The Bears Den: October 30, 2012 - Week 9 News and Notes

Larry Mayer's Chalk Talk - When was the last big fourth-quarter comeback? Why didn't the Bears run the ball more with Forte? Was Cam Newton's fumble recovery eligible for a TD?

Bears’ offense continues to struggle - Bob LeGere: It’s debatable whether Sunday’s victory over Carolina was aesthetic, but there’s no denying the Bears’ offense has not been a thing of beauty through seven games. Not surprisingly, Lovie Smith views the glass as half full. Team report.

Phil Emery’s O-line oversight makes Bears a tough Super Bowl sell - Rick Morrissey: There is one reason the Bears aren’t the powerhouse NFL team they should be. Or there are five. It depends on how you want to assign blame.

Peter King's MMQB - "Of all the defenses in football, none plays offense like Chicago's." Bonus: "Ten Things I Think I Think" #6 (on page 4), talking about the personal foul Conte was flagged for.

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Bears-Panthers

24 Hours Later: Laurence Holmes' Breakdown - It was surprising that the Bears only had 18 called runs against a defense who had struggled stopping the run. They ended up in 2nd & 9 or longer nine times.

Cutler leads Bears to win with strong finish - Larry Mayer with game news and notes.

Bears politely cry foul over calls on Conte, Idonije - Mark Potash: Lovie Smith said he disagreed with personal-foul calls against Conte and Idonije, and doesn’t want his defensive players inhibited by the penalties or possible fines.

ProFootballFocus: Three performances of note - DL depth shows, Tim Jennings' performance wasn't quite as good as advertised, and Forte was running well on limited carries.

[Video] Urlacher talks Bears - #54 joins Lou Canellis to talk about the Bears' last-minute win over the Panthers and the possibility of growing facial hair.

Dan Pompei's grades - O-Linemen were responsible for only two of the six sacks allowed by the Bears during Sunday's victory over the Panthers.

Grizzly Bears and Teddy Bears - Maggie Hendricks' awards for the game.

[Video] CTL discussion - Kaplan gibbers like a baboon. Haugh and Bowen provide analysis. The other guy mutters about how the team have yet to beat a good opponent.

[Video] Fox Chicago Bear Down - Lou Canellis and Hub look back on the Bears' week 8 win over the Panthers.

Free Head Exam: Chicago Bears - Kevin Seifert: It's hard to reconcile a game plan that called for more passes than runs in the first half; should Tillman and Jennings be the NFL's first-team All-Pro CBs?; when will Bennett pass Hester on WR depth chart?

Game notes - Moon Mullin: Cutler has been sacked 10 times over the span of 60 snaps; Izzy's low hit on Cam Newton was unintentional; Nate Collins' first appearance followed Okoye's ankle strain from the Dallas game.

Lovie Smith says Bears not overlooking anyone - Brad Biggs: Lovie Smith said he would start with the fourth quarter when he opened his media conference on Monday afternoon at Halas Hall, skipping over what was three ugly quarters of football Sunday at Soldier Field.

'Hothead' Cutler comes through in clutch...again - It was a tale of two complete different Jay Cutlers on Sunday. The first half Cutler had no answer for the Panthers defense that was trying to get under his skin. Then, Jay went to work in the fourth quarter.

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Other Bears news

Bears 6-1 despite not playing their best football - Kip Lewis: The Bears' problem is one most other teams would love to have.

Bears’ 2nd-half schedule gives offense tough proving ground - Mark Potash: Seven games into the season, the OL still looks like it was assembled in the dark. Is it too early to wonder if the Bears’ oft-promising offense ever will be what it hopes to be?

Bears' schedule gets much tougher after Sunday's game at Tennessee - Brad Biggs: This marks the eighth time since the merger with the AFL in 1970 the Bears have been 6-1 or better through the first seven games, and all the previous occasions, most recently in 2006, led to postseason berths.

NFL midseason grades - Mike Garafolo grades all 32 teams at the season's midpoint. Bears get an A-.

Lovie Smith says Bears not overlooking anyone - Brad Biggs: Lovie Smith said he would start with the fourth quarter when he opened his media conference on Monday afternoon at Halas Hall, skipping over what was three ugly quarters of football Sunday at Soldier Field.

Bears defense scoring TDs in record numbers - Larry Mayer: Not only has the unit broke a franchise record by returning six interceptions for touchdowns, it set the mark in a five-game span.

Could Tim Jennings be in for DPOTY? - Only one CB has been named DPOTY since 1994 (Charles Woodson), and Jennings will have to fend off the Texans' J.J. Watt, but he's certainly in the running.

Cutler and Newton share strange attitude but are having wildly different seasons - And Greg Couch is the dilfiest writer in sports. He's a martzing couchhole.

Cutler is who he is – and he’s not changing - Troy Aikman talks to Mully & Hanley about QB mechanics and different quarterbacking styles.

Allow Jay Cutler to mutter with impunity - Kevin Seifert: Let's assume the worst-case scenario: that Jay Cutler said exactly what it looked like he said as he walked off the field at halftime. So what?

Jay Cutler Show: Jay to rock Movember 'stache - Jay Cutler said Monday he'll join Waddle & Silvy and grow a moustache during November to raise money and awareness to fight cancer and other health issues.

ESPN Chicago Chatwrap - Jeff Dickerson answers Bears fans' questions.

Team notes - Sean Jensen: Tillman didn’t reciprocate Steve Smith's shot; Monday; Bears players' charitable appearances.

Team notes - Brad Biggs: Addition of Brandon Marshall has reduced Matt Forte's touches; Lovie not concerned with Conte's hitting; more team news.

Know thy enemy - Dan Pompei's quick look at the next opponent for the Bears: the Tennessee Titans.

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Polish sausage

NFP Sunday Blitz - Dan Pompei: Tannehill's incredible NFL beginnings; best QB draft classes of all time; plus all the latest NFL talk.

Matt Bowen's playbook - Using All-22 tape to break down the 49ers' 2-back power running schemes and play action game out of 'Tank' personnel. (We'll revisit these in the lead-up to our visit to Candlestick Park.)

Matt Bowen's playbook - How did Crabtree beat Peterson on the fade? Using some screen shots to break down technique.

Know thy enemy: Packers - Kevin Seifert's Rapid Reaction to the Packers' 24-15 win over the MJD-less Jaguars.

Know thy enemy: Packers - Kevin Seifert's Free Head Exam: Fortunate to be facing one of the NFL's worst teams on their bad day when they (Green Bay) neither played well nor with much energy.

Know thy enemy: Lions - Kevin Seifert's Rapid Reaction to the Lions' 28-24 victory over the Seahawks at Ford Field.

Know thy enemy: Lions - Kevin Seifert's Free Head Exam: Is there anything to worry about with Calvin Johnson?

Know thy enemy: Lions - PFF's three performances of note: While the battle between Calvin Johnson and Richard Sherman dominated the Lions vs. Seahawks pregame talk, it was actually Titus Young who swung this game.

Know thy enemy: Lions - Megatron has been a $132M megabust so far: after predicting a record-breaking season, Calvin Johnson has just one TD in seven games. Madden Curse?

Steve Ronkowski's Country-Bluegrass week: "The late, great Townes Van Zandt plays the Stones better than the Stones"