Chicago Bears Review

With the battle between Jay Cutler and Brett Favre this weekend, the comparisons between the two players has been in full force over the course of this week. People are saying that Cutler reminds them of a younger Favre, with the willingness to take big chances and with the arm power that both men possess. This bodes well for Cutler, who could mature into an amazing quarterback over the next few years. He has the power and the willingness to throw tough passes. He just needs helpful people lining up on scrimmage with him and getting everything done. Next year, he will be much better and then each year after that will get even better from there.

Lovie Smith hit it on the head after the close loss to the Eagles this weekend, saying that the team just has to take each game as it comes without getting too far ahead. They can’t start getting dark about their playoff prospects. They play Minnesota this weekend. This will be a rather important pivot point, in which we’ll get to see if the Bears have any chance to make up some ground or if this year just isn’t going to happen. Cutler seems to be having some confidence issues, so hopefully they can get some offensive plays going that will work better for him than the system that he’s been up to. This team looks like it could have a bright future, but there will be some changes in personnel before we get there.

If you thought the 49ers were tough last week, just look at this week’s Sunday night game with the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s been talked about ad nauseum that the Bears have struggled in evening games this year. They have talked about Cutler not having time to pass and about the defensive line working like an open screen door. But don’t forget, this is a team that shut down Pittsburgh in the early stages of the season. They will be able to hit hard and do a great job this week. They need to do some particular things, though. Short passing has been good for them, especially to the tight end position. The running hasn’t been up, but if the offensive line can strengthen a bit, then the offense will be in business. The defense will need to make sure they know their film room information and watch for the same plays to happen again!

The Chicago Bears are looking for answers. Or at the very least, their fans are searching long and hard to find a way to improve their team. The problem is that most of the 2010 draft is lost for them as well, because they made such a big deal with the Broncos to bring in the underachieving Jay Cutler to play for them. Cutler has some good development to do, so we shouldn’t be too concerned about him. But they desperately need some updates on the offensive and defensive lines, as well as some bolstering of their receiver corps. The team will have to find what it needs in the later rounds of the draft or through free agency, though it’s not fully clear that the talent will be available right away. We can always hope, though!

This week has been a rough one for Chicago fans. On Sunday, the team got relatively crushed by Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals. The Cards were able to score touchdowns whenever they needed to. Even after the Bears mounted a comeback, Arizona put Warner back in and he scored on the first drive. Last night, the Bears tried to redeem themselves against the San Francisco 49ers, but were again unsuccessful. This time, though, it wasn’t the defense, but the offense that made the most heinous mistakes. Jay Cutler through 5 interceptions, including 2 in the Red Zone, essentially creating the win for SF. The team also had more yards in penalties than on the rush. A rough day and a rough week for Chicago. Hopefully the 10 day rest before they hit the Philadelphia Eagles will allow things to sound better.

In the Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns, the Bears were able to win. It looks convincing enough, with 30-6 being the final score. But underneath it all there are some tough spots for this team. They were playing the Browns. It’s the offensive and defensive line that we really need to see step up. Poor Cutler was hit 7 times and sacked 4 times. This is no way for him to be able to live up to his potential. A strong player, that’s for sure, but if he can’t get the protection he needs, he can’t make the kinds of throws we would love to see. The defense didn’t have any major gaffes, but they should force the Browns to make mistakes. The special teams, with Gould and Hester especially, were very good. Hopefully they can teach the rest of the team how to play with that kind of pressure against teams like Arizona and Minnesota.

The Bears will take on the Browns this weekend. Unlike last weekend’s “vs Ohio” game against Cincy, the Browns have been sinking for most of the year. The Browns don’t have much of anything this year, so hopefully the Bears will make quick work of it. But our team hasn’t been able to convincingly win as often recently as we might have hoped. We would love to see them blow out an opponent, but we keep getting last minute heroics or small disasters. The game last weekend was, we hope, a fluke that will never be repeated in our lifetimes. The Browns should give this team a chance to actually play their game and get their defense back in motion. We’ll have to see what actually ends up happening.

You know, there’s been a lot said in the last couple of days about the Bears, and there really are no words to describe the 45-10 slamming that the Cincy Bengals gave us on Sunday. That there were no Bears touchdowns until the closing minutes, and that the defense didn’t get a stop until about 4 minutes left in the game tell a lot about how this team is. The team seems to have “on” days and “off” days. Lately, they’ve been having their off days when they have to play. Losing to Atlanta is ok, because Atlanta brings the surprises out. But Cincy? Come on. The Bears are a talented team, but in true form, they seem to have trouble making it real for themselves this year. In the NFC North, you’re not really allowed that kind of leeway this year, since .500 isn’t going to do it. These guys know it, and hopefully they will play their hearts out next week. We hoped for that last time around too, so we’ll just have to see.

The Chicago Bears have decided to add to their quarterback’s contract for the next years. We added 3 years to Jay Cutler’s contract, hopefully ensuring that we’ll have Jay for quite a few more years. It looks very positive for us, even though this year hasn’t been quite as good as we’d hoped. But then again, the NFC North is a tough crew this year, with a stellar Vikings (hard as it is to admit it) and a pretty rugged Green Bay team. That’s why we’re not in first. But Favre wont last 3 more years, far as I can tell. Hopefully Cutler will continue to settle into the division, conference and the team. Cutler has given us some outstanding play, especially during second halves and it’s hard to imagine that he’s not going to improve as time moves forwards.

So let’s say you have a team and you’ve led them all the way to the Red Zone. Do you throw the ball or run it? Do you try a solid play or do you try something new? How about the player you give it to: how about that guy that dropped it twice today already? I don’t completely understand some of the decisions that were made this weekend in Atlanta on offense. And the defense wasn’t able to get the job done the way that they had aimed for. It’s been one of those years that will make fans go crazy, when the team is either really good or just mediocre. The Bears are still trying to get on the same page on some plays, it seems. Let’s hope they can get it back together soon, because the Vikings are looking tough to beat.