Bears – 27

Broncos – 17

Rarely do preseason games pack this much emotion and intensity into a match up.  But, after one team trades away their franchise QB to another team, an exhibition match up between the two is certain to include a little something special.  Also, rarely do crowds boo so hard and loudly that the cameras shake during the game.  This was clearly the case as Jay Cutler took the field as the Bears squared off against Kyle Orton and the Denver Broncos.

The Good:

Jay Cutler: There is no way Jay was able to ignore those boos early in the game as he got off to a shaky start.  However, he quickly rebounded and was able to lead the offense to 17 points.  He connected on 15 of 21 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown.  The highlight of the night for Jay was late in the second quarter when he led the offense on a 98 yard touchdown drive that ended with a TD pass to Matt Forte.  He was poised and determined throughout the entire drive as the offense marched almost effortlessly down the field.  The only downside of the drive was that Jay under-threw an open Devin Aromashodu for a sure touchdown.  Although the completion would have been nice, it did not hurt the offense as they continued to roll down the field.

Greg Olsen: Olsen is ready for a monster year.  Tonight he brought in 3 catches for 47 yards as Cutler looked to him often.  The best part about Olsen is his reliable hands.  He has the ability to make any catch and secure that ball before he cuts upfield with his great speed.  Bears fans should look forward to seeing this connection often throughout the 2009 season as Greg Olsen makes a run for the Pro Bowl.

The Defense: The Bears starting D put up another great performance while holding Denver to only a field goal in the first half.  Orton was able to complete some underneath throws but the Bears were able to limit those yards as well as the rushing yards.  This resulted in 5 punts and 1 field goal on the Broncos first half possessions.  If the Bears D can play like this in the regular season this team will be hard to beat.

The Bad

Orlando Pace: Pace has openly admitted that he struggles blocking against small defensive ends.  This was clearly evident tonight as he was consistently beat by the 5′11″ Elvis Dumervil.  Hopefully this handicap doesn’t hurt Pace too much in 2008 as he should have the experience and skill to adjust and protect the QB better than he did tonight.  Although Denver did not record any sacks, Cutler was under some great pressure from that left side early in the game.

Trumaine McBride: After tonight’s performance, McBride should not be allowed on the field while the Bears are on defense.  On 3 different occasions he missed big tackles as he dove at the ballcarriers and completely missed.  He is a liability as a tackler and lucky for the Bears defense is pretty far down on the depth chart.

The results of the game were not much of a surprise.  Cutler clearly proved what he and the offense are capable of last week and the defense has been excellent all preseason long.  With this great combination of a scoring offense and excellent defense the Bears will be seeing lots of wins in the 2009 season.

Lou Piniella today offered himself up to criticism for the Cubs’ 2009 struggles.  According to ESPN, Lou had the following to say: “You want to blame me? Take your shots. It doesn’t bother me one bit, OK?”

Many of the fans will certainly blame him.  Lou has shown no signs of intelligent life down there in the dugout this season.  His facial expressions and post game comments alone signal that he seems not to care about the team’s performance whatsoever.  He denies it though and instead says he is still trying to do the best he can every day but it is hard not to notice his lackadaisical attitude and call his bluff.

Among other things, Piniella is at fault for two obvious mistakes:

1. Keeping Soriano in the lead off spot for way to long after he had already been a struggling mess.  Lou even kept Soriano at the lead off spot when his average was at a dismal .224.  Plain and simple, that was bad managing.
2. Failing to remove Kevin Gregg from the closer role after his 3rd blown save.  It was clear at that point that Gregg did not have the right stuff to be a good closer.  (As if 9 blown saves in 2008 was not a good enough indication.)  Gregg got on a bit of a role with saves after his 3rd blown save of 2009, but many of his outings were shaky and he was rarely in control on the mound.

After the poor managerial display this season Lou should be looking for a new job this winter.  It might even be time for him to hang it up completely.  He has brought great success to many teams during his managerial career and has at least a shot at the Hall.  Now though he seems to have lost interest and just looks like he is going through the motions and a future with the Cubs does not sound like a good option for either party.

It has been pretty obvious for some time now that this 2009 Cubs season is nothing more than a dead end road to nowhere. For those fans who are still sipping the kool-aid it is time to wake up and realize that this season is over and last night’s embarrassing 15-6 loss to the Nationals is all the evidence you need.  The Cubs currently stand 9 games back in the division and 8.5 games behind the hot Rockies for the wild card.  It’s time to pack it up and look towards next year.

My thoughts at the beginning of the year were that the Cubs would miss the playoffs.  I based this on 3 things:

1. The Cubs are the Cubs
2. It is tough to win a division in 3 straight years
3. They missed the window in 2008 and it closed

The first two are self explanatory.  Regarding number 3, I really thought that last year was the best chance for the Cubs to bring home a title and they failed to deliver.  While I don’t think their 2008 regular season performance was a fluke, I simply felt they would not be as dominant this season and would struggle to even win the division.

Looking towards next year it isn’t easy to determine what is needed to make this ball club a legitimate contender.  First things first, I think Lou needs to go.  He seems uninterested in the team and he couldn’t manage his way out of a wet paper bag right now.  His post game comments as well don’t seem to show much care or dedication to the game.  He simply likes to say, “Hey, what can I say?”

Secondly, I really feel the Cubs need to address the starting rotation.  Ryan Dempster clearly had a career year in 2008 and I don’t think he will perform even close to that next season.  He will likely regress back to his mediocre status similar to this season.  Also, Randy Wells will not be as good in 2010.  He has had a great season thus far in 2009 and has a shot at NL Rookie of the Year, but I think next year Wells will struggle as more batters become familiar with his pitching.  Regarding Zambrano, he needs to start pitching like a true ace, or it is time for the team to bring one in.

Third, the Cubs need to dump Milton Bradley.  The experiment was a good try but it failed miserably.  Hendry needs to admit his mistake, get rid of Bradley, and replace him with a more reliable option.  The Cubs still need a lefty bat in the lineup so Hendry needs to keep working on that if he still has his job after the season.

Also, the Cubs would benefit greatly from a good hitting second baseman.  Mike Fontenot, Aaron Miles, and Jeff Baker are not the answers.  Baker has shown some good potential as of late but the team still needs someone who brings more than potential.

It will be interesting to see if the ownership wants to part ways with the current management setup.  Jim Hendry should be held accountable for this past season’s debacle but whether or not that means he will be fired is a different story.  Maybe he should get one more year as GM.  If he fails to turn this mess around then it will be time to let him go.  Regardless of what happens with Hendry this Cubs team needs a lot of improvement in order to contend in 2010.

Bears- 17

Giants- 3

What a difference one week and two offensive starters can make.  After another week of practice the Bears took the field, this time with Matt Forte and Greg Olsen in the starting lineup.  The improvements from last week were noticeable right from the start.  The Bears third offensive play featured Cutler hooking up with Earl Bennett with an absolute strike on 3rd and long to pick up a first down.

The Good:

Jay Cutler: Cutler finished up completing 8 of 13 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.  He threw a few risky passes and one almost ended up in an interception, but overall he had an excellent performance.  Also, while rolling out, he hurled a ball 60+ yards to a wide open Devin Hester who misjudged the ball and could not catch up to it as it landed incomplete.

Earl Bennett: Bennett finished up with 2 catches for 42 yards and looked like a legitimate #1 receiver throughout his time on the field.  His first reception was the previously mentioned strike from Cutler on 3rd down and his second catch was just as impressive as Cutler was rolling out.

Matt Forte: Forte was back in action tonight after missing last week’s game but he seemed to pick up right where he left off last season.  He broke through for 2 great carries of 17 and 32 yards (TD) and finished up with 9 carries for 58 and that one touchdown.  He seemed to have the same great vision that led to his success last year and also brought in a 9 yard reception.

Offensive Line: The run blocking looked poor at first but quickly improved to provide great holes for Forte to run through.  In pass protection they were just as good, providing plenty of time for Cutler to make his throws.

Defense/Defensive Play Calling: It looks like Lovie Smith called a great game on D tonight.  The Giant’s starters could not get anything going on offense aside from a few good Brandon Jacob runs.  There was consistent pressure from the D-line, especially from Alex Brown and Adawale Ogunleye.  Brown forced Eli Manning to fumble early on as he came around behind him on the rush and tipped the ball out of his hand.  Eli also was not able to find wide open receivers on short routes each time he dropped back.  Overall it was a great performance by the D as they allowed only 3 points in the game.

The Bad:

Devin Hester: There seemed to be some miscommunication between Cutler and Hester on a 3rd down in Giants territory early in the game.  It appeared that Hester broke the wrong way on a comeback route and Cutler threw it wide of him.  Later, as mentioned previously, a wide open Hester misjudged a deep pass thrown by Cuter.  This is unacceptable for a “#1 receiver.”  Hester continues to look lost while running routes and tonight he was clearly outperformed by Earl Bennett.

Brian Urlacher: On two instances early in the game Urlacher was ran over by Brandon Jacobs.  While Brandon Jacobs is an absurdly huge running back, Urlacher is no slouch himself.  He needs to be the guy who can bring down those big backs instead of getting trucked like it’s nothing.

Overall this was a great performance by the Bears.  The offense seemed to gel nicely with Cutler at the helm and the defense looked to have their act together as well as they wreaked havoc upon the Giants offense.  There is still room for more improvement before they take the field next week in Denver and hopefully the Bears bring the same intensity then as they face off against former Bear Kyle Orton.

Bills- 27

Bears- 20

This new weekly piece will cover the Bears latest game and basically touch on the good and bad points in the game.

The long awaited first preseason Bears game came, went, and disappointed many.  When the game finally ended the Bears left with lots of room for improvement and a 27-20 loss.  This specific piece will focus on the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of tonight’s loss.

The Good:

Al Afalava

The rookie safety lived up to his brief hype tonight.  While he wasn’t tested much in pass coverage, he consistently broke quickly to provide run support and even made a great stop in the trenches while shedding a block.  He started the game and most of his action came against the Bills first team offense.  Right now there seems to be great potential for him at a position that the Bears need strong production out of.

Brian Urlacher

Simply put, Urlacher looked fast.  He seems to have regained the burst that he seemed to have lost the past two seasons.  Hopefully this continues throughout the season as he provides a dominant force at the middle linebacker position.

Caleb Hanie

Hanie completed 8 of 11 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown after taking over for Cutler in the second quarter.  After Brett Basanez went 3 for 11 with a touchdown and 3 picks, Hanie has likely solidified himself as the number 2 quarterback unless Basanez greatly outplays him the next 3 weeks.  However, Basanez’s touchdown pass was a great throw and probably the best of the night from any QB.

The Bad:

Defensive pass rush

The Bears pass rush seems to have picked up right where it left off last year.  They just weren’t getting the push needed to consistently put pressure on the Bills QBs.  This in turn freed up the receivers as the Bills QBs were able to complete 29 of 34 passes.  Preseason or not, allowing 85% completions is not acceptable.

Devin Hester

Hester hauled in 2 catches for 22 yards in one quarter of action.  I certainly didn’t expect much from him in one quarter so his receiving numbers are not what concerns me.  In fact, he looked good on a deep route over the middle that resulted in a 20 yard catch from Cutler.  The problem with Hester in tonight’s game was his resistance to go up and try to prevent a Cutler interception.  On the Bears’ second offensive possession, Cutler tried to go deep but came up a bit short and Hester had to stop and come back for the ball a bit.  This made an easy interception for Bills cornerback Leodis McKelvin.  However, Hester did nothing to prevent the pick.  He simply stood there and looked the ball into McKelvin’s hands.  In this situation where a pick is likely because of a poor throw, Hester needs to spring into action and play defender.  He needs to at least jump and try to get a hand up there to bat it down.  That was pathetic.

The Jay Cutler Pick

Cutler can’t be criticized too much after only one quarter of sub par QB play, but the interception he threw was pretty awful.  The ball was badly under thrown which angers me because Cutler has been advertised to have “the arm to make all the throws.” Over the long haul though this will probably work out and he will hit that pass more times than not.  For the time being however, that throw was just plain bad.

Defensive Coordinator Lovie

Like said previously, the defense seemed to pick up right where it left off last season.  However, Bears fans were put at ease when after the 2008 season Lovie Smith assumed all defensive playcalling responsibilities.  Well, tonight’s game showed no improvements over the play calling from last year.  The same bend but don’t break scheme seemed to be in effect while the Bills just picked the Bears apart with the short slant routes.  Gameplans for first preseason games are generally limited if anything at all, but Lovie again showed no signs to make adjustments mid game and move away from what wasn’t working.

The Ugly:

Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner

Calling pass after pass after pass after pass is not the way to win football games.  The first series of the game opened with 3 straight pass plays.  Turner now has Cutler to play with on the field but that does not mean he should abandon the run game.  The Bears threw the ball 32 times and only ran it 17 times.  This is not a winning formula.  In addition, Jeff Joniak mentioned early in the 4th quarter that out of 11 offensive possessions, 8 went for either zero or one first down.  It seems like Turner was trying stretch the field too often instead of picking up first downs and moving the chains slowly.  Again, this is not a recipe for success on offense.  Moving the chains is the key to keeping the defense rested as well.

After tonight, Jay Cutler does not fall into any category.  He was neither good, bag, or ugly.  He disappointed many but people need to remember that this was only the first season game.  When Cutler gets to play a full game we will all see his full potential and see the quarterback he is cabable of being and has been in the past.

Patrick Kane and his Cousin James Kane were arrested this morning in Buffalo, New York after an altercation with a cab driver.  The Kane cousins are said to have each punched the cab driver after the driver did not have 20 cents in coins to give them exact change from their fair.  The cousins then proceeded to take back the money from their fare.  According to the Chicago Tribune, a witness to the event called the police and the Kanes were arrested and charged with second-degree robbery, a Class C felony, and fourth-degree criminal mischief and theft of services, both Class A misdemeanors.  Earlier today the Kanes entered a not-guilty plea.

As of now there are still facts to be released so the Blackhawks have kept quiet.  But at this point we do know that Patrick Kane was arrested and charged with some serious crimes and a witness or more also saw the altercation and recognized the hockey star.  A news interview with the cabbie also reveals the bruises to his face.  That is enough for me to judge as it all seems real enough.  Whether Kane was provoked or there is more to the story we don’t know about yet, it will be tough to justify the beating of a cab driver over 20 cents.  Patrick Kane and his lawyer have also kept quiet which leads me to believe that Patrick Kane doesn’t have much of a side to tell.  However, I’m sure they will formulate one.

What was Kane thinking in this situation?  I assume he had been drinking because the cab picked them up from a Buffalo area known for its nightlife life at around 4 a.m.  Still, how can he be so careless and lose his mind over 20 cents?  There is clearly something wrong with him.

There are few things I dislike more than when athletes morph into criminals and lose all common sense in the process.  I hope the Hawks discipline him properly if the case is as simple as him and his cousin beating up a cab driver.  No matter how the court hearings play out, he should be suspended for a game or two for being stupid and getting into this mess.  Mistakes happen and hopefully he doesn’t face too much legal trouble, but the Hawks need to lay down the law to drive some sense into Kane’s skull.  The Hawks have made great strides recently to set a great image for Chicago hockey and they don’t need Patrick Kane ruining that image.

The Bears PR Machine has been painting a beautiful picture of the Bears training camp work so far.  However, according to a story at Midway Illustrated, the Bears continue to struggle on some fronts and still need improvement on important aspects.  Brett Solesky at Midway Illustrated mentions that wide receiver Devin Hester is struggling to get off the jams and also struggling with some catches.  In addition, Jay Cutler been consistently throwing interceptions in camp while Adewale Ogunleye seems unmotivated.  While it is still early in camp, I’m glad that someone is pointing out that players are under performing and that there is room for improvement.

Cutler’s interceptions don’t worry me too much.  He’s a gunslinger and likes to take risks with his throws but so far in his career the positive results have outweighed the interceptions.  If that continues, I don’t see any problems with him throwing some interceptions as long as he is throwing touchdowns and keeping his TD:INT ratio up a bit.

As for the rest of the players that are struggling, there is still plenty of time for improvement.  But regarding Ogunleye, his lack of motivation may be a big problem come the regular season.  Hester just needs to focus on catching Cutler’s high velocity throws while learning how to get off the line at the snap.

Again, there is still plenty of time left in training camp but it is still good to see someone point out that the Bears still have their struggles.