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The Bears Den: October 15, 2014 - Chicago Bears week 7 news & notes

You shall not pass! Prepare to eat dirt.

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Scott Cunningham

Larry Mayer's Chalk Talk - Larry discusses if Marquess Wilson is on schedule to return after the bye week, if Brock Vereen has moved ahead of Danny McCray on the depth chart, and whether Chris Conte is in jeopardy of losing his starting job.

Lunch With Larry - Q: Will the Bears ever fire Tucker? The defense has been horrible since he took over. LM: /facepalm.

Four key reasons why the Bears look better - Bob LeGere: Aside from winning for the third time in four road games on Sunday, the Bears had several other significant takeaways from their victory over the Falcons.

Follow WCG on Twitter; like us on Facebook (& click on 'Subscribed to'). Boom shakalaka. Check out David "OSS" Taylor's CheekyMonkeyArt prints and t-shirts. Den pic in hi-res.

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Previewing Bears-Dolphins

Game preview - James Neveau: The Bears will look for their first home win of the season when they take on the Dolphins on Sunday.

Game preview - Steve Silverman with a look at how the teams stack up.

[Video] ESPN - Jeff Dickerson looks ahead to the Bears' Week 7 matchup against the Dolphins.

Know thy enemy - Chris Boden: The Dolphins come to Soldier Field on the back of some questionable coaching decisions in a last-gasp loss to the Packers.

Joniak’s Journal - Darryl Sharpton could prove to be a valuable in-season addition; Kyle Fuller one of the league's premier first-year defenders; Cameron Wake a significant challenge for Jordan Mills; scouting Ryan Tannehill.

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Chicago Bears 27, Atlanta Falcons 13

Game review - Laurence Holmes' 24 Hours Later blog: Bears played a smart, physical game with an array of backups on defense and walked out with their third road victory in four tries.

Game review - Adam Hoge with an X&Os look at trap play that led to Matt Forte's second TD; also, highest- and lowest-graded Bears, and thoughts from the game.

Game review - Dan Wiederer: How Bears can build on the TD that sealed Sunday's win in Atlanta, and what does their week 6 win really mean in the big picture?

Game review - Rich Campbell with three things we learned about the Bears from their week 6 victory over the Falcons. Is Matt Forte having a Hall of Fame career?

What Falcons' chicken wideouts told us about Bears - Steve Rosenbloom: If what’s left of the Bears secondary can gain some traction as a unit that will not just stick you but also hurt you, then Mel Tucker has reached the bonus round. Fred Mitchell: Charles Tillman considers Kyle Fuller 'up-and-coming star'.

Cutler Watch - Kevin Seifert: Matt Forte's rushing and short receptions opened up play-action for Jay Cutler, who completed 10 of 13 such throws for 174 yards and a TD.

Game grades - Jeff Dickerson's stock watch: Finally healthy, Stephen Paea is looking like the player the Bears thought they were getting when they traded up in the draft to get him in 2011.

Game grades - Is-Hub Arkush: With their backs very much against the wall, the Bears stepped up and played their best game of the season in all phases.

Game grades - James Neveau: Offense and Defense continued to shine, but the special teams unit is docked points once again.

Game review - Michael C. Wright's weekly look at what the Bears must fix: pass protection must hold up for Jay Cutler to be able to take vertical shots downfield and open up the field underneath.

X&Os - Hub-or-not-Hub.com's All-22 Slideshow from Bears-Falcons.

[Video] ChicagoBears.com - Tom Thayer breaks down a few key plays by Darryl Sharpton from Sunday's win over the Falcons.

[Video] SportsTalk Live - Bears save their season - for now - in Atlanta. [KAPCON: 5]

[Video] SportsTalk Live - Mel Tucker deserves credit. [KAPCON: 5]

[Video] Inside the Huddle - Jon Bostic breaks down Jared Allen's key sack.

[Video] SportsTalk Live - Bears fans crash Atlanta. [KAPCON: 5]

Game review - ChicagoBears.com with what national publications had to say about the Bears' win over the Falcons in Atlanta.

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Bearsss

Dolphins discard Michael Ola coming up aces for Bears - Mike Mulligan: The Dolphins' mistake in cutting Michael Ola has been a godsend for the beat-up Bears O-line.

Bears' offense taking Matt Forte places he’s never been - Moon Mullin: Arguably the single biggest impact of Marc Trestman has been on Matt Forte, now arguably one of the top three offensive threats in the NFL.

[Video] SportsTalk Live - Matt Forte as underrated as they come. [KAPCON: 5]

Main reason for Bears’ young LB’s success is pretty basic - Moon Mullin: This time last year the defense was nosing over and going into its death spiral, with Landon Cohen and Corey Wootton starting at DT.

[Video] - Adam Jahns on performance of Bears' backup LBs.

Even in victory, Cutler can’t win - Tim Baffoe: It shows a sad collective pathology when even in victory, there’s a part of writers, talkers and fans who wish the worst for Cutler just to validate the solidified opinion they already have of him.

Team notes - Larry Mayer: Trestman optimistic Jermon Bushrod will play; Falcons OC admits to having to use silent count; Matt Forte leads all RBs in receptions since entering the league; Jay Cutler's creative throwaway to avoid being sacked.

Team notes - Rich Campbell: Bears sticking with Chris Conte despite mounting injuries; Marc Trestman on Jordan Mill's struggles in Georgia Dome; Terrell Manning re-signed to PS.

[Video] SportsTalk Live - Are the Bears improving? [KAPCON: 5]

[Audio] - Ryan Mundy: I've been doing a good job trying to play within the rules.

Photos - ChicagoBears.com: The Bears win over the Falcons on Sunday was the 750th in the franchise's history, including postseason. Here are the all-time records of the 10 winningest teams in league history.

[Video] Inside the Bears - D.J. Williams, Brandon Marshall and Tim Jennings empty out their closets and donate their clothes and Chicago Bears gear to deserving area kids.

[Video] Inside the Bears - Anthony Adams and Ego Ferguson go for a ride in "Big Guys in Compact Cars." Ferguson talks about his nicknames and tries to help Anthony drive a stick shift.

[Video] Inside the Bears - Former Bears WR Brian Baschnagel is one of the NFL's Fashion Police - on site inspectors who report violations of uniform rules to the league office.

Ex-Bear news - Mark Fainaru-Wada, Steve Fainaru: The family of Dave Duerson, who committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest to preserve his brain for study, filed an objection to the NFL concussion settlement Tuesday.

Ex-Bear news - Fred Mitchell: Whatever happened to Al Harris, the Bear who turned his back on the Super Bowl?

Ex-Bear head coach news - Is-Hub Arkush catches up with the former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt to reflect on his memories in Chicago.

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Ditka

Ditka - Da Coach shares his thoughts on Matt Forte, Jerry Angelo, how to get the team in sync, and whether Lance Briggs is done.

Check WCGer Sackman's selection of Bears-themed tops here, or some t-shirt designs here.

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Polish sausage

Jack Bechta: The Agent's Journal - A typical schedule for an agent visiting a city for a game weekend.

NFL Health & Safety - Jenny Vrentas: ‘Dings,’ ‘bell-ringers’ ... regardless of what they’re called, a new Harvard study reveals that potential concussions are being ignored at the line of scrimmage.

Know thy enemy: Packers - Rob Demovsky's thoughts on the Packers' 27-24 win over the Dolphins on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium ... Read-option continues to trouble defense.

Know thy enemy: Vikings - Ben Goessling with a few thoughts on the Vikings' 17-3 loss to the Lions at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday ... Running game needs to be more consistent ... Pass protection needs to improve ... Brian HallO-line changes possible.

Know thy enemy: Lions - Michael Rothstein: The Lions made eight sacks Sunday in a 17-3 victory, the most by a Lions team since Nov. 23, 1997 ... Kicking issues continue with Prater ... Stafford on pace for 56 sacks.

The NFC North could be in for a major shakeup - Jason B. Hirschhorn: Adrian Peterson, Ndamukong Suh, and Calvin Johnson could all be gone from their teams by the 2016 season.

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Turret's gonna getcha!