Jay Cutler has officially been cleared to play, and he could not have come back at a better time against an inferior pass defense in the Seattle Seahawks. The main objective for this Bears offense is to keep Jay upright and give him a clean pocket to step into and deliver the throw. Yes Seattle is the second worst passing defense in the league, but what good is that if you are allowing 300 pound defensive lineman to sit on your QB's head. Bears fans will like to see this passing offense get back on track after struggling in back to back games against the Giants and Panthers. The line will need to put an emphasis on keeping Jay up right and the receivers will need to help out the line and their QB by quickly getting open downfield.
This Sunday, the Bears will throw out their 6th different line group with Chris Williams making his debut at LG. Can the line finally get it together and establish stability (they desperately need it), and can the receivers help out the line by getting open more consistently downfield? We will see if Jay can bounce back from one of his worst performances of his career this Sunday.
LT Frank Omiyale vs. RE Red Bryant
Omiyale has graded out pretty good at LT, so much so that Chris Williams might be getting moved inside to LG (love this move by the way). Red Bryant's combination of mobility and size might make it a tough afternoon for Frankie-O. What Omiyale has to do is use his length and athleticism to his advantage against an unpolished pass rusher like Bryant. Tough match-up for Omiyale, and after bringing back memories of Qusim Mitchell in the New York Giants game, he needs a bounce back performance in the pass blocking department.
LG Chris Williams vs. DT Colin Cole
So supposedly we will see Williams play LG for the first time this Sunday in a move where Tice and Martz want to get their best 5 lineman on the field. The last time Williams played LG was in his sophomore year at Vanderbilt. In a game where the Bears will need to lean a lot on their pass blocking (Seahawks ranked 2nd in rush defense) the Bears might need Williams' lateral quickness and good hand placement to hold up against Cole and Balmer. Tice can come off looking good if Williams is a success this Sunday.
C Olin Kreutz
Seattle likes to blitz and it will be Kreutz's job to diagnose them. I really don't have any worries with Kreutz because if I had to single out which lineman I have the most confidence in, it would be him. If Edwin and Chris can hold up their blocks, Olin's Sunday should be easy.
RG Edwin Williams vs. NT Brandon Mebane
Edwin Williams is still a mystery to me as a pass blocker. Yes he showed me last Sunday that he's pretty strong in the run blocking department, but if he has a solid performance pass blocking this Sunday we might have something here. Mebane hasn't been all that stellar playing the under tackle position for the Seahawks, so this might be a game where Williams can build some confidence going forward.
RT J'Marcus Webb vs. LE Chris Clemons
Did anyone think that Webb would see any time this season? I knew that he would be a tackle of the future for the Bears, but I didn't expect that era to start in year 1. Maybe the early experience will help him in the long run, but this Sunday he will see a tight end at times line up next to him. Clemons has been pretty good posting 2 sack games in back to back games. I expect the Bears to use Webb's size to run both Forte and Taylor to his side against a not so good run defender.
Bears Wide Receivers vs. Seattle Cornerbacks
Ranking 31st against the pass, Seattle will see a big dose of Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Devin Aromashodu. The Bears need to get their passing game back on track and facing the second worst pass defense in the league might be the perfect medicine. If he plays, Marcus Trufant is their most established receiver, so I expect Jay to target Kelly Jennings more often in this game because not only is he the weak link in that group, his best receiver will be lined up across from him more often. This can be a game where Earl Bennett is also targeted a lot going up against a good and talented, but inexperienced, corner in Walter Thurmond.
Running backs and Greg Olsen vs. Seattle Line Backers (Aaron Curry, Lofa Tatupu, David Hawthorne)
Matt Forte and Chester Taylor could see a lot of touches out of the backfield because Seattle likes to send their linebackers on a lot of different blitzes to create pressure. That's one of the main reason they have a big defensive line to keep opposing offensive lineman off of their line backers. Seattle has rangy line backers that drop back in zone and also cover most backs and tight ends man to man very well. Greg Olsen is the only tight end that Seattle has to account for in the receiving game, but he can definitely exploit them in the receiving game.