in the game. Week two was gut wrenching in week two, but to have the same outcome in week three was heartbreaking.

If the Bears hope to have any chance this Sunday, Kyle Orton can’t afford to make any careless turnovers and Matt forte will need to average over five yards a carry, as in week one. If Chicago can get the run game going, look for Orton to take some chances deep to his favorite receiver Brandon Lloyd and hopefully find his tight ends Greg Olsen and veteran Desmond Clark.

Bears fans should be nervous this week, but hope for a week four turnaround.