Bears Vs. Saints Post-game

                Last Sunday Drew Brees just showed all NFL fans why he is one of the best in the league.  He threw for 270, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and had a 70% pass completion (26/37). The Bears led the Saints 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.  Cutler threw an 8 yard touchdown pass to Dane Sanzenbacher (first career touchdown), and we held New Orleans to only a field goal.  Things were looking up, but by the time the second quarter came around the Saints significantly picked up their offensive pressure. 

2 minutes into the second quarter Brees Threw a 79 yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson, who at the moment is the Saints go-to receiver.  The Bears defense is built around “not giving up the big play”, but in this case they just gave up a HUGE play. That one play threw off our defense for the rest of the game and is my game changing moment.  But I cannot lay all the blame on the Bears defense because our offense was pretty unreliable, and there was a major injury in our offensive line. 

                The Bears starting right tackle Gabe Carimi (6’7) a rookie out of Wisconsin was injured sometime in the second half.  Last year Jay Cutler was sacked more than any other quarterback in the league.  So because the bears did not want a repeat of last year they brought in some help with the offensive line this year with Carimi.  Carimi ended up with a subluxation, which is a partial dislocation of the kneecap.  This is a less serious injury than expected, but it still might take some time to heal.  Carimi is still on the teams unofficial depth chart to start, but it seems too early to tell.  

Saints vs. Bears Pre-Game

                 The Bears will look to open 2-0 this season by defeating an NFC south New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.  For Matt Forte this will be like returning home to play.  Forte is a Louisiana native that played college ball in Tulane who played in the Superdome.  He will be a key factor in the outcome of this game just like last week.  In order to get our offense going Forte needs to get some yards whether it’s by the run or the pass, but Forte cannot be the only arsenal on the Bears that has to get it going this week.  Cutler completed 22 of 32 passes for 312 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception last week.  This gave him an impressive 107.8 QB rating and a victory over the Falcons.  The Bears will need to get both of these guys going to produce some solid offense.  But behind ever great offense is a great defense.

                Urlacher has stated that he will return for today’s game.  He said that there was no better therapy (for the passing of his mother) than to return to practice with his teammates.  With everything Urlacher just went through I feel like he will have an impressive showing today, and hopefully have a game like last week.  But as we all Know Urlacher cannot win this game by himself.  The bears will have to put pressure on Brees Early in the game.  If we can sack him a few times and get him nervous in the pocket the Bears should have no problem maintaining this offense. 

                I would write more, but I have to go because the game is starting.  So remember, I speak THE TRUTH. 

Lavoyda Lenard

Lavoyda Lenard

                Brian Urlacher’s mother Lavoyda Lenard just passed away today at 51 years old.  When Brian was young, his parents were divorced so Lavoyda, Brian, and his three siblings moved to Lovington, NM together.   Brian was quoted in an ESPN magazine article in 2002 saying “My mom is my heart”.  This tragedy will take a toll on anybody.  Head coach Lovie Smith knows exactly was Brian is going through because Lovie lost his mother earlier this year.  I will hope that Lovie and the rest of the team can help support Brian through this terrible circumstance.  Lovie has refused to speculate on Urlachers return. 

                Urlacher just came of an amazing game as I talked about in my previous post.  He had 10 tackles, his fourth career touchdown on a fumble return, and a diving interception.  It is hard to replace a guy like that.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and I hope he will be able to return soon because he is truly the heart of this defense. 

                The Bears will have quite the matchup on Sunday against the Saints especially if Urlacher is unable to play.  Their passing pursuit is one of the best in the League.  Drew Brees currently has a passer rating of 112.5.  He threw for 419 yards and 3 touchdowns.  This will be a very tough matchup for the bears, but if our defense played like it did last week, we will undoubtedly win.  I will post a pre-game blog later in the week, but more importantly I hope Urlacher and his family will make it out of this okay.

R.I.P Lavoyda 

Bears Vs. Falcons Post Game

Did the bears start Brian Urlacher as a receiver on sunday?  He had one of the most unbelievable interceptions I have seen by a middle linebacker.  He was in the right place at the right time like a veteran pro-bowler should be.  Not only did he have an amazing interception, but he also returned a fumble (caused by Julius Peppers) for a touchdown.  Needless to say Brian Urlacher was a key reason why the Bears had a 30-12 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

            I will not lie, going into the game I was a little nervous about the Falcons offensive pursuit.  They have a great receiving core,  a spot on quarter-back, and a consistent running back.  But like I said in my pre-game report, everyone always forgets about the Bears no quit defense.  They put so much pressure on Matt Ryan that there wasn’t much he could do with the ball.  We sacked Ryan 5 time for 43 yards.  Not to mention a fumble for a touchdown. The Falcons had a 0% touchdown efficiency in the Red Zone, and were 4-13 on third down conversions.  These stats alone shows how a defense can dominate a game. 

            I shouldn’t be giving all the credit to the defense because the Bears did some really good things on offense as well.  Matt Forte ended up with 158 yards, and one touchdown.  Jay Cutler was 22 -32 on passing with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, and Devin Hester had 3 receptions for 60 yards.  So as you can see we dominated on all levels in this game. 

I speak THE TRUTH 

Bears Vs. Falcons Pregame

As most of you out their probably know, Chicago plays Atlanta in the season opener at Soldier Field Tomorrow (Sunday 9/11).  The Falcons ended with a 13-3 record last year.  This was mostly because of their amazing offensive production, but how could they not win with such big names on their team.  Matt Ryan had one of the best seasons of his career last year.  He threw for a personal best of 3,705 yards and 28 Touchdowns.  These numbers are not solely because of Ryan’s abilities to make plays though. It really helps Ryan when he can throw to a receiver like Roddy White.  Roddy White caught an NFL-high of 115 passes in the 2010 season.  He is highly considered one of the best receivers in the league.  Not only do they have those two playmakers, but they have a great running back in Michael Turner, and a all-star veteran in Tony Gonzalez.  Also with the six pick in the latest NFL draft the Falcons drafted Julio Jones which can be a deadly receiver with his quickness and speed.  Needless to say The Falcons Offense will be a major threat when competing against the bears.  But what a lot of people seem to forget is that the Bears have one of the most premier defenses in the league.

                The Bears still have some of the best linebackers in the league with Urlacher, and Briggs.  We still have Israel Idonije and Julius Peppers, and we still have a great veteran corner back in Charles Tillman.  The Falcons might have a superb offensive, but they will have to get by the bears defense to win the game. 

Sorry Greg, But You Gotta Go

In the past decade that bears have made some pretty good decisions about picking up and releasing players to ensure that the team can play at a maximum level.  This past summer there was a lot of activity throughout the bears organization, but the ones that stood out the most were the trading of our tight end Greg Olson, and the signing of the cowboys running back Marion Barber.  We traded Greg Olson to the Carolina Panthers for an undisclosed 2012 draft pick and we signed Marion Barber to a two year contract which is pretty standard for an older running back.   

Greg Olson scored 5 touchdowns, and went for 404 total yards last season.  These are not immaculate numbers considering he was a number one draft pick.  Not only was he the bears 5^th best receiver last year (based on total yards), but he played like a wide receiver rather than a tight end.  Tight ends are supposed to block and this is something Olson could never do.  The bears organization gave him a chance to develop the past few years, but there was no progress to be seen so we had to let him go.  Hopefully the bears will use this draft pick wisely and obtain a better, more consistent player than Olson. 

The second major change in the organization was an offensive threat. We did not have a good backup running back in Chester Taylor.  Although he did play well with the Minnesota Viking’s (probably because he was a backup to Adrian Peterson) he could not keep up with the Bears offensive.  So instead of him, we picked up a well renowned starter from the Dallas Cowboys, Marion Barber.  He has been in a bit of a slump the past couple years due to injury and whatnot, but I believe that this will be a great addition the bears running core.  Barber will get plenty of rest because Forte is our starter, and with rest comes success. 

So with that said I believe the bears made some great decisions this summer, and remember, I speak THE TRUTH. 

Stay classy Chi Town 

Daaa Bears

 This will be my first post of many about the greatest team in the NFL.  Yes, I am talking about the Chicago bears, also known as, the monsters of midway, and my favorite Daaaaa bears.  Throughout these posts my goal will be to provide Chicago bears fans with quality information about, roster updates, projections for years to come, injury reports, trade rumors, and my personal opinions about the direction of this team.  Also because the regular season is approaching so soon, I will be analyzing each game, and giving post-game reports.  But before I get into the most recent bears news I would like to talk shortly about last season.

            The Bears finished 11-5 last season… 11-5! That is a very solid season considering what all of the media and critics were saying.  Not only did we win our division over our rival Green Bay (Super bowl Champions), but we made it to the NFC championship game.  It is truly a tragedy that we had to lose to Green Bay in the NFC championship game, but time will heal everything right?  In my heart, I despise Green Bay, and I hope the bears will never fall to them again, but realistically they’re a decent team, and because they won the Super bowl I have to give them credit. So as much as it hurts to say it, I have to.  Congratulations Green Bay for winning the Super bowl.  This will probably be the first and only time you hear me congratulate Green Bay for winning anything, so do NOT get accustomed to it. But enough about the packers.

            I believe the bears put together quite the season last year, and I am really excited about the season to come.  I believe that the bears can win the 2012 super bowl and I hope you do to, otherwise you probably shouldn’t be reading my blog J

Stay Classy Chi Town