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The Bears Den: September 11, 2012 - Week 2 News and Notes

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"...where we hope to be slightly more intelligent than the 9% of people who voted 'I can yell if I want' on CSNChicago's crowd noise poll."

Larry Mayer's Chalk Talk - On how Rodriguez fared, and the last time a Bears offense put up 40 points.

Jay Cutler embraced the audible against Colts - Highlights from the hour-long Jay Cutler Show. [Audio] You listen!

USAToday team report - You read!

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Game reaction & analysis

Bears 41, Colts 21: SBN's Critical Reassessment - The Bears started the 2012 season with a blowout win over the Colts on Sunday at Soldier Field. SBN Chicago's Ricky O'Donnell thinks it was the perfect debut.

Brad Biggs: 10 thoughts - Biggs shares ten thoughts after the Bears' 41-21 drubbing of the Colts.

Laurence Holmes' breakdown: 24 hours later - Laurence Holmes' mental and emotional collapse thoughts on the game.

ProFootballFocus: Colts @ Bears, Week 1 - Three points of note for each team's first game. Even Webb played well!

Chicago Bears Stock Watch - Michael C. Wright: Brandon Marshall is a game-changer; who else is rising and whose is falling?

Bears still have much to prove, plus 10 observations - Mark Potash: Bears did things against the Colts they haven’t done against anybody in recent years.

Tape review: J'Marcus Webb grows up in season opener - Dan Pompei: Webb had double-team help on only four the Bears' last 29 dropbacks, and he kept his quarterback clean all day. Plus, grades for position groups. Pat Mannelly needs his own grade (11/10, A+ for Awesome).

Monday playbook: Ten things we learned - "The Bears' offense might be their best in years. Since 2000, Chicago's offense has been ranked in the top half of the league in yardage only once. The Bears' 428 yards Sunday are the fifth-most in Week 1 so far."

Free Head Exam: Chicago Bears - Kevin Seifert's three issues that merit further examination in the wake of Bears-Colts.

[Video] CTL reflects on Bears win - Kaplan, Haugh, Bowen also look ahead to Packers.

Play of the game in slo-mo - Dan Pompei: J.T. Thomas forces fumble on kickoff return and Kelvin Hayden recovers.

All according to plan for Bears - Jim Miller: As talented and deep as the team is, you have to have backbone, toughness and want to dominate your opponent every Sunday. Chicago did just that and almost looked effortless doing it versus the Colts.

Bears prove offense can be ‘explosive’ - Brad Biggs joins Mully & Hanley to discuss how the Bears' offense lived up to the hype. Worth checking the [Audio].

How does 2012 Bears offense stack up to the '06 squad? - David Kaplan takes a look at how this year's Bears offense stacks up to the 2006 squad that took Chicago to the Super Bowl.

Forte, Urlacher not pleased with limited playing time - National media attempt to overblow something even the local media aren't too worried about. (Jeff Dickerson was on Waddle & Silvy and said Forte's comment, which he heard in person, was a non-issue.)

Grizzly Bears and Teddy Bears from Bears opening win - I didn't make this title up. It's Maggie Hendricks, whose Bears Bites linkdumps contain a maximum of 5-6 items. One of today's links is to J-Webb on facebook. Seriously.

Injury & roster news

Chris Conte fights through shoulder issue - Jeff Dickerson: It was difficult to tell that Chris Conte wore a shoulder harness under his pads to protect his right shoulder from popping out of place in the Bears' rout over the Colts.

Kelvin Hayden steps in for Charles Tillman - Jeff Dickerson: On more than one occasion in training camp Lovie Smith said he believed the Bears had "three starting CBs" on the roster.

Bears waive Quigley, sign OT Scott - Jeff Dickerson: The team released punter Ryan Quigley; signed OT Jonathan Scott; and made a couple of practice squad moves. Also sign Patrick Trahan to PS.

Bears add Scott, Collins to roster - Larry Mayer with Bears' roster moves.

Bears continue adding "starters" as backups to strengthen lines - Moon Mullin: Scott, Collins added to 53-man roster.

Tillman, Urlacher are question marks for Thursday - Vaughn McClure with injury updates and roster moves.

Bears relatively healthy after win - Michael C. Wright: Team would have held out Tillman, Urlacher, Adams, and worked out Webb in a limited capacity, had there been practice.

Other Bears news

Lovie’s Monday presser - Lovie didn't rule Tillman out of Thursday's game at GB, reiterated Cutler's plea for the fans to be quiet when the offense are lining up, praised Melton and Jennings, and... talked about Peppers at safety?

Jay Cutler tells Bears fans to quiet down in red zone - Stood by his comments on "The Jay Cutler Show": "If we're going to have the ability to [audible], the stadium has to be quiet for everyone to hear and for us to all be on the same page."

Smith wants crowd to keep quiet on offense - "Of course, we would love for you to cheer right after the play. But in between, when we’re trying to communicate, yes, we definitely need them to be quiet then."

Bears shouldn't have to ask for quiet on "O" - Moon Mullin: The head-shaker wasn’t that the home QB waved his extended arms downward for toning down the noise, but that the hometown fans got louder when Cutler asked for quiet.

Phil Simms: Brandon Marshall is a beast - The notion of having a true, No. 1 wide receiver wearing a Bears jersey on Sundays still may be foreign to some fans. [Audio] on Mully & Hanley.

Bears' McClellin a work in progress - Fred Mitchell: Experienced mixed results in his NFL debut.

Henry Melton wants to build on strong start - Brad Biggs: Henry Melton has this opening weekend thing down. It is what he does moving forward that can make a difference for the defense and his future.

Bears DL out to prove Julius Peppers not lone star - Joe Cowley: Besides a deeper rotation, the Bears will continue interchanging positions to mess with OLs and take advantage of certain matchups. That means Peppers can play his outside spot one play, then move to the inside for a few plays.

Dionne Miller's 'From the Press Box' - Sept 10 and 'Happenings at Halas' - Sept 10 - Something about unisex toilets at Halas Hall.

Looking ahead to Packers

iPads helping Bears prepare for Packers in short week - Adam Hoge: Players had Sunday’s film by the time they got home from the game.

Foe familiarity helps with quick turnaround - Michael C. Wright: Universal positive seen in the 4-day turnaround is the familiarity of the opponent.

[Video] Kip Lewis & Moon Mullin - Preview Bears-Packers; Moon cautious about over-praising Webb, noting Bears have been lucky with opposing pass rusher injuries.

Two key areas Bears must prepare for during short week - Kip Lewis: mental preparation and the physical aspect, specifically dealing with the recovery from the last game and being fresh for Thursday night.

With Packers next, this short week is long on buzz - Sean Jensen: Bears may have an edge because there’s so little information on the Bears’ Mike Tice-led offense.

Breaking down Bears' opponents week-by-week - Moon Mullin breaks down each Bears' opponent week-by-week this season and recaps how they fared during their season opener on Sunday.

Everything else

Peter Kings' MMQB - A look around the league.

The sad state of offensive line play - Dan Pompei: As I went through my tour of training camps, it struck me how one theme was constant wherever I went: OL play is a concern. Every team had some sort of issue up front on offense. I don’t believe there is a coaching staff in the league that is completely comfortable with its OL.

Know thy enemy - Lions 27, Rams 23. Fairley and Suh each registered a sack, Titus Young maintained Lions' recent tradition of poor discipline and immaturity.

Know thy enemy - Vikings 26, Jaguars 23 (OT). Kevin Seifert: The Vikings won't argue with being over .500 for the first time in three seasons. Seifert's Free Head Exam: Three things that merit further consideration.

Know thy enemy - 49ers 30, Packers 22. Kevin Seifert: Packers were outmuscled and outmaneuvered for most of this game.

Seifert's Free Head Exam: Three things that merit further consideration for the Lions, Vikings, Packers.

Know thy enemy - Kevin Seifert on the Packers's loss: Bad matchup or warning sign?

Know thy enemy - WR Randall Cobb has gone from mostly a return man -- and a good one -- to a receiving threat in the Packers' potent offense.

Know thy enemy - Dan Pompei: What comes naturally to Aaron Rodgers is connecting with teammates. Even early in his career, he would invite teammates to his house for social events because he knew there was a value in bonding.

[Video] Woman falls off stripper pole at Bears tailgate - Stripper poles at NFL games? Now, there's a way to get fans back in.....

Is that youuu baby, or just a brilllliant disguiiiiiiuise?