What Did You Expect, Bears Fans?

Seriously, that may be the worst title ever, but the fact that so many fans are jumping off the bandwagon after one game, aggravates me to the point of utter disbelief. Sam's going to be posting later about how this loss can be a positive, and the ways in which things can improve (like they have in the past). Right now, I'm going on the offensive (unlike the Bears last night, ha!) because honestly: what did you really believe would happen last night? Back away from the ledge, give the Packers their props, and hit the jump for a reality check.

All the signs were there for the Bears to... well, not completely fail on the offensive end, but to be in a difficult position to come away with a victory. This wasn't going to be an easy win, this was an expected loss on many a person's schedule. Before we get to my main points, though, let's squash some meatballs.

The fact that a loss - 1/16 of our regular season schedule - can blow this place up is, I guess, par for the course as far as the internet goes, but calls to let Cutler walk almost two years in the future? C'mon, that's crazy. Mike Tice is doing the same thing as Mike Martz? Breakdown the film, discuss it with Matt Bowen, then talk to me. (Random player) makes one bad play (i.e. Marshall TD drop) and suddenly he's crap? No, I think not (and Marshall is always high in the drop percentage rankings, so that shouldn't surprise you). What else? Oh, and calling for any coach's head after one loss (heck, two games), that's such a kneejerk reaction I think you kicked yourself in the head.

Back to reality (and if you've made it this far, congrats on not hammering away at me in the comments section... yet), the offense struggled badly last night, and the playcalling and executing were just bad. Everyone failed on offense, hard to see a silver lining except for the fact that its week two and adjustments can and will be made. But the defense was stout; held the Packers to 321 total yards, their lowest regular season total since... 2010 against the Bears, at Lambeau. Yep, that game. And the Packers needed a trick play to score their first touchdown, which should be an applaud for the Packers' special teams and not a groan against the Bears. It was a completely out-of-nowhere call that almost didn't work, but was executing brilliantly by Green Bay. Tip your hat to them, and move on.

As far as expectations for the game, I was actually surprised how many people were predicting a Bears' victory. I know I hoped and rooted for one, but I just didn't see it as a likely outcome.

It was a perfect scenario for a Packers win.

The Packers got to play at home again right after suffering a tough home to a talented 49ers team. Good teams - and the Packers are one - don't start off the season losing their first two home games. The Bears have struggled against the Packers in recent years, going winless in Green Bay since 2007. And, like I said on Tuesday, road teams struggle in Thursday games, in terms of points scored and wins. And if you want to go the intangibles route, a couple of Bears giving the Packers some extra motivation in the form of bulletin board material could have played a role as well.

Cutler has bad games. And can throw a lot of picks.

Cutler threw four picks yesterday. Just like against the Redskins in 2010. Remember his five INT game against the 49ers? Or the last time he threw four picks against the Packers? Sorry, but if you're surprised that Cutler has a bad game and/or throws a bunch of picks in a game, you shouldn't be. It happens. Guess what, it'll happen again. He's a guy who can thread a ball between three defenders, right on the money, for a first down or touchdown. But, in order to do that, he's got to throw into triple coverage. You gotta take the good, take the bad, you take them both and there you have our quarterback.

This offense is in game two of its creation.

While Tice talked in the preseason about how this offense would be more freeing for Cutler and more adaptable, yesterday looked like panic mode where nothing was working and the Bears got away from the basics. I say its a good thing, since it gives Tice and the offense more time to work on it and make some tweaks. Better we stink early in a game we had a small(ish) chance of winning versus getting upset by a team we should have beat. I'm not happy about the loss, but it gives the team an early chance to correct some glaring issues that were displayed. Are we the week one juggernaut that destroyed the Colts? Unlikely. But we're also not the clustermess of an offense that we saw yesterday.

The Bears still have work to do, and this should be their wake up call.

Like Urlacher said after the game, maybe the Bears aren't as good as they thought they were. They definitely have more work to be done. We have an offense that still needs to work out the kinks, and has to find the best way to adapt to situations like last night. The interior of the defense needs to step up, including our young safeties and the all defensive tackles not named Melton. Its okay to have big aspirations and goals, but hopefully the Bears can now see what kind of mountain they actually have in front of them in order to reach their goals.