ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I drank a gallon of Bears' Kool-Aid last week. I didn't waste a single opportunity to tell people the Bears were going to beat the Cowboys. I even wrote about it in my not-so-elegant preview post. What an abysmal football game. I'm off the charts on my new annoyance meter. (20 on a scale of 10) I started writing this post late yesterday as I watched the postgame wrap up on Comcast. I had to stop myself from posting it. Too much venom. Too much hate. I needed to take a step back and collect myself. Grossman just had the worst game of his entire life. I was furious. Grossman on the other hand, was still visibly shaken. He had the look of a desperate man. His voice cracked as he was asked what he needed to do to correct this performance. I swear to Christ I thought he was going to cry. I started to frantically txt message the rest of Bears Nation to tell them to turn on the post game. It was bad enough that Grossman ran his numbers to 1 TD and 6 INTs, we surely didn't need him to start crying on TV!

I am pretty sure that the Bears have no choice but to bench Grossman this week against the Lions. I know somewhere in the front office, someone is actually willing to give him one more shot. I can hear Ron Turner now, "Just give the kid one more chance. It's the Lions! They're horrible!" I've got news for you Mr. I-Make-Norv-Look-Good Turner, you don't get a vote on this. Your vote is null and void thanks to the craptacular play calling you are responsible for making. The offense you put on the field every Sunday isn't exciting and doesn't go downfield more than once a game. You don't gameplan for your quarterback, nor your running back. Hell, it was a miracle that you called two plays for the tight end in the 3rd. That series was amazing. Grossman's best play of the night was when he stopped listening to the voice in his head (I'm guessing that's your voice Ron) and listened to the one coming out the other end. (Spurrier's?) You'd think that series would have put the team back on track. You'd be wrong.

Berrian dropped 2 passes last night, the offensive line is starting to show its age, and Moose was charged with not finishing off his routes. All of these guys share the blame in this horrific loss to America's Team. (don't argue with me MJ - they are America's team) The problem is that Grossman needs perfection to feel comfortable. This means his running game has to be gaining at least 4 yards a carry, no one ever drops a pass, and that he gets a full 3 seconds to sit back in the pocket and make his read(s). This is the NFL. A wise man once said that stood for Not For Long, and I can only hope that the Bears make the right decision on Wednsday and stick Grossman on the bench reminding him of his chances of staying the starter in Chicago.

Last week the Bears win was a buzzkill. Yea, a buzzkill. Blame Grossman, Turner, or the offense in general for this malaise that has settled over Chicago but be prepared to answer this: How can a town that prides itself on DEFENSE focus so much of its attention on the offense?

 

A few years ago I was lucky enough to get the best Cowboys bloggers on the planet to participate in our Mock Draft. Sadly, we know I couldn't get my act together to do the Mock Draft again this year, but nonetheless, TheBoysBlog is nothing to laugh at. Check out their in-depth analysis of this game. It is spectacular. They break down stuff guys on the NFL network would be proud of! Rich Eisen is somewhere in a Starbucks worried about Rafael and Raul. Guys, I love your blog and your analysis is dead on in some regards. But you did ignore a few things about the NFC Champion Chicago Bears. So here are my answers to your points:

First point - you're right. Babich has the Bears more aggressive on defense. Don't be fooled. I'm positive that the safety-in-middlelinebacker's-clothing had something to do with this. Spreading the line out is not going to help the Cowboys. We're fast as hell. You spread the line out and that gives Urlacher more room by creating an alley for the blitz. Don't forget that while Tommie Harris is a playing like a madman, we have Alex Brown and/or Marc Anderson who can rush the passer of the edge. The addition of Walker is going to our team is huge. It will give the Bears the chance to see IF we need to blitz. The front four typically has enough ability to keep us playing back in that over-exposed Cover-2 scheme. I think the Bears take a wait and see attitude early - the blitz doesn't show up until after half time. As far as the run goes? I'm not worried about stopping your running backs. We've stopped better so far this season.

I will tell you that the open formations is a good idea. I will also say that you can't just go right at Manning. He has ability and it's his time. I don't see him making that many mistakes. The jury is still out on Archuleta, so I would venture a guess that most people are going to identify him as the weak link on our defense very soon...That's my fear.

As far as your offense goes, I can't say a single bad thing about TO. I expect him to score one touchdown and get close to 100 yards receiving. Witten is another matter altogether. Lance Briggs will most likely draw that assignment and I expect Witten to be out of place on a lot of the routes across the middle due to the pressure up front. I'm going to predict an errant pass from Romo (perhaps behind Witten) which Briggs picks off. The other receivers on the Cowboys team might in fact have decent games due to the man-coverage. I like Crayton. I think he has some good speed. He probably needs to improve in the hands department, but he's young. Technically, he is supposed to hit his stride this year. check out his stat sheet. 4 TDs last year. I think he improves on that, but not against the Bears. I expect guys like Vasher to handle Crayton with ease. Peanut is going to be on TO all night. That's the match up to watch.

The Cowboys defense is going to see a different Bears offense this week. Greg Olsen is off the injury report for the first time. He's not at 100%, but he will have an impact on the game. Two TE sets are going to be a boone for Grossman and the Bears. Olsen has speed, is a big body, and can block downfield to set up the run. This assumes that we actually stick to a running game plan with Benson receiving a majority of the carries because I don't think alternating to Peterson is going to work against the Cowboys. The Bears offensive line needs to step up here and get some holes open against a Cowboys defense that I think is under-rated. Yea, underrated.

Shennanigans aren't going to work against 'them Cowboys' either. That means I don't want to see the fake reverse to Hester called more than once. Speaking of Hester, it seems that the media and everyone in Chicago expects him to carry us once again this week. I understand the enthusiasm, but I don't think Wade Phillips has it in him to kick to Hester. Combine this fact with the realization that Hester will get 2 catches (at best) on offense, and I think everyone is jumping a bit too much on this bandwagon. My money is on Berrian and Olsen this week. The Bears have a lot to prove on offense. We need to see a GREAT improvement from Grossman. We also need to see a rushing touchdown.

Ooops. Seems I am out of time here. Lets cut to the chase. Prediction time: Bears 17 Cowboys 10. That's right, I'm drinking the Kool-Aid.

 

BEAR DOWN!

Time for this weeks' grades. (finally!) There has been a lot written about the Bears victory this past week. Most of it has been negative. I'll save you guys the trouble since I am a few days late with this write up and just point you to the ESPN piece, Overreaction Nation. It's a great little story about Wojciechowski (say that fast 3 times) shadowing Matt, Yurko and Harry on AM 1000. Bottom line: there were more negative calls following the Bears' victory over the Chiefs than the previous weeks loss to the Bolts. Anyway, here go the grades. Followed up with a back-to-back post on the Cowboys game.

Offense

What can I say about the offense. We still had 2 interceptions and only scored a single touchdown. Any talk about mixing it up this week by including Hester or Wolf was gibberish. In fact, the one play that was called for Wolf turned into a pick. Grossman had fallen back to his old self by throwing off his back foot. The ball sailed on him and eventually landed in the hands of the defense. This wasn't the type of performance that could be used to bolster my confidence in him. I keep hearing people say that Bears fans should be patient in regards to Grossman. Really? Ok. I'll take a step back and admit the offensive line doesn't look very good so far this season. Fred Miller is either hurt, or has lost a step. How else would you explain his horrible play? When Miller misses a block, the running back misses the same block, and Grossman doesn't seem to have the ability feel the pressure that is actually staring him in the face. No pocket presence? I'd say.

Benson carried the ball for 24 times and ~104 yards with no touchdowns. I will admit that Benson looked much better than in the first game against the Chargers. He was able to run over a few defenders and overall had better holes to run through. (on the left side at least. I'm looking at you again Miller!) There is still a problem with Benson (beyond the obvious - no touchdowns) He just doesn't seem to get on a roll. I'm going to start blaming the play calling if this continues. I think he has severe mental blocks. He does seems to work it out on his own if he gets the carries. If anything, Benson's biggest problem is Grossman and Turner. The play calling will never allow him to get going if significant changes aren't made.

First and 10, run a draw for 3 yards. Great. Second and 7 a quick out for 2 yards. Third down and 5 and you're either going to see Benson run for 3 yards or perhaps we'll watch Grossman attempt to throw a slant into the arms of Moose. If we're lucky Moose catches it. I'd be nice if we saw Benson get the ball on a more consistent basis. Perhaps we can use him to build momentum before we simply throw another pick to kill a drive. You know why its called a drive, right? Because you're supposed to be driving down the field. The staccato (big word) play calling has to go. Someone send a memo to Turner. (Grade: C)

Defense
I could sit here and tell you that the Bears are the best defense in the NFL, but that wouldn't do them justice. We're freaking amazing. You need proof? Tommie Harris. It's that simple. He was penalized on sack of Huard because he smacked him in the face. The great thing about it was the 350 pound offensive lineman that he pushed backwards into Huard as he head-slapped him. Impressive. Not enough for you? How about Brian Urlacher. The best defensive player in the league (argue with me at your own peril) was on his typical A-game. We even got a chance to see what it would be like if the Bears sent him on the blitz. He leapt at Huard as he delivered his first sack since the 2005 season. Yea, that's right. He didn't have a single sack last year. I'm starting to wonder if we're going to see Babich send Urlacher after more quarterbacks as a result of Mike Brown's injury. Speaking of the dearly departed Mike Brown, his fill in, the kid from Abeline Christian (yea, I was a fan of this pick. Right.)  Danieal Manning did a great job. Turns out he might be good. (Grade: A)

Special Teams

Ok, do we really have to spend time discussing the special teams play? It's a simple evaluation. We covered all kicks and punts pretty well. No one scored on us. And then there was Devin Hester. I spent all week discussing an interesting comparison as a result of Hester's 2 returns. (1 was called back) Is he better than Prime-Time Deion Sanders. I'm sitting on the fence for now, but dare I say he is dangerously close to being better than his hero? Anytime is a fitting nick name.  No question on the grade here folks. Moving right along...(Grade:A+)

Coaching

I try to stay positive for at least 5 minutes before I fall back into the comfortable negativity that all Chicago fans wrap themselves up with. It gets cold here in Chicago, and this blanket of cynical, negative energy is soft, if not familiar on a Sunday afternoon in front of the TV. There is a Turner calling our plays again, and I know the 3 fans he has will scream at me for saying this: BUT HE IS HORRIBLE. The offensive play calling is reserved. I know why it's reserved, and so does the entire team. It's because they know Grossman is a head case. You've got to walk on eggshells around this guy! I'm positive that he practices like a champ, but when Sunday comes along he regresses. Call him Good-Rex or Bad-Rex, the play calling is what brings the transformation to a head. Defensively, we're getting more aggresive. I love that. Now let Babich call the offensive plays and we'll have something to talk about. Lovie - I'm leaving you out of this because your first true test as a Bears head coach is going to come during half time of the Cowboys game with the team trailing 17-0. Then what? Do you have what it takes to go to Griese? Its a catch 22. Lovie needs to build up a tolerance before he heads into that post-game conference explaining once again, why he stuck with Grossman. The only way to build that tolerance is to leave Rex in there and take the beating in the press. Shit or get off the pot. (B-)

 

There you have it. Cowboys are next.

BEAR DOWN!!!!

The Bears start the season 0-1 after losing the season opener to the Chargers late yesterday. It was a very frustrating game to watch if you are a Bears fan. I give it a 7 out of 10 on my brand-spankin'-new annoyance meter. I'm going to start using it after each Bears' game recap to give you, my loyal and generous readers, a better understanding on how often I yelled or threw something at the television.

We can talk about my average annoyance with this team at the end of the regular season. I have to say that I was very pleased to see the defense basically dominate Tomlinson and the Chargers for 3+ quarters. Tommie Harris is a man amongst boys and he proves it on almost every snap. The Chargers were held to no points until the 3rd quarter. Their first touchdown was actually thrown by LT on the halfback option. I wasn't surprised by this call. I was surprised that the Bears weren't ready for it.

The story of the game has to be the 4 turnovers. MJ points it out very clearly, you can't expect to win on the road against a team like the Chargers when you give up the ball 4 times. The mistake on the kick coverage wasn't McGowan's fault. It was a bad bounce that nailed him in the back while he was engaged in a block. Those things happen. The defensive stand after that turnover was the opportunity for the offense to march down the field and send a message. And there lies the problem with the Bears offense. It's not Grossman this year. It's the running game. Is anyone surprised by Cedric Benson's inability to run the football successfully? Peterson was more impressive than the $17 million dollar man! (7 carries 38 yards for a 5.4 y/c average) It was the main reason why my anger level, and eventually my annoyance level raised to a 7.

I'll have to take a break here as I need to return to work. Stay tuned for my grades later tonight.

BEAR DOWN!

As of 3pm today, the White Sox season is officially over for me. It was a terrible season for the Southsiders, and I know there are lot of die-hards that will use this against me (yet again) but I don't care. Baseball stopped being America's pastime in the 80's. The steroid garbage/noise that seems to never go away just added to the amount of venom fans felt after the  multiple work stoppages. This matters no more after today. It's Bears season!

The 2007 Bears should be hungry. After a pathetic loss in the Superbowl (I'm looking at you Rex) to the Colts the Bears should be FIRED UP. This team has improved. The rise of Dusty Dvoracek to our starting defensive line, drafting Greg Olsen, and the addition of Adam Archuleta  has made the best defense in the entire league that much better.

The offense is looking for help from guys like Devin Hester and what we can only hope is the emergence of Berrian as a premier wideout. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I've got Berrian on my fantasy team). We're risking a lot by trading Thomas Jones to the Jets, but from his pathetic first half against the Patriots (2 yards rushing?!) Cedric Benson is starting to look good. I'm down on Benson. He hasn't showed me anything. I get a lot of flak for saying that in this town. There seems to be a lot of confidence in Benson's ability. He's a bruiser afterall and that's all it takes to be a fan favorite in Chicago. The problem arises when we Benson either gets hurt, or can't gain more than 2 yards a carry. This kid has taken a beating in his career and the wear and tear is bound to show up mid way through this season. I would love to be wrong about Benson, but I don't see him doing much against teams outside of our division. (the worst division in the NFL perhaps?)

Anyway. I've been planning a site upgrade. I may attempt to get it done tonight as the Bears are hammering the Bolts. I'm predicting a Bears win tonight. 27-17 Bears.
Oh, and don't give me shit because I didn't talk about Grossman.
He starts with a clean slate today.

BEAR DOWN