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Bears in Five: week 1 @ Green Bay Packers
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Urlacher gave the Bears one good half in 2009 and
that will be all.
Every week after the Bears game I will pick five topics to break the game down. They might be players, plays, stats or anything in between, but they will be the difference makers in the game.
This week with the stomach-punch 21-15 loss to the Green Bay Packers I had some trouble keeping it to five, but the following are the seven individuals whose performance shaped the outcome of the game.
1a) Jay Cutler - If Cutler's intention last night was to eliminate all good-will and remove any benefits of the doubt Bears fans might have given him for a slow start than he succeeded. What he also succeeded in doing is throwing away a strong performance by his defense via four interceptions.
It has been well documented that Cutler has problems with turnovers and that his supreme faith in his arm will lead to some poor decisions. It has been equally well documented that the Bears come into this season with one of the least experienced receiving corps. in the league. The display in Green Bay was the worst possible combination of both as a gambling quarterback and unsure wide receivers lead to a turnover bonanza.
There were some flashes of brightness including two long completions, one to rookie Johnny Knox and the other to Devin Hester, but the dark cloud of turnovers is what will hang over Cutler's regular season debut.
1b) Brian Urlacher - During the first half of last night Brian Urlacher gave Bears fans a glimpse into the past. He played fast and aggressive and was leading a revitalized defense.
This wasn't the 2008 season opener where the Bears took advantage of an out of sync Peyton Manning and young Colts line. This was a defense that looked a lot closer to '05 and '06 and was punishing the Packers, especially Aaron Rodgers who took a shot from Urlacher he will not soon forget.
Then coming out of half time the report was that Urlacher is out with a wrist injury. Now a day later there is confirmation that Urlacher suffered a dislocation and will be out for the remainder of the season. Finally healthy this has to be gut-wrenching for #54.
So now the onus will fall on Hunter Hillenmeyer to fill in and for Lance Briggs and others to pick up where their leader left off. Based on what we saw in Green Bay the Bears can have a dominant defense again.
Based on what they got from Jay Culter they might need it.
2) Nathan Vasher - After all of the preseason hype surrounding Zack Bowman it was surprising to see Vasher get the start opposite Charles Tillman. However, with both Bowman and Tillman missing much or all of the preseason neither was ready for a full game of action so Lovie Smith's decision to go with a rotation was probably for the best.
Unfortunately that left Vasher 1-on-1 with Greg Jennings late in the fourth quarter. Facing 3rd and 1 near midfield -- and knowing they'd be going for it on 4th down anyway -- the Packers decided to take a shot on a play-action pass and struck gold. Replays of the winning Rodgers to Jennings connection showed that Jennings never even put a move on Vasher and instead simply ran right by him.
While Vasher gave a solid if unspectacular effort outside of the obvious blemish, it has become clear that injuries over the last two seasons have sapped Vasher of confidence or ability or both.
3) Patrick Mannelly - As a long snapper in the NFL it is your job not to be noticed. During a long and productive career Mannelly had succeeded in remaining unknown, simply delivering perfect snaps season after season and collecting more than his fair share of tackles.
Then the kind of blunder that will make sure every fan knows his name. Mannelly's ill-fated direct snap to Garrett Wolfe will not be something that is soon forgotten, especially if the Bears fail to make the playoffs and/or finish behind the Packers.
What started as a veteran move -- recognizing rookie Clay Matthews was trying to get off the field -- and attempting to get a free play via a "12-men on the field" penalty turned disastrous when it took too long to get the snap off. Instead of a shot at a first down and at worst a 5 yard penalty and a chance to re-kick the Bears gave up field position and the lead.
None of this should diminish years of work for a player who has long been amongst the best at his position in the NFL but it likely will. People will remember this game and that moment and when someone mentions his name it will be one mistake and not the thousands of perfect snaps that will come to mind.
4) Adewale Ogunleye - When Lovie Smith came on board as head coach in 2004 he immediately said he needed one thing to run his defense - a dominant pass rusher. So Jerry Angelo traded the popular and productive Marty Booker to Miami for Ogunleye who was holding out after leading the AFC with 15 sacks.
During his five years in Chicago Ogunleye has never approached that total and last season became a poster boy of an aging defense on the decline. But after 10 games without recording a sack against Green Bay Wally broke through last night with two sacks and several more hurries and hits on Aaron Rodgers.
With the Bears problems in the secondary compounded by the loss of Brian Urlacher it will be essential that Ogunleye maintain this level of play all season long.
5a) Ron Turner - I have personally gone back and forth on my stance with Turner. During his second stint with the Bears he has been enraging, seemingly unwilling to be creative and happy to settle for hoping turnovers and the Bears defense and special teams will keep them in it.
But last season I began to look at it a different way. With limited personnel Turner valued execution and mismatches over the exciting and exotic. Better to protect the ball and get what you can safely than beat yourself with mistakes.
With the likes of Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton that was understandable.
Now with a franchise quarterback and weapons like Matt Forte, Greg Olsen, and Devin Hester this is an opportunity for Turner to shine. Instead he seemed to become infatuated with his new toy, throwing so often he effectively took Forte out of the game.
To top it off Turner never found an effective way to combat the Packers blitz packages. If he can't get the offense moving against a brand new 3-4 team, what can be expected against the 3-4 standard-bearers the Pittsburgh Steelers next week?
5b) Frank Omiyale - Until the late additions of Orlando Pace and Pisa Tinoisamoa, Frank Omiyale was the Bears biggest free agent signing. He fit in with a new philosophy of finding tackles capable of playing guard and bulking up the offensive line.
In training camp non-partisan observers had it at worst a dead heat between incumbent Josh Beekman and Omiyale, most had the newcomer behind. But despite the Bears claims of competition and the best man winning the job, Beekman was benched in favor of Omiyale's contract.
That decision proved to be a costly one. Omiyale was repeatedly over powered by defensive end Cullen Jenkins and consistently confused on who to pick up among the Packers blitzing linebackers. He was the weak link and a major culprit in the overwhelming pressure Culter faced.
Now comes a test for Turner and Lovie Smith, can they acknowledge a mistake and return Beekman to his rightful place or will fans be forced to watch James Harrison and Co. blow by Omiyale next week?
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