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Three things about the Bears
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If Matt Forte is ever going to break out it needs to be
this week against the Seahawks
I am trying a new way of breaking down the week that’s passed and the week ahead.
In every NFL game and with every team there are certain moments and things you should remember, things you wish you could forget, and questions that remain unanswered. So under those three headers I will look at three topics.
Here are 3 things about the Bears during week 3 of the NFL season:
To remember....
Cutler to Hester on 3rd and 4 - Since the Bears acquisition of Jay Cutler no group of players has been more criticized than the receivers and of those receivers no individual player took more heat than Devin Hester.
Hester has been accused of not being on the same page as Cutler and given much of the blame for their preseason disconnect. Then a week 1 four catch 91 yard performance was washed out with a loss so
Hester's 5 yard reception late in the fourth quarter against the Steelers is one fans should remember.
It might seem like an odd thing to remember but it was an important play in helping get the offense into field goal range for the winning score. It also showed both Hester's evolution as a receiver to find the hole in the zone and make the catch. And perhaps most importantly it showed Cutler's confidence in Hester to go to him in a big moment.
There are sure to be many longer and flashier Cutler to Hester connections but remember this one as a part of that foundation.
Gould game winning field goal - Often because there never really is much to critique about the Bears special teams it's Robbie Gould who ends up under fire for never having hit a field goal of over 50 yards.
But any time someone mentions that in the future think of the way Jeff Reed hooked two fourth quarter field goals wide left and the confidence you had when Gould took the field for the Bears. The guy seemingly never misses, especially with the game on the line.
Go back and look at the sideline before that kick with Cutler biting on a towel nervous but everyone else on the Bears cool and confident. They'd all seen the movie before; they knew how it was going to end and Cutler's going to learn as well.
So whenever you get angry about the Bears punting instead of trying a long field goal or want to complain that Gould doesn't have enough length on his kickoffs, remember how you felt when Gould took the field for that game winner.
Pass rush hasn't been tested - As exciting as it has been to watch the Bears defensive line get after the quarterback this season -- with Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye each tallying two sacks earlier in the year -- it's important to remember the Bears have done this against below average offensive lines.
So while the early return on Rod Marinelli's work is a very positive one and played in a key role in the Bears #5 ranking in total defense it's difficult to get a handle on just how much of a difference he's made. The Bears have beaten up on two bad offensive lines, but that's what they are supposed to do.
If their defense is really going to elevate itself back among the elite it will need to get this same production against much improved competition. Unfortunately over the next two weeks we still won't have a good gauge given the injuries along the Seahawks offensive line and the general terrible nature of the line in Detroit.
Make sure not to forget about this during the bye week and let the early season defensive line performance over-inflate your confidence. This group still has not been tested.
To forget....
Bowman was on the field - Forgetting thing doesn't necessarily mean they are bad. Honestly who even noticed that Zack Bowman was on the field last Sunday? If you weren't out there looking for him there was no obvious moment that made him stand out, certainly not like what happened with Charles Tillman.
Bowman wasn't giving up big plays and wasn't being targeted by Big Ben and the Steelers. To get that kind of performance out of a second year player making his first career start would be huge for the Bears.
Leaving Nathan Vasher in man coverage certainly proved to be disastrous up in Green Bay and that ties Lovie Smith's hands as a play caller and forces him to rely more on zone and specifically the Cover-2. That kind of predictability is dangerous and leads to the defensive problems the Bears have had over the last two seasons.
Forgetting about Bowman demonstrates that he has vastly superior man coverage skills to Vahser and should give Lovie a lot more flexibility with his defense for the rest of the season.
Anderson's personal foul - What was Mark Anderson thinking?
Not only does he stick out like a sore thumb to fans as being the defensive end without two sacks, but to be so selfish as to cost his team 15 yards in a crucial situation just to shove a guy back is inexcusable.
Had that play and the touchdown that resulted from that drive cost the Bears the game it undoubtedly would've been compared to Tillman's penalty last year against the Bucs. The difference is that Tillman was stepping in for a teammate who was more or less being assaulted and got caught as the second guy, while Anderson was only out for himself.
So hopefully now that it didn't cost the team anything we can leave it in the past and Anderson can get in the sack column this Sunday, but it was almost disastrous.
Cutler's 1st half vs. GB - Jay Cutler's play in the fourth quarter was like the clearing of the storm. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and the world looked new and beautiful. It was a wonderful experience that made you forget the horror and the terror of the storm that had been raging outside and threatening to destroy everything in its path.
Cutler's first half against the Packers was that storm. It rocked our perceptions and confidence and provided a stiff reminder that this was not guarunteed to be a smooth ride. And then he after a much better second half and an overall outstanding game against the Steelers we've all settled in to what it feels like to have a true franchise quarterback.
So sit back and relax and comfortably forget those first two quarters because while some bad times may still be ahead a new era of Bears quarterbacking has been officially ushered in.
To be found out....
If we have a running game - With the addition of Cutler the theory was Matt Forte would face fewer eight-man fronts and as a result run wild. Two weeks later and a 2.2 yard per carry average that is obviously not the case.
So far it's hard to tell if teams are simply keying on Forte, if the offensive line isn't blocking well enough, or if it's just plain bad luck. One thing is for certain is that the play of Frank Omiyale is not helping.
But now Forte and Co. head out West to face a defense that gave up two touchdown runs of more than 70 yards last week to Frank Gore. If Forte can't get on track and get up over 4 yards a carry against this team than it really may never happen.
If Housh will have his revenge - When the schedule originally came out one of the main storylines I predicted for this game is the presence of Houshmandzadeh and why the Bears don't have a receiver like that on their roster. Thankfully the play of Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, and Earl Bennett has been enough to quiet the questions about a #1 receiver, at least slightly.
What they haven't done is quiet down T.J. who told the local media earlier this week that he was going to make GM Jerry Angelo regret not so much as calling him this offseason and win "95 percent" of his battles against the Bears corners.
While Houshmandzadeh is an excellent receiver the Bears secondary has been surprisingly strong in the early going aided heavily by the improved pass rush. With the Seahawks offensive line issues it probably won't matter who is throwing him the ball, Lance Briggs and the rest of the D are going to do everything they can to make him eat his words.
If Knox can keep it up - Coming into the season the Bears boasted the second least experience wide receiver corp. in the NFL. Even if Jerry Angelo was right about the quarterback making the receivers better as opposed to the other way around someone needed to emerge or taking away Greg Olsen and Forte was going to seriously hamper this offense - see week 1.
Enter 5th round rookie Johnny Knox. All the speed of Darius Heyward-Bey but 150 draft slots later and about 10% of the price. When reviewing Knox I used one word to describe him: wind; as in can run like or be blown over by.
So far in leading the team in receiving yards - and ranking 15th overall in the NFL - we have seen him use that speed to create separation. What we haven't seen is if he can take the hits and increased pressure that the better cover corners and safeties in this league can dish out.
Can he respond from being knocked silly the way Olsen did?
After raising his profile with his performance the first two weeks we are sure to find out soon, maybe even this weekend in Seattle.
