Bears – 30

Browns – 6

After a disappointing loss to the Bengals last week, the Bears bounced back for an easy win against the Browns today.  The Bears defense played well against a pathetic Browns offense, forcing 5 turnovers, blocking an extra point, and returning an interception for a touchdown.  The Bears offense on the other hand proved they shouldn’t be feared by any team in the league.

Although they took the loss, the Browns defense gave the Bears problems in the trenches today.  Cutler was sacked 4 times and rarely had time to make good throws.  The Browns defensive line was consistently getting good pressure against the poor Bears O-Line.  Meanwhile, Cutler was taking an absolute beating and is lucky to have walked off the field alive.

Josh Beekman got the start at left guard over Frank Omiyale today but the offensive line still failed to get a good push against the opposition.  Forte managed to find the endzone twice but was held to just 3.5 yards per carry in the game.  However, he looked a bit quicker today than he had all season long.  Hopefully his explosiveness starts to return as the Bears try to get rolling in the second half of the season. The move to Beekman was long overdue as Omiyale looked pathetic for far too long this season.  This was the right move and

Overall, the Bears offense put on a mediocre performance.  Again, they struggled in the red zone and were forced to settle for field goals early on after taking the ball deep into Browns territory.  Although the team did a better job of protecting the ball in the redzone today, the playcalling and execution inside the 20 was just sad as the Bears scored only two touchdowns on six trips.  Ron Turner is really struggling to call effective plays when the Bears get near the endzone and that is really going to hurt the Bears in the long run this season.

Devin Hester continued to make great strides as a receiver, hauling in 7 catches for 81 yards.  He showed excellent hands and explosiveness as Jay looked towards him often throughout the game.  Hester has clearly emerged as the Bears go-to receiver this season.  His play has improved since the start of the season and it should only get better as the season continues.

On the defensive side, the Bears were in control all game long.  The Browns had success with the run but the Bears were able to contain the running game when necessary while completely shutting down the passing game.  Cleveland’s quarterbacks completed 7 of 20 passes for 74 yards and looked absolutely awful in the process.  Derek Anderson threw two interceptions.  Daniel Manning made a great diving catch on the first interception and Charles Tillman took the second one to the endzone.  Manning also forced and recovered a fumble, one of three fumble recoveries on the day for the Bears.  Daniel has been criticized in his career for his safety play but he can silence the critics with more performances like this.

The Bears were fortunate to get the Browns at home after two straight losses.  Although the Bears offense looked a bit lethargic against a pitiful Browns team, a win is a win and right now the Bears need them.  The team needs to step up their game next week however as the Cardinals come into town with a high powered pass offense.  The Bears secondary better be ready for Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.

Bengals – 45

Bears – 10

Only a week after a disappointing loss to the Falcons, the Bears returned to action only to show how pathetic of a team they really are.  In a game where nothing went right for the Bears, the Bengals easily jumped out to a 31-0 lead before the Bears even knew what hit them.  With the Bears secondary often out of place and confused, Carson Palmer completed 20 of 24 passes for 233 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Cincinnati scored touchdowns on their first 4 drives and were not even held to a punt until late in the game.  When the Bears finally made a stop and forced a punt, a running into the kicker penalty gave the Bengals a first down.

Cedric Benson ran wild as he looked nothing like he did when playing for the Bears. He racked up 189 yards and a touchdown while Bears defenders could do little to slow him down.  He tore through the Bears’ front 7 like it was nothing.

Again, Cutler failed to protect the ball well.  He threw 3 interceptions and fumbled the ball twice on shotgun snaps.  When your quarterback is playing like that, it’s going to be hard to win a lot of games.  In his defense, it’s tough to make good throws when the line can’t block for you, but Cutler still needs to stop forcing so many throws.

Defensively, this was easily the worst performance of recent memory.  For the second straight game the Bears failed to record a sack.  The lack of pressure up front allowed Palmer to relax in the pocket and pick the secondary apart like they were a high school team.  Zack Bowman and Charles Tillman are really proving they are worthless as starting cornerbacks.  Meanwhile the front seven did little to slow down Benson on his way to an excellent game on the ground.

There really is not one positive aspect that came out of this loss.  Lovie Smith simply failed to have his team ready to play.  The players don’t seem to respond to Lovie anymore.  He is unable to motivate them and the result is a game like we witnessed today.  Aside from the poor offensive line and offensive play calling, Lovie Smith is a huge problem for this team.  Lovie is a good coach, but he isn’t good enough to get the job done in Chicago.  He is consistently getting out-coached while not motivating his players enough to play hard and win.  If this continues for the remainder of the season the Bears need to think about dumping Lovie and bringing in a real head coach with a real defensive scheme as well.  Lovie’s cover 2 can’t get the job done for the Bears.  Too many teams know how to rip it apart while Lovie fails to make the proper adjustments to stop the bleeding.

The big day is finally right around the corner.  Tomorrow, July 31, the Bears report for their first practice of the long anticipated training camp.  With training camp come numerous questions that surround the Bears team this year.  Here are a few things to look out for this training camp:

1. Jay Cutler. This one is a no brainer.  Every single Bears fan has been itching to see him in full practice.  We know he can play ball, but is he going to be able to lead this offense to a playoff caliber?  Even with the lack of receivers, he still has some weapons in Matt Forte and Greg Olsen.   Cutler and Olsen have already developed a good relationship, and hopefully that continues onto the field.  If so, we could see Greg playing in the pro bowl this year.  The other question, will Cutler be able to get a lot out of the Bears inexperienced receivers?  A good quarterback can get good production out of mediocre receivers and the Bears are going to need that for success.  Devin Hester should be in for a decent year but more important is to also get production from the 2 and 3 receivers.  If Cutler can get these young guys going, us fans are in for a treat this season.
2. Defensive Line. A key to the Bears defensive success is the defensive line.  Last season, there were countless third and longs that were converted simply because the Bears could not produce a good pass rush.  This off-season they have brought in Rod Marinelli to coach the D-line.  The success on defense starts with the line and hopefully Marinelli can get them moving in the right direction.  Tommie Harris is another important factor.  If healthy, he can be an absolute monster.  The problem is at time he doesn’t seem to be giving a full effort.  This season, he needs to get down to business and cause havoc in those trenches so our LBs and secondary can have it a bit easier.  Similarly, the ends need to be more of a dominant force.  Alex Brown led the team with 6 sacks last season and Ogunleye totaled 5.  Both of them need to be getting to the quarterback more to take pressure off the rest of the defense.
3. Brian Urlacher. How is Brian Urlacher going to perform this season?  It has been reported that he is close to the best shape of his career, but how much of that is simply a product of the “Bears PR Machine?”  Regardless, Urlacher needs to perform at a high level this season and the defense performance highly depends on it.  If Urlacher can get back to pro bowl form and the defensive line improves, this defense will be tough to beat.
4. Secondary. With Tillman already expected to miss some training camp action at the least, the Bears secondary is even weaker than previously advertised.  Nathan Vasher needs to stay healthy and get back to his old ballhawk form, otherwise it is time to place him on the bench and let some of the younger players get some time.  The safety position is where I feel the Bears are weakest.  Kevin Payne is serviceable, but he needs to learn to wrap up a ball carrier and not go for the knockout hit each time.  Daniel Manning is slated to start training camp at free safety.  He has great athletic ability, but that does not make up for his lack of skill and instincts at the safety position.  They also plan to move him to the nickel position and move Steltz to free safety on passing downs.  I like Steltz but have too many memories of him getting run over by running backs, both last season and at LSU.  If he is going to be in on passing downs, he needs to display good instincts and a nose for the ball otherwise teams will pick him apart.  Last season the Bears ranked 30th in pass yards allowed.  If that doesn’t improve they will be in for a very long season.
5. Offensive Line. With the addition of Orlando Pace, the Bears definitely improved the line this year.  If he can stay healthy and Chris Williams succeeds on the other side, this line should be more than enough to open holes for Forte and protect Cutler.  Josh Beekman will battle Frank Omiyale for the left guard spot.  Who is the answer here?  Beekman started all 16 games last season but he really needs to step up his game or he risks losing his job.  The left guard options are not ideal, but the rest of the line should be solid enough to hold up and do its job well overall.

Of course there are other areas to focus on in training camp, but those previous 5 are worth keeping an eye on as well.

Also, keep an eye on the potential rift between Urlacher and Cutler.  Matt Williams at Blog Chicago Sports thinks that it is no big deal if the two stars hate each other.  Personally, I disagree and feel that they need to get along in order to bring success to the team.  Matt says as long as the Bears can win, who cares if they don’t play nice.  Very true.  But, I don’t think winning will come easily if the two are at odds with each other.  They need to get their act together and do what is best for the team.  Get along, play hard, and win.  It is a team effort out there after all.

The NFC North division is wide open right now, and it really does seem like the Bears have the best chance at winning it.  They have the quarterback, the running game, and a defense that plays good enough to win ball games.  No other team in the division has all of those key areas figured out.  The Packers will be lucky to play any good defense this year with the switch to the 3-4 and the Vikings QB situation is reminiscent of the Bears in years past.

Good luck to the Bears in camp.  Let’s hope the injury bug stays away so we can hit the ground running with all our starters on the field.  Bear down!