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Ten players who Bears watching vs. Giants
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Tommie Harris will make his 2009 debut tonight.
As the Bears take the field tonight against the New York Giants the hope is that the entire team will build off last week’s game in Buffalo and perform better. But as is often the case the performance of certain players will be more important in building towards long term success.
The following are the 10 players whose performance tonight is most crucial:
1. Tommie Harris – After being held out of the Bills game to protect his knees from the artificial turf #91 will make his 2009 debut tonight. After Jay Cutler there isn’t another player who can impact this team more when playing at a high level.
Harris’ absence was one of the reasons given for the Bears lackluster pass rush against a suspect Bills offensive line. If he’s unable to rejuvenate that rush tonight with his quickness in the middle, there will be serious concern about the defense’s ability to turn around their fortune of the last two seasons.
2. Nathan Vasher – After being one of the premier big play corners in the NFL for the first three years of his career, Vasher has been injured and ineffective for two seasons. Injuries to Zack Bowman and Charles Tillman have afforded him ample opportunity to reestablish himself as a playmaker and someone who can be counted on. So far that opportunity has been wasted.
Tonight Vasher will line up against a Giant’s wide receiver corp. that doesn’t have a dominant player. If he can’t shut down this middling collection of receivers then the Bears can’t have him on the field against the likes of Greg Jennings, Calvin Johnson and Bernard Berrian.
3. Devin Hester – Game one as Jay Cutler’s go-to-guy didn’t exactly go as planned for Hester. While Cutler’s strong arm and Hester’s blazing speed appear to be the perfect match to stretch defenses and rack up the big plays, both players desperately need to be on the same page.
In Buffalo it almost seemed like Cutler force-fed Hester, going to him on 6 of 10 passing attempts. Perhaps playing deeper into the game tonight will provide the opportunity to build a more natural rhythm, because without a consistent Cutler-Hester connection the Bears offense will be grounded.
4. Al Afalava – Last week “The Lava Flow” rewarded the coaching staff’s faith in him with an outstanding performance. Afalava popped out on the screen with aggressive play and some vicious hits.
The longer the Bears are forced to go without Danieal Manning the less likely he is to return as the starting free safety. Continued strong play from Afalava could give Lovie Smith the confidence he needs to start him alongside Kevin Payne and keep Manning at nickleback. Smith has never been afraid to start young players, particularly at safety.
5. Brandon Rideau – Last preseason Rideau torched second and third-string defensive backs. So far in training camp he has been standout performer and someone that Jay Cutler and the coaches have called out by name. However, what Rideau hasn’t done yet is put it together in a game situation against a #1 defense.
The Bears have resisted the urge to bring in a veteran wide receiver to this point because they don’t want to stunt the growth of their younger players, believing they can grow enough to make an impact this year. Rideau is a big part of that confidence they’ve shown so far, but unless he can start to do it when it counts Jerry Angelo may have no choice but to give Marvin Harrison a call.
6. Chris Williams – So far all the reports are that Williams has settled in wonderfully at right tackle and is displaying all the athleticism and technique that had Angelo convinced he could be a dominant player before last year’s draft.
But the Giants defensive line provides an entirely different level of competition than Williams has ever faced before. A strong evening out of Williams could indicate that the Bears offensive line is going to be the strongest in recent memory and one capable of taking over and dominating games like it did back in 2005.
7. Mark Anderson – Since unseating Alex Brown without a competition going into the 2007 season Anderson has not been the same player. Long gone is the dominant 12 sack rookie and in his place is a defensive end reliant completely on speed and far too often simply pushed to the outside.
After Tommie Harris a resurgence of Mark Anderson was then next most important part of getting the Bears pass rush back to where it needs to be. Rod Marinelli and others have had some very positive things to say about his training camp, but he couldn’t get to the quarterback against the Bills back-up offensive linemen. Anderson needs to hit a Giant’s QB tonight.
8. Brett Basanez – Strange to think that the performance of a third string quarterback is important, but after his disaster in Buffalo Basanez is no longer competing with Caleb Haine to back-up Cutler, he is just fighting to stay on the roster.
Carrying only two quarterbacks is something the coaches strongly considered last year until Haine’s play in the preseason made it impossible for them to leave him off the 53 man roster. With tight competition for roster spots at wide receiver, running back, tight end and defensive tackle Bazanez’s roster spot could be put to better use if he can’t start showing some reliability.
9. Brian Urlacher – The old Urlacher seemed to be back against the Bills. ‘Old’ as in the 2005 defensive player of the year, and not ‘old’ as in the apparently breaking down player of last season. He says not having to rehab for once during the offseason made a huge difference and so far he appears to be right.
Urlacher’s unique skill set was at one time set the Bears’ version of the Cover-2 defense apart from many others in the NFL. His sideline to sideline speed and outstanding coverage instincts allowed him to take away so much of the field and provide opportunities for his teammates to make plays. If that player is back it can only be good news for the Bears and fans alike.
10. Jay Cutler – Just because we are all still getting used to this whole “franchise quarterback” thing.
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