ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I've never been a big fan of Thursday night football. It grinds my gears. I'm a traditionalist. I like my Bowl games on New Years Day, and I like my NFL football on Sundays. I let Monday Night Football slide because, well, Monday's suck and ESPN is right about this one fact.MNF makes the horrible pot of stink-stink otherwise known as your 9 to 5  disapear witha 7:15 kick off. Thursdays are just wrong. It causes people across the country nothing but stress. Who amongst us hasn't forgotten about the Thursday night game and what it means to our confidence pools or our fantasy team? I know most sites send nag emails to remind us, but this just isn't good enough for me. There are only two Thursday NFL games that I can ever remember in my pea sized brain. Turkey Day and any Thursday the Bears are playing.

So the Saints come marching into frigid Soldier Field this Thursday, in what I describe as a must win game for the Bears. It's crunch time kids, and the Bears are most likely going to miss the playoffs if they don't win this game. I know that with Minnesota's 4th quarter push past the woeful Lions last week the job gets tougher for the Bears. A lot of people are saying we have to win out to actually make the playoffs. MJ subscribes to this line of thought, but Not So Fast My Friends. I'm going with the old coaching stand by - one game at a time. Let's beat the Saints. We'll start with figuring out who the Saints are.

They have a record of 7-6. They rank 3rd in points scored, 1st in pass yards, and 27th in rushing yards. I'll give you 3 guesses what the Saints game plan is going to be on Thursday. Drew Brees comes to Chicago with a gaudy number of touchdowns thrown (26). The Bears secondary is going to be tested early and often by the QB out of Purdue. Speaking of Purdue QBs (yes, this is the battle of Boilermakers) our very own Kyle Orton has nothing to worry about with the Saints defense.

The Saints D is 24th in points allowed, 21st in total yards, 26th against the pass, and 20th against the run. This should translate to a great game for both Orton and New Orleans native Matt Forte. I'm looking for Forte to break 120 yards against the Saints defense. This is going to be a big game for the young man, and if my guess is right it will get him another few points on the road to finishing in second place for the rookie of the year award. Sorry Matt, but I think Matt Ryan from the ATL is a lock for the rookie honor. But who cares about individual accolades, right? We're hoping for a win.

The Bears defense is going to have a very tough time with the Saints. Corey Graham is going to be tested often and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the game we lose Mike Brown. I hate to jinx it for you Mr. Brown, but you are like that old carton of milk in the fridge. Way past your expiration. I anticipate a long winter of hot baths and Ben-Gay for Mike Brown after this game. I don't know why, but I just have a bad feeling. The feeling gets stronger each time I see who goes on IR. (Dusty Dvoracek is the latest addition to the "I have an ouchy" list)

And just think, December just started!

I'm not too confident that the defense can get any pressure on Brees, and as a result I'm picking against the Bears at home. The Saints take this shoot out, but the Bears will have to come on strong to make it look interesting in the end: Saints 32 Bears 21. I hope I'm wrong, but there ya go.

BEAR DOWN