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.

Falcons – 21

Bears – 14

This loss hurts.  In what may prove to be such a crucial game in the season, the Bears went out and really displayed they are not true contenders this year.  The score certainly looks close as the Bears were in striking distance the entire game, but the team simply made too many mistakes to win tonight.  Most of these mistakes would be unacceptable at the high school level.

How does Orlando Pace, a possible future Hall of Famer, not know the snap count on the most crucial play of the game?  On 4th and 1 late in the 4th quarter with the ball deep in Atlanta territory,  Orlando Pace lunged forward prior to the snap for a crucial false start penalty.  This pushed the Bears back 5 yards and the next play attempt was a failed pass to Desmond Clark.  That penalty was unacceptable.

Other unacceptable penalties included having 12 men on the punt return team.  That 5 yard penalty gave the falcons a first down after the Bears made a good defensive stand.  Penalties like that ruin games for teams and in actuality make a team look more like the Rams than playoff contenders.

Cutler played well enough to keep the Bears in the game through the passing game.  He was picked off twice in the first half, once in the redzone, but finished the game with 2 touchdowns and only those 2 picks.  His poise and playmaking ability on the late 4th quarter drives really kept the Bears alive tonight.  He did all this with almost no offensive line play.

Behind this offensive line, this Bears team is not going anywhere.  Cutler has no time to throw the ball, Forte has no room to run, and did I mention the crucial false start?  Simply put, you can’t be a serious contender with an offensive line this bad, especially with Frank Omiyale starting at left guard.  Omiyale is possibly the worst left guard to ever take a field at any level of football.  He might as well just line up on the sidelines and save himself the wear and tear on his body.  He is absolutely awful out there.  Only the Bears would take some no-name scrub and pay him starting money, which is probably why he is still out there as a starter.  Angelo and company are too stubborn to admit they were wrong about this poor excuse for a guard.

The Bears need to be able to run the ball successfully in order to win games this year and this line can’t get the job done for Forte.  When Forte did have the ball, he couldn’t hold on to it.  Forte had 2 crucial consecutive fumbles on the goal line.  Unfortunately the second fumble was recovered by Atlanta, and the Bears surrendered at least 3 points.  In his post game interview, Forte took accountability and said “It’s my job to hold onto the ball and I didn’t do it.”  It is good to hear that he is willing to own up to his mistakes tonight.

Defensively, this was a mediocre effort.  The defense stopped the run well, Nathan Vasher and Daniel Manning each had interceptions, but other than that the defense put on a poor show.  They recorded no sacks and rarely had any decent pressure on Matt Ryan.

Nick Roach, again filling in at middle linebacker, was out of place on a touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez.  As Jim Wascher so perfectly explained it, “Roach had one job, to cover the deep middle.  What does he do?  He goes to the flat.”  Roach has done better than most expected thus far this season filling in at MLB, but this was a horrible time to fall out of position.  It seems as if Lance Briggs was the only player to actually show up tonight.  No surprise there.

The Bears tonight just made too many mistakes.  Superbowl contenders don’t make these mistakes in such high volume during a crucial game that could have playoff implications.  With the Vikings and Saints continuing to roll, the Bears might be fighting for a wild card spot along with the Falcons, who now have the head to head advantage.

Next week the Bears go on the road again to face a tough Cincinnati team.  This game will be a good indication of whether or not the Bears are ready to play real football and not look like a pop warner team instead.

Bears – 25

Seahawks – 19

A week after beating the defending Superbowl champion Steelers, the Bears looked to get on a roll with a tough match up in Seattle.  After falling behind 13-0 early in the game, the Bears got on track and battled back for a victory.

With the running game struggling again, Jay Cutler stepped up and threw 3 touchdown passes while completing 21 of 27 passes for 247 yards.  He finished with an excellent quarterback rating of 126.4 after overcoming an early interception off a tipped ball.  He saved his best for last however, as Cutler completed 5 of 5 passes for 60 yards and a game winning touchdown to Devin Hester during the 4th quarter.  Seattle got the ball back and had enough time to move the ball into Bears territory, but the Bears defense made the necessary plays to force a turnover on downs, sealing the victory for the Bears.

The Bears got good play from their receivers again today as Devin Hester and Earl Bennett both had productive games.  Hester took a throw from Cutler late in the 4th, broke through two defenders, and sprinted to the end zone for the 36 yard game winning score.  Greg Olsen as well was able to find the end zone to record his first touchdown of the year.  Johnny Knox also found the end zone again.  Hopefully both Knox and Olsen can continue their success throughout the season.

On defense, the Bears still have some room for improvement.  Seneca Wallace was consistently able to find wide open receivers with ease on third downs, allowing for easy conversions.  The Bears pass D needs to step up their game a bit if they want to become a force this season.  In addition, the defense needs to learn to wrap up the ball carriers.  Too many times Bears players were trying to strip the ball as the runner ran right through the tackles for extra yards.  Turnovers are great to have, but sure tackling is a necessity.  On that note, the Bears did force 2 turnovers via a Daniel Manning strip and a Lance Briggs interception.  Manning’s forced fumble came at a crucial point early in the third quarter as the Seahawks looked to expand their 13-7 lead.

Offensively, the line is simply not getting the Job done as they fail to open holes for Forte to run though.  They shouldn’t take all the blame though.  Matt Forte has not looked like the same back as he did in his rookie year.  In the limited times where he found some brief daylight, he seemed sluggish to accelerate and make progress.  Although he struggled to run the ball, he quietly finished with 106 total yards.

After a tough start to the season, the Bears should be very happy to come out 2-1 since things could have been a lot worse at this point.  Next week the Bears take on the Lions in Chicago as they look to improve to 3-1.