Showdown with the Seahawks

Are you nervous? I'm not. I really believe this Bears team is for real, sure this game will be a struggle but I fully expect to be dreaming of a perfect 16-0 season when I go to bed on Sunday night.

Rex Grossman faced a strong secondary on the road in Minnesota and came out with mixed results, however, after faltering with his second interception Grossman showed the maturity to put the mistake behind him and find Rashied Davis for the game winning touchdown with less than 2 minutes to play.

This Sunday the Bears may face a better defense, but I believe that the Minnesota secondary is superior to that of the Seahawks. This combined with the fact that the Bears will be at home and not in a hostile environment as they were last week has me believing that Grossman will have a good game against the Seahawks.

As far as our defense goes I expect another punishing performance as well. Hey, if the punchless Lions can hold the Seahawks to less than ten points I would hope we could as well. In that week one game against the lions Hasselback did complete about 25 passes, however, he was never able to get the big play into the endzone. Similarly, the Bears have allowed Jon Kitna and Brad Johnson to complete a high percentage of passes but it is our bend and not break philosophy that will allow the Bears to be victorious once again in week four.

As far as injuries go Mark Bradley is Questionable again, but we have not seen any of him at all this year, save one five yard reception from Brian Griese. Des Clark is also Questionable and that may hurt us. John Gilmore has shown the ability to find open areas in the endzone but I doubt he can stretch the field as Clark can. Hopefully Clark will play, if not Grossman will have to find another weapon to use--maybe a higher dosage of Rashied Davis.

In the end I expect some scoring in this game but not a ton, in the end my final score prediction is a 20-16 Bears victory.

A Closer Look at Thomas Jones

After getting a little frustrated with the Bears veteran Thomas Jones, the same Thomas Jones who's 1350 yards last year were the most ever since Walter Payton, I took a closer look at Jones' stats and I am beginning to change my tune. For a running back to gain 100 yards in a game usually he will need about 25 carries a game. When a team relies heavily on their running game as the Bears did last year a running back can expect to see close to 30 or more carries. However, in the case of Thomas Jones the most carries he has been given this year is 21 in both weeks one and two. Against the Vikings Jones was given only 18 carries. While his average yards-per-gain is only 3.0, a running back will generally need a healthy dose of carries in order to bust out a couple of big runs that allow their averages to be over 4 yards-per-carry. In all three games this year Jones has had runs of 17, 15 and 17 yards and with 5-10 more carries Jones could easily bust out a couple more of those as defenses wear down towards the end of a game. Another reason to cut TJ some slack is the play of Cedric Benson. Benson has averaged only 2.7 yards-per-carry this year and his longest run is just 7 yards. With Rex Grossman playing at a higher level this year the Bears have been gaining yards more and more through the air and have not had to rely on the power running game that they have preached for the last three decades. As Grossman continues to develop and gain more respect throughout the league I would expect more holes will open up in the running game and that Thomas Jones will put together a nice string of 100 yard games. With a very difficult Sunday night game against the Seahawks I expect that the Bears will have to turn to Jones to carry a significant portion of the load and he will have to produce for the Bears offense to get the play-action to work and allow Berrian to break free down the field. With three more games before the bye week I give Jones till the Monday night game at Arizona before I would turn to Cedric Benson.

Gosh I hate the Vikings

And that only made yesterday's win so much sweeter. I hate the Metrodome, I hate the way the Vikings play against us, Brad Johnson makes me want to puke, the list is endless. I somehow have always disliked the Vikings even more than the Packers if one can believe that. The Packers are just a team I have always at least had respect for. They are our bitter rivals, however, there is some nobility in the rivalry that one simply does not see in a Vikings-Bears game. Tempers always seem to flare up against the Vikings, whether its Olin Kreutz and GIGANTIC Pat Williams jawing at the line of scrimage or Daren Sharper talking smack about Rex Grossman, it always seems as if every player is inches or seconds away from getting into a brawl on the field.

This game was a success for the most part. We did a good job of shutting down their running game and did not allow any big plays through the air which is the purpose of the cover two defense the Bears use. However, we got minimal pressure on Brad Johnson and that is not very characteristic of this Bears defense. To the Vikings credit they have a massive offensive line, anchored by Matt Birk at center, the entire left side of the line and Birk are all legitimate pro bowlers and LG Steve Huchinson and LT Bryant McKinie are two of the largest O-lineman in the game. When Hutchinson had to come out of the game the Bears did a good job of gaining penetration as Tommie Harris was lined up on that side of the field. His forced fumble made up for the limited pressure in the early part of the game and this turnover was probably the main reason we won.

Another area of concern is the running game. For the third straight game Thomas Jones failed to reach 70 yards and averaged only 3 yards a carry--this is a concern. After the first two weeks of the season without a solid game under his belt, one could have chalked up Jones' lack of production to more 8-man-fronts by the defense and teams playing the run while not respecting Rex Grossman. However, after Grossman's stellar first two outings of the season, Jones really had no excuse not to create some plays against the Vikings. While he did look good at times, in the end TJ averaged 3 yards-per-carry for the third straight game and that is just not productive enough for a starting running back on a team looking to go to the Super Bowl.

Injury Update

Both WR Marcus Robinson and Troy Williamson are Questionable for the Vikings heading into Sundays game. Both recievers have sore shoulders and while they may still play in the game, it may be easier for the bears corners to press them at the line. Also, both players--especially Williamson--may be a little hesitant to go over the middle for a pass and may be wary of jumping into traffic to try and snag a jump ball. For the Bears only Israel Idonoje is Questionable as he has been for the previous two games. Luckily for us the Bears probably have the best defensive line depth in the league and this should not be a problem, especially with the way Mark Anderson has stepped into the backup end position.

Start Tying your Shufflin Shoelaces

Ok, maybe this is a tad bit premature, but I am getting excited to watch that little game that takes place in Miami this coming Februrary. You know the one, big rediculous opening acts before the game and extravagent Halftime shows. It's kind of a big deal, theres all sorts of funny commericals that go along with it too. Yes, it is too early to start talking Super Bowl, but that doesn't mean that I can't dream about it.

Entering this Bears season I heard the Super Bowl talk and thought, "wow, this is great, the team needs to be positive and focused like this, I'm excited," but then it just became too much. Experts were pointing out that we still didn't have enough offense to be true Super Bowl contenders and you know what? I actually believed them.

I am not going to lie, I was scared to watch that first game in Green Bay. I was afraid of what might happen if we, gasp...actually lost.

Well my fellow Shufflers, those days are over. I was confident leading up to the Lions game, even though I thought it may be more of a fight than it actually was and I am confident headed into the Vikings game.

If we are truly Super Bowl contenders, then we will march into Minnesota and claim our rightful spot at the head of the division. If this Bears team really is ready to step it up and flex its muscles then beating a Minnesota team with the oldest quarterback in the NFL and a team that has never been able to run the ball should not be difficult. Minnesota has one true deep threat, last years 11th overal pick Troy Williamson, who, if anyone was watching that first Monday night game two weeks ago, has no idea how to catch a ball. Marcus Robinson...yes the ex-Bear ageless wonder...is a nice posession receiver but should never beat this team deep.

If I am Lovie Smith I would shake things up on the defense a little bit this Sunday. I know, dont fix it if it 'aint broke but I would much rather see number one corner Peanut Tillman line up across from the bigger Marcus Robinson and jam his aging butt at that line of scrimage. Tillman is a big guy, with ok speed, but as we saw against Carolina in the playoffs, he is no match for a true speed reciever like Williamson is. I would line up Ricky Manning across from Williamson because he is the quickest of our corner backs, not counting the Windy City Flyer Devin Hester.

Other than that, there are two players I would really like to see more of this game: Tank Johnson #99 and Mark Anderson #97 (no, that is not a much slimmer Michael Haynes out there, Haynes got cut and Mark stole his number). Tank recorded five sacks in limited playing time last year, that really is an amazing stat. He also forced the John Kitna fumble at the Lion's three yard line last week and is a force to be reconned with coming through that line. I would love to see him put some pressure on the old and slow Brad Johnson and see how he reacts. Mark Anderson is a our fifth round pick out of Arkansas and was really the steal of the draft so far for us. He was ranked a lot higher than a fifth rounder and they say he was still left on the board because he was kind of a tweener, as in, he did not have a true position coming into the NFL. At 6' 5" 250 lbs he was a little large for a linebacker but a little small for a defensive end. However, knowing Lovie Smith he is the perfect fit in this Bears defensive scheme because Lovie loves those quick pash rushers off the end. Mark has fit in beautifully, spelling Alex Brown from time to time and has two sacks in two games to show for it.

I think this game will come down to one thing, our defensive line play, and that has me excited. If the D-Line can stop Chester Taylor and shut down the running game early then Brad Johnson is going to be forced to pass and will be a sitting duck in the pocket. If the line can get the kind of pressure it did last week then Johnson will not have much time to throw the ball deep and his lack of mobility will hopefully force him into some difficult throws. If the Vikings can run the ball this could be a long hard fought game because with a balanced offense Brad Johnson is a good quarterback. The Viking defense is not bad, with a decent secondary and a couple playmakers in the front seven in Udezi the end and at linebacker. Normally one would say the Bears need to have a good running game but they really havent had to the last two games. If our defense is not as stout though as the last two weeks, running the ball will become key to take some pressure off Grossman and give him time to make those crisp throws. The O-Line has been amazing so far and if they continue there strong play I expect at least a six point Bears win. I'll say final score Bears 17 Vikings 10.