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.

Packers – 21

Bears – 16

With so much anticipation and excitement surrounding the Bears season opener, could there be a more pathetic way to start off?  From the start Jay Cutler and the Bears offense looked rattled.  Cutler couldn’t pass, the line couldn’t block, and Forte had no room to run.  Meanwhile, the Bears defense looked excellent as they kept the team in the game the entire night.  The good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of the game are discussed here.

The Good:

Defense: The Bears defense played very well tonight due to the play of the D-Line.  Aaron Rodgers was pressured early and often as the Bears recorded multiple sacks including a safety for the team’s first points of the season.  Ogunleye was consistently creating pressure while recording 2 sacks and hitting Rodgers numerous times.

Robbie Gould: For lack of other good aspects tonight, Robbie Gould gets the nod here.  He was perfect on two attempts, both of which gave the Bears the lead.  It’s always to see Robbie drilling kicks with perfect accuracy each and every week.

The Bad:

O-Line Blocking: Matt Forte could not find a hint of daylight tonight and Cutler faced pressure all night long.  Omiyale looked awful tonight as him and Orlando Pace were eaten alive all night on the left side.  The offensive line looked horrible tonight and must improve if the Bears are too be successful.

Jay Cutler/Receivers: The Bad Jay was clearly present in the first half tonight, throwing 3 horrendous interceptions.  2 could be credited to miss-communication and receiver error, but nevertheless they were bad throws.  Jay needs to learn when to eat the ball and not make the risky throw.  With these inexperienced receivers, risky throws are not going to have a happy ending very often.  Cutler seemed to settle down in the second half when he hooked up with Devin Hester for a 36 yard touchdown pass.  However, he quickly threw an interception on the first play of an attempted game winning drive to finish with 4 picks on the night.

Nathan Vasher: Vasher blew the coverage late in the game as Aaron Rodgers hit a wide open Greg Jennings for a game winning score.  Nathan Vasher needs to be benched. Also, he is officially stripped of the nickname, “the Interceptor.”  The old Vasher is gone and he isn’t coming back.  When your starting corner back stumbles on his most crucial coverage of the game, you know it is time to take him out.  What is the harm in putting in Zakary Bowman or Corey Graham?  They could not possibly be any worse than Vasher.

The Ugly:

Ron Turner Play Calling: Turner relied heavily on the pass early tonight as he failed to utilize the running game early.  Having a big arm quarterback does not mean the team needs to abandon the run.  Running the ball helps win games and in tonight’s case, might have resulted in less picks for Cutler.

Partick Mannelly: If long-snappers made the Hall of Fame, Mannelly would have been a certain first ballot entrant.  Until now.  Tonight he made possibly the most bonehead play any Bears fans have ever seen, and that says a lot.  With the Bears in their own territory on a 4th and long, Mannelly tried to take advantage of the Packers having 12 men on the field by quickly snapping the ball to the personal protector, Garrett Wolfe.  That 12th man had left the field prior to the snap and Wolfe ran for a handful of yards before being tackled.  Then, challenge happy Lovie Smith made his second bad challenge of the night and contested that the Packers had 12 men on the field.  The play stood as called and the Packers took over, leaving Bears fans everywhere scratching their heads and shouting obscenities.

Nathan Vasher: Vasher is both bad and ugly out there on the field.  It is as simple as that.

The Injury Bug: The Bears suffered some bad injuries tonight.  Pisa Tinoisamoa left the game early with a knee sprain and Urlacher soon followed with a dislocated wrist.  Desmond Clark went down as well later in the game but he said after the game he should be fine.  Trumaine McBride also went down with a knee sprain.  The key here are starting linebackers Urlacher and Tinoisamoa.  Comcast SportsNet just reported Tinoisamoa is suffering from a similar injury to Greg Olsen last year where he missed about 3 weeks.  Hopefully that is the worst it is for Tinoisamoa.  Regarding Urlacher, he needs to do whatever it takes to be out there next week.  However, early reports indicate he may need surgery.  This is obviously bad news and a big blow to the Bears defense if true.

With the exception of good defensive play, this was a really ugly game for the Bears.  This makes one wonder what the Bears were doing all preseason long.  So many of these mistakes tonight should have been worked out weeks ago.  Receiver/QB miss-communication is unacceptable when they have 4 exhibition games and all of training camp to work this out.

The Bears need a quick bounce back win next week, but unfortunately they take on the Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Bears have the home field this time and the Steelers will be without the elite Troy Polamalu, but this is still a very difficult game for the Bears.  The Steelers are a good team where ever they play and they have enough talent on defense without their star safety to still cause problems for the Bears.

There is no need to panic just yet, but there are big improvements to be made for next week and for the remainder of the season if the Bears want to be competitive.