In anticipation of this Sunday's match-up between a scruffy-beared quarterback versus a quarterback thrust into action because of untimely injuries, I wanted to look back at another game in which we saw the Neckbeard take on a questionably-prepared quarterback. The last time around, however, Kyle Orton was one of the good guys and Cody Pickett the woefully unprepared opponent. This game was a mixture of horrible mistakes, amazing plays, and some of the worst quarterbacking I have seen on an NFL field, but is a good lesson in how (and how not) to win without a Jay Cutler - or even a Rex Grossman - under center. Travel below the fold to feel nostalgic for Kyle Orton's record-setting rookie season and with the hope that Lovie can recapture some of that 2005 magic against our old pal.

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I vowed to myself sometime right around when B.J. Raji was five yards short of the end zone that I would simply pretend the game never happened. While this approach has helped to preserve the sliver of sanity the Bears haven't already taken from me, with Caleb Hanie once again getting the chance to become the mustached version of Kyle Orton, however, there was just no way around it. We've all heard the "Hanie was able to put us one touchdown short of the Super Bowl" assessment of him, but follow me below the fold to get a breakdown of his strengths, weaknesses, and how Martz handled the change. Onwards!

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Fact: no player in the NFL has ever sacked Michael Vick as many times as Julius Peppers (7).  After years of playing in the same division - Vick with the Falcons and Peppers with the Panthers - they will meet for the second time in their new uniforms.  Just like last year, the match-up will be a featured game, and just like last year, both teams have the same record and win streak going into the game.  While the Eagles made themselves into a so-called "Dream Team" this offseason and the Bears were left to dream of a better team, I think it will be a close one this Sunday.  Follow me below the fold to look back at how the Bears decimated the Eagles by beating them at their own game and how we can do it again this time around.  Onwards!

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For the bye, I wanted to go back... way back.  The earliest footage I have ever seen of a Bears game dates from 1944, featuring highlights of when the 1-2-1 Bears matched up for the second time against the 3-1 Cleveland Rams.  The stakes were already high for the Bears - having already lost to the division leading Green Bay Packers and the second place Rams, another loss would effectively knock them out of playoff contention with the season only half over.  Would Sid Luckman be able to get enough out of his ragtag team to keep in the hunt for a third straight NFL Championship?  And how did that T formation work, anyways?  Follow me below the fold for more than you ever wanted to know about how the game was played 65 years ago.

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An article on ProFootballTalk sparked this idea - mainly because while we all know Matt Forte is carrying our offense, lost in the Martz-Cutler-Offensive Line controversies is just how epic this season has been so far for #22. That being said, this will be the first of my new in-season weekly series updating the WCG community on Forte's race towards 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards. Apache, jump on it.

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We could have had a season much like 1987 if things worked out differently over the summer. Back then, the players were willing to take it beyond bluster: they ended up striking for four weeks during the regular season. While the NFL cancelled its games the first week of the strike, they had management assemble new teams to field for the other three weeks of the strike. Thus the "Spare Bears" came into existence. Thankfully for fans but unfortunately for players, the union eventually caved when its members preferred paychecks to picketing, and football went on somewhat as planned. The toll the time off had on the still-strong 1987 Bears was clear in their first game back after the strike ended, an away game against the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Follow me below the fold to see if Mike Tomczak's and/or Jim McMahon's Bears were able to shake the rust off in time to stave off Steve DeBerg's arial attack.

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Welcome to this week's installment of Tale of the Tape. Since talking about our mastery of Brett Favre since Week 16, 2009 isn't going to do much to tell us about how we can save ourselves from the NFC North basement, I wanted to focus on one man in particular: Adrian Peterson. As a rookie, he ran all over the Bears, but we've done progressively better since. In the game we played against the Vikings at home last year, we held Peterson to a mere 51 yards on 17 carries, a statistic that is even more impressive considering he gained 20 yards on his second run, 19 yards on the next 15 attempts, and was only able to get to 51 with a 10 yard run in garbage time. How did we do it? Follow me below the fold, where I will break down every single run and look at how we can continue to achieve success against Peterson's one-man offense.

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I took a pass on looking back at last year's match-ups against the Packers, but last season's outings against the Lions are worth digging up the tape for. Not because they were great games for the Bears - or even good ones, for that matter - but because we knew just what type of season it would be for us after our Week 1 game against Detroit. The defense? Amazing. The offense? Inconsistent. Lovie Smith and Mike Martz's coaching? Equal parts genius and idiocy. Follow me below the fold to remember the absurdity that was Detroit at Chicago last season and see the type of plays the Bears used to squeak out a win despite their best efforts to do otherwise.

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