Tuesday Morning Hangover: Bears Sit Atop NFC

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It don’t matter how you win the game.
A win is a win. And ya know you gotta give credit to Cutler for sticking in there and playin man. He’s a baller.
How bout my boy hester? He’s the real deal man. Ya know ain’t no one do it better than him. As soon as he got the ball i said “He gone” and he was gone.
The Pack played a good game but they still ain’t on the Bears level ya know. We number 1 in the NFC right now, and we ain’t goin down soon. The Giants next. We gonna demolish them. Ain’t no one in the NFC can touch us.

Jennings looks real good so far..

Peppers was unreal last night. I have not seen a Bears defensive performance like that in years.
Jennings just catapulted up the depth chart with his play… that dude had a great night.

My only beef: Mike Ditka needs to call Mike Martz and tell him to put Halas’ QB sneak into the friggin playbook.

because they can’t bear straying from their established narrative.

not because I’m completely sold on the Bears but I don’t see any other team in the NFC (actually, the entire NFL) that is great. Even the Saints could easily be 1-2 at this point.

The Bears players are playing with as much passion and heart as anyone in the league and their stars are playing like stars. Like any NFL team, the health of our key players down the stretch will dictate how far we go as well as if the older players (Kreutz, Urlacher, Peppers), who are playing great right now, can sustain things for 16 games and playoffs.

Lovie has to stop making stupid decisions because it will cost us at some point. That’s the one area where I have to agree with some of the talking heads that we have been “lucky”. The two 4th down calls against the Lions and Packers probably should have us at 1-2 (0-2 in the division) but the bad rule and a great play by Urlacher and Briggs saved Lovie’s stupid a$$ on those. That said, all winning teams have a certain amount of luck go their way, so I don’t begrudge the Bears for that but if Lovie keeps trying to give away points, the luck will run out.

Screw the media. If a team we play makes mistakes and loses, it’s them giving to us. If we win and make mistakes, Oh the humanity, everything was gift wrapped and sitting on platters etc.

Both teams played with a lot of mistakes. We capitalized and won. So if the media claims we only win because we are lucky, oh well. Get the 4 leaf clovers and rub away, I’ll take those “lucky” wins all the way everyday!

Packers FS Nick Collins was seen throwing an unknown object at a Bears’ fan while leaving the field following the Packers’ 20-17 loss.

Fox 6 Sports Milwaukee is reporting that Collins was provoked by a fan who spat his way and called him a racist expletive, promoting Collins to “go crazy” and “attack”. The station reportedly has video of the incident that can’t be shown until Tuesday due to NFL guidelines. Stay tuned for more.

Source is Fox6 Sports – who has video, and will be airing today

• Hester looks like his confidence is back. One near-runback and one TD runback is beautiful. Punter outkicking his coverage is bad news for the punter. Watch if Hester comes out bouncing and skipping like he used to; if that happens, look out NFC.

• How weird is it that Jennings misses the tackle… and is right there for the fumble recovery. Goat to hero on the same play. Oh, props to Urlacher for, you know, forcing the fumble.

• Should we just copy and paste the thread from the Detroit game about Lovie going for it on fourth while trailing?

• Ladies and gentlemen, your leading rusher for the game (Not just Bears, but game): Jay Cutler! (3-37) So unless we’re dragging out the Falcons playbook of Vick and Dunn, can we shelve this idea of “We get off the bus running” for good now?

• I’ve never seen a player dominate a game so completely while doing so little statistically. If only Peppers had some support on the line.

• Aside from Greg Jennings (2 receptions on 6 targets), most receiving targets, if they were targeted, they were catching it: Finley 9-9, Driver 9-11, Jones 5-5 (and one key fumble), Jackson 4-4, Nelson 3-4, Kuhn 2-2… We have to cover better. That’s it.

• Speaking of Kuhn… Kuhn’s a fullback masquerading as a part-time RB cause of the Grant injury… Why are we letting him bash his way down the field for 18 yards?

• Attention Packers Fans. If you have 18 penalties, it does not necessarily mean the refs are out to get you; it means you were badly undisciplined, overly aggressive, and/or randomly throwing the ball forward when you shouldn’t be… Like on a Stanford Band-On-The-Field Lateral Session.

but Cutler looked like last year Cutler. He was constantly forcing the ball downfield. When he threw that pick towards Olsen, he had Knox wide open in the flat. Too many forced throws. That last PI call was a terrible decision by him. You can’t count on that PI being called in that situation. Peppers is unreal. Urlacher was great. Briggs is a hitter. Line is still poor. Can’t run and Cutler was getting killed. It says a lot about the Bears that they don’t play their best football and still win the game. Oh yeah, Hester was great on the returns and completely destroyed Hawk on a block. I can’t remember the play but he was awesome.

If you ask me, it is time for our Chicago Bears to get some respect from the sports media! We beat Dallas, and all you hear is the Cowgirls played bad. Beat the Packers and same thing! Do any of these loads ever consider that the team on the opposite side of the ball may have something to do with the Cowboys or Packers poor performance? I saw several holding calls on Peppers last night that would have been sacks. Maybe these calls are BETTER than the sack?

With Peppers drawing doubles every week… we really need someone to friggin step up and take advantage of the one-on-one’s. Come on Marinelli… you’re supposed to be a pass rush whiz. Get a pass rusher in the there.

Eighteen total penalties!?

Holding calls, false starts, pass interference and the personnel fouls.

VERY undisciplined football and bad technique from the offensive line against the Bears front four rush. Julius Peppers looked the part. How many holding calls did he force? Quick off the edge and had an impact in the run game.

And WHERE O’ WHERE was Tommie Harris last night?

… I smell the end of the myth that is 3-gap technique beast “Tommie Harris” in Chicago.

Prediction (11:56a 9/27/10): 16-13 Bears
Factor?: Front 7 of the Bears will cause two (2) turnovers that put a kibosh on two effective drives by the Packers.

Off by a little on the score, but I KNEW this would be a defensive contest and that a drive-killing turnover would seal the Packers fate.

How good is that!?? haha?

Dude was a aatchup problem wherever he lined up on the field!?

He was on the line and blew up LBs, he was in the “X” and beat NBs down the field, and he was down field in the seam and Safeties couldn’t tackle him. He had his way against the Bears’ Cover 2 defense, but what is more impressive is what he can do running underneath routes

There are so many options you have as an offense when the TE is as dynamic as Finley is in the passing game.

He is a problem! Great game by him!

Sure we’re 3-0 and sit atop the division/ conference, with two of our “biggest” games behind us. However, for as much good as we’ve seen, there’s equally as much to be concerned about.

I’m excited, and impressed a little, that for as bad as we were playing the first half, we went in only down by three. However, some of Jay’s throws throughout the entire game, but especially on that last drive, made me cringe. And playing an undisciplined team (body slam on Forte?) that commits 18 penalties, without a running game, at home, after winning the TO ratio, and only winning by three is definitely concerning.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited… just trying to stay realistic about it. If everyone wants the media to change their minds on this team, we definitely need a statement win on Sunday night.

The Bears came out with their BIG package and had Olsen, Clark, and Malemanuna on the line with Taylor and Forte in the backfield.

They then shifted to show a different look to make the Capers defensive unit “think twice”…

… The Green Bay defense didn’t adjust and TE Desmond Clark was uncovered, had a free release off of the line of scrimmage and just needed a “bit” taken off of the throw from QB Jay Cutler and we are talking about a TD.

Gutsy call, but not a bad one.

when with a lead in the 4th quarter the Bears run the ball down the opponents throat.
However, until then there’s a lot to like about this team. Defense and special teams are pretty darn good. Winning cures a lot of ills. The run game and red zone offense need to improve.

It was the same bad call that happened to Suggs in Baltimore. Further proof of the wussification that’s happening in the NFL.

I find the glaring omission of the poor redzone coverage by urlacher disheartining, yes, he played a good game… but the LB’s weren’t all that solid in coverage, at all. Missing tackles. Yes the pursuit was good… but, jeez, they have to tighten up and tackle.

A-… not so much. B- sounds better to me.

… Did anyone see him doing the Soulja Boy Dance last night?

Hester is one of those players who gets amped for PRIMETIME games.

Think about it?

The Monday Night game against the Cards, The Superbowl, the Playoff game against the Saints!?

He’s a primetime performer.

I had a feeling he was going to break one last night. And, when I saw him “crank dat Soulja Boy” I knew it was going to happen.

I guess the additional head coaches thing is paying even more dividends.

A well-respected blogger came on Waddle & Silvy right now and said that he overheard a report to Rosenbloom before the game that he “wants OUT OF CHICAGO!”

He says that Tommie says he feels disrespected and is not getting enough playing time.

I don’t know how much we can take from that, but Waddle said that he has heard whiffs of things like that as well from Harris.

Y’all made my hubby a very happy man last night. I’m glad to see on of our teams still undefeated. And you made good on my point to the idiot Viqueen fan I ran into over the weekend. Thank you very much :D I’m so looking forward to going to Solider Field at the end of the month for my 1st Bears home game. I’m taking the kiddos to. Keep on the roll. I’ll root for ya until y’all meet the Saints.

He constantly beat double teams and any single coverage he was matched up against.

Both Chris Harris and Earl Bennett had random drug tests today per their twitter accounts. And according to Chris they both passed.

How about a random drug test on Clay Matthews? That dude is on something!

Turn on the radio or turn on the four letter channel and all they are repeating is that the Cowboys lost the game themselves (oh wait, that was the headline last week). I correct myself, the Packers lost the game themselves. But what they are forgetting is that despite the fact that Rodgers is an amazing quarterback (which I have heard so much from them that I would almost rather hear something new about Lebron), the Packers as a team did not work together.

When the O-line is getting beat, what do you do to protect your QB………hold.
When the corners/safeties are getting beat, what do you do……..interfere.
When you only care about putting as much pain on Cutler as possible, what do you do……..helmet to helmet.
When you try to get that first step to block Peppers, what do you do……..false start.
When the corners/safeties are getting beat again, what do you do…..again…..interfere.

As a team, the Packers play was terrible, and that is why the did these ILLEGAL plays, hence all the penalties. Its not as if the penalties appeared on their own. The Packers commited the illegal moves in order to stay in the game. That is what everyone forgets. These weren’t careless mistakes, these were corners saying “Shoot, Hester’s got a couple steps on me and will get this ball if I don’t grab him. Hopefully, the refs wont see.”

I cannot count how many holding penalties were not called on the line. Peppers had them beat all day long but wasn’t getting any calls. It was like the refs didn’t want to call those penalties because they didn’t want to make it look like the game was once sided.

The Bears played a fairly smart game. It was as if they noticed that the Packers had to cheat and told themselves to play as clean a game as they could and maybe the would be served justice.

The Bears played clean, the Packers didn’t and karma kicked in. You take away the dirty game the Packers played and the Bears still would have won.

How could the Packers beat themselves when they blatantly committed penalties that the Bears forced them to commit? Besides the hit to Jay’s head, they were all good or great individual plays made by the men in navy and orange. I believe Pepp caused 4-5 flags himself…so much for stats! Thanks to the refs for not letting the Packers get away with obvious holding, interference, and roughing calls.

Hester- your private plane is ready, and you’re still rediculous (should’ve had two return TDs). A

Peppers- you’re worth every penny, no matter how many sacks you record this year. A+

Cutler- a little erratic, but expected versus one of the best pass defenses in the league. Gets a B- soley on his toughness, and making a few big plays. See Olsen and Knox completions. B-

Urlacher/Briggs- all over the field making tackles again, and came up with the winning turnover by pursuing to the ball. A-

Omiyale- didn’t hear his name much, which is a good thing for a LT. B

Shaffer- solid job holding down RT; I saw a pancake block or two from him. B-

Forte/Taylor- decent job running and catching the ball, but Martz refused to establish a consistant running game (imagine that!). C-

Peanut/Bowman- both were terrible tackling the ball-carrier, and almost as worse in coverage. I thought our CBs strength is sure tackling? Stop trying the strip the ball every play roasted nut, and prevent the extra 5-7 yards! D-

Coaching- I wasn’t upset with him kicking the long FG on the first drive, but again, I’d rather tie the game with the FG at the goaline. It turns out he was redeemed in a big way by the Windy city Flyer. Martz and Tice had their line mostly prepared, especially in the second half. Not enough screens, quick passes, and draws. B-

Tommie Harris- your seat has been taken, and you may never get it back.

Aroma- don’t fret, you’ll see some PT the rest of the year. Just continue to work hard in practice, and learn the slot position better.

—A sloppy win is still a win. Steve Young and other non-believers can just continue to doubt this team, cause that’s the way they/we like it. Go Bears!

The thing people overlook on Cutler’s INTs, to me at least, are that on 2 of the ones that didn’t count he took big hits that didn’t allow him to get enough on the ball. Luckily, those 2 were called off because of penalties. Even if there hadn’t been pass interference of the last one to Bennett, it would have been a lot closer I think than just the guy jumping in and tackling Bennett.

I thought the running game got off to a good start, at one point there was a graphic put up that said we were averaging 5.0 yds/carry. Then we got away from it a little bit (and to some degree rightfully so since were were down 10-0) but then when we came back to it, it was gone. We need to get the ground game going.

http://host.madison.com/sports/football/professional/article_154573a6-cac6-11df-bc62-001cc4c03286.html

Not only isn’t Chicago a fraud, it is the only remaining unbeaten team in the NFC. More important, two of its victories came over teams — Green Bay and Dallas — that were thought to be among the NFC’s elite teams.