Ten Questions From Yesterday

FIRST!

No longer in NYC... now I'm in Chicago, where the action is! Quite a game yesterday, but where's our secondary?

Can't remember who said it first, but I think I like "Hard Knox" more than "Jackass." Next week should be interesting, I'm reading a lot of negativity about our chances against Seattle.

First win of the season and a big one! Knox! Awesome!

Jay needed that game to go well so we can get our pussy media off of his "facial expressions" and "demeanor". What a bunch of reality show, US Weekly-esque, salon gossip, back talking teenage girls.

Olsen will continue to step up but took a Chuck Cecil style hit and still came back to make that huge catch.

Kellen Davis made me smile. he is a BEAST.

Forte looks like he is burt. he is hitting holes...or non holes like he is 2007 Cedric Benson.

Knox stepping up is huge. what a game changer he could be.

Here's to Brown coming back sooner than later from that ankle injury.

Peanut had a good game but Manning and Payne continued to show weakness defending the pass and falling for terrible fakes.

Hillenmeyer stepped up but I did notice a difference without Urlacher. At least HH showed some intensity and performed capably.

Roach is ok but i really want PISA back now. Jamar with the game ending tackle on special teams!!

Gould's confidence level is at an all time high. He truly feels like he is going to make evey field goal less than 50 yards. What a stud...fucking automatic.

SOME NEWS FROM SEATTLE:

The 23-10 loss by Seattle was marred by a series of injuries that included the loss of four critical Seahawks: Hasselbeck, linebacker Lofa Tatupu, left tackle Sean Locklear and cornerback/kick returner Josh Wilson.

Hasselbeck injured his ribs on a hard tackle to the back by linebacker Patrick Willis in the closing minute of the first half as he dove for the end zone.

Bring on Seattle!

Great points, Jeff. I'm glad Gould wears #9, because he's like Jimmy Mac in the way he just knows how to WIN. I know we all love Butthead, but I think Gould is flat out the best kicker we've ever had. The 5-yard cushion is going to get us beat in a game we need at some point this season. Bowman and Tillman are good enough to put pressure on receivers, Lovie needs to let them do so. HH makes up for not being #54 with smarts and intensity. Two things we desperately need more of on defense. Tommie is starting to get that look in his eye, the one that spells trouble for opposing offenses. Johnny Knox is Eddie Royal 2009, plain and simple. I've been raving about the guy all off-season, and love to see his skills translate well to the field. Our receiving corps mirrors what the Giants have, yet they don't get beat about the head and shoulders by the media. I LOVE the fact we didn't bring in a high-priced FA, because seeing these guys play and gel with Jay and eachother is more fun and great for the team. Olsen is a tough SOB, no question. I think Dez might have lost his starting spot, KD is a beast and makes us better as a pass catcher AND blocker. 3-1 at the bye, and I feel strongly that 11-5 is there for the taking. BEAR DOWN.

Cutler looked about the same to me as last week.

The number don't lie on Robbie but "Butt-head" has nothing to hang his head about regarding his career.

Hasselbeck's ribs are reportedly only bruised. They're still gonna be sore.

When it comes to ris, I'm not sure there's much to choose between
broken or bruised. It hurts to just breathe.

Can't help thinking we're "wating for the other shoe to drop" on Alex's condition.

Did anyone even hear Zack Bowman's name mentioned all day. The Steelesr seemed to want no part of him.

Oh, yes, this is a GOOOOOOD Monday.

Bears win.

Packers lose.
At home
To Cincy.
And give up 7 sacks to a team that recorded a total of 17 all last season! Think their Barbre got clipped for a couple again?

Cowboys lose.
At Home.
On Sunday Night for all the world to see.
Inaugurating their new monument to excess, the "Dallas Palace".
Wonder how many of those $100 cheese pizza's they sold last night?

Wonder if Jerry Jones got the booger he was mining for when NBC's cameras caught him in "A Pick"?

Yes, a very good Monday.

Almost forgot.

Packers also surrender 140 yards to...Cedric Benson.

LOL!

Everybody's talking about the Steelers' misse FGs as the key to the win. It certainly helped field position. But the Steelers could not stop Cutler at the end of the game. I wish they woul have made both FGs and Cutler would have kept driving, all the way down the field for a game-winning TD, then the champs would have had no excuse. It would have happened, too. There was no denying Jay yesteray.

To me this win was all about Cutler making things happen. The line was suspect, the running game was awful, and the recievers dropped more passes. Without Jay Cutler we don't win this game. That's what we hoped for when he came here, a quarterback who could be a difference maker.
As for the questions Jeff, I agree with most of them though the Urlacher one I disagree with. I did see a big difference between HH and BU. The Steeler running game is brutal, and they gashed the Bears front right up the middle. If you watch it back Hunter got burried one on one on several of those, especially on the long run by #34. I still think the Bears need to reach out to Derrick Brooks as a MLB.
Johnny Knox was amazing! I think he is officially the Eddie Royal of Chicago 2009. He is still raw, and I think that is what is most exciting about him; he's still gonna get a lot better!
Agree with Albert with the Butler mention. To me it's a two man race with Kevin Butler and Robbie Gould for greatest kicker of all time Bears history. But I would have to put Gould ahead right now. I was nervous with the fall on the ball play calling leading up to that kick. That's a long ways in those conditions, but it worked out.

I have to give T Harris credit for the game he played. I thought he had nothing left to contribute, but when he was in he played well. I thought Hunter played well too, Brian U has been having a hard time with the run when dealing with one on one blocking from an offensive lineman. So IMO I dont feel there is a big dropoff from Urlacher to HH. Hopin Alex Brown is o.k. because there is a HUGE dropoff in talent when he is out. I still cant believe that Babich put Anderson in front of Alex a couple years ago....WTF was he thinkin about?

#1.. MVP for the Bears yesterday was Jeff Reed for missing 2 field goals and keeping the Bears in the game. #2..I predicted during the pre-season that if Johnny Knox could get some "Quality Time" with first string and Cutler throwing to him that he would pass Hester up as #1 receiver by next season. I was wrong, he may just do it this season. My nick name for Jackass is now "Johnny Angel" 'cause he's out there "flyin" around cathcing most everything! #3...Olsen lost his footing on the horseshit sod job done on the field. It takes sod 60 to 90 days for the grass roots to get a firm foothold for a decent playing surface. They might be better off to patch it with a good quality ball diamond mix so at least it will pack down and the players can get traction. Also I don't think Greg saw that first hit comming. Not surprized he saw stars after that one. #4...Best Cutler Facial expession is when the Ref swung his arm up and smacked Cutler in the face and knocked his helmet off. "Surprize"
Both offense and defense played real hard yesterday, and were able to pull off a win on the Steelers mistakes. Turner played it right working the middle a lot taking advantage of Troy Polamalu's absence. Still a lot of work to do.

Attention Steeler apologists: "Well, we win if Jeff Reed hits.." Blah, Blah, Blah, yada, yada, yad. And If your aunt had a pair she'd be your uncle. You want some cheese with that whine? Here's one for you to chew on, Steelers fans: EVEN MONEY that if Jeff Reed hits BOTH those FGs, with 2 minutes plus and 2 time outs Cutler just continues to drive the Bears for a TD instead of a taking his foot off the gas to stop for a field goal attempt. Jay stopped when he did because he knew he only needed 3 and hehad "Mr. Money" waiting to come in and kick it.

Did not mean to come across as chastizing you on Butler, Matty. Your post wasn't visble to me when I posted my initial response. ButtHead's a classic.

Regarding kickers, until Bob Thomas, anything over 50% was considered "good" for Bear kickers! And even Thomas struggled a bit early in his career.

Oh, and I don't want to hear about "No Troy Polamalu". We were/are without Urlacher. Deal with it. Polamalu's replacement, Tyrone Carter, was allowed to get away with murder. The league should suspend him for launching himself like that TWICE in one game.
I have zero tolerance for that crap.

That rule is there to protect BOTH players.
Yo, Tyrone! That's a GREAT way to snap your own neck!

Johnny:
"What a bunch of reality show, US Weekly-esque, salon gossip, back talking teenage girls."

Perfect quote, thanks for that.

for those saying we got gashed for big rushing yards: Mendenhahl:3-39 yards. yep. that 39 yarder was all he got. the other dude, think he had 70-80 yards(i'll have to check). So HH did his job. Would 54 have stopped that? maybe, but we got the job done. I'd still like bringing in Brooks, if nothing less that leadership, but we'll be ok.

Looks like another national game at 3:15 against the sea chickens...here in MN anyway. I am lucking out...Another win there should shut down the negatives through the bye...(figuring on a win against Detroit) 3-1 seems like a pretty nice start to me. Vikes lose next week?

FYI,

Yesterday's loss gave the Steelers a lifetime mark of 1-12 in Chicago.

In regards to Polamalu being out...not only were we missing Urlacher, but Tinoisamoa as well.
The BIG difference being that we were missing 2-out-of-3 starting linebackers in a 4-3 while they were missing 1 safety out of a 3-4. I would argue that the 3-4, with the extra LB, means the safety spot isn't as critical from a coverage standpoint, all other things being equal. We were hurting from a personnel standpoint far more than the Steelers were. Polamalu gets to run all over the field and make plays because he's got extra help in coverage vs. our safeties. A 4-3 safety has to stay home more.

Albert - of course we had to watch the "1" win in 1995 on NFL network this week...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1781453,CST-SPT-bside21.article

I hear ya, Mike. I watched it thru Barry (a not half-bad Middle Linebacker) Minter's Pick six.

Pittsburgh Papers whined not only about no Polamalu but that Carter had a bad leg. No mention of the Bears being down 2 starting linebackers. So typical.

Missed field goals are easy to point at as reasons for a cheap win. But you're kicking because the opposing D kept you from converting on a big 3rd down.

Also definitely need to credit the D line and Alex Brown for adding 10 or so yards to the first 4th quarter FG attempt.

Anyone know about Alex "Gator Chop" Brown yet? He brought his A game yesterday and left it all out on the field. He's a true leader by example and that bodes well for Bears as season progresses. Watched game again on reply last night and it was as good as live. HH played smart and I saw no real "Mike" drop off. We all know he can't bang you like Lack. But he's around the ball always and might be better in pass coverage. He had a couple of nice deflections that really made difference. Hello Kellen Davis! Kid has stud size and large pair of mitts. That shot he absorbed on TD was headhunter Pitt style. Typical dirty Steelers. Bears have number 1 kicker in NFL. Pro Bowl for Robbie "Good As Gold" Gould this year for sure. What Packer Game?

So, we were the first ones to beat the champs. I guess that makes us the new World Champion Chicago Bears. Hell yeah. Feels so good.

Was in the South Endzone yesterday and could not believe how many Steelers fans were at the game! It was Bandwagon alert!! They were actually pretty decent though..Unlike one D-Bag that was wearing a Aaron Rodgers jersey and packers hat...seriously, why are you at that game? What a tool...

How about Johnny "The Jet" Knox? lol He will be a bigger star than Hester was if he keeps He seems much faster this year. He did get eaten up on some plays though. He's smart enough and athletic enough to do a good job for us. Not sure what's going on with Olsen's hands. He almost dropped the long one late too. I think he'll get it together though. Manning is not a good defensive player period besides his blitzes. I hope they can trade him for his kick return skill after the year because we have plenty of options there too.

I like that they're not over using Harris like last season. They might get as much out of him and get more production out of the other guys. I'm about to watch it back in slow mo and see what really went down on some guys.

I did notice a drop off at Mike, especially early; HH was getting picked on their first drive and then again late, anytime Harris wasn't in they ran it right at that gap and it was giving way like a Minnesota bridge; yah he got held bad on Mendenhals run but they were givin up 8-12 yard chunks for a while in the 2nd half til they figured out to stop swapping Tommie out.
I am not understanding some of the substitutions... Tommie out for Mark Anderson.. WTF I think we have been drinkin too much of Marinelli's Kool-Aid now. The guy is good, fine you proved that but puttin a small DE at the DT esp with a 2nd string MLB is going overboard. Let's stop gettin fancy and just punch em in the face a little. Alex Brown injured would be an awful blow; please no.
And also wtf is with keeping Forte out so much, I was starting to wonder if he was injured, 13 carries for the starter?

And I still think that second FG attempt by Reed was partially blocked.

I had the pleasure of watching this game at a steelers bar. I was one of 3 jersey wearing bears fans in a crowd of about 50, band wagon steelers fans. typical steelers fans, they can dish it out but they can't take it. Crying about our crappy turf. Crying about playing without Troy.

needless to say, I got shit faced and talked a whole lot of shit at the end of the game. Might not be going back to that bar for awhile.

bear down. we win!

Sun times makes it sound like Alex Brown is going to be ok.
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1781453,CST-SPT-bside21.article

Another reason I'm glad that the Bears won is that the troll "John" who used to make a nearly daily visit to this site was a Steelers fan. And that asshole needed to be shut up.

Ghost - word.

I will be shocked if he shows up for a good long while.

Steelers beat the Titans, Bears beat the Steelers, Packers beat the Bears, Cincy beat the Packers, and the Broncos beat Cincy...

So the Broncos are the best team in Football!!

Gotta love the NFL - any given sunday and all that.

Big Rob-

There was a ton of Steelers fans...and they all had thier trusty snot rags...Uh I mean, terrible towels. They even got the "HEATH" chant going when miller caught a pass...that was surprising.

Ghost you talking about "Dave"? or were there 2 steelers turds that talked shit here?
I'm watching the game back now and on the 3rd and 12 that Pitt picked up in the first drive to Holmes. Izzy was double teamed at the line and was standing about 4 yards from Big Ben at the 15 when he threw that pass, then he was basically the first guy to touch Holmes after he slipped avoiding a tackle from Payne at the 45 yd line. Talk about hustle and not giving up on a play. These are the type of players I absolutely love.

2nd game watching back and second game watching Jason McKie lead block air. He runs up in there and either touches no one or jumps on a guy already handled and leaves a guy to make the tackle.

Hopefully Afalava and Bowman learn how to properly block on interceptions. Hope they get a lot of chances to correct that small part of their game.

points from my re-watch of the 1st half
-I still don't know how Knox caught his first catch on the slant. That was a rocket and was basically behind him when he caught it plus he was held bad.
-Roach played well and was always in position.
-The oline did a very good job in pass protection.
-Kellen will give us a sick (3) TE set when Dez comes back where we can look like we're going to smash it and audible any of the (3) out wide.
-They tried to let McKie handle Harrison pretty much one on one at least (3) times and Cutler about got hurt twice. That can be done against elite "rushman"
-That was a very dirty hit by Harrison on Cutler's knees.
-I don't think the Carter hit on Olsen along the sideline was that dirty. It happened so fast, I think it was more the situation. He did lead with his helmet but he didn't go after his head. I guess by rules it's illegal but I think those situations are difficult.
-I thought it was good to see A.P. involved. They need to have someone else to count on and gets some much needed encouragement after playing well.
-Cutler still needs to learn when to give up on a play and throw it away (like the play he kinda ran on near the goall line before Kellen's td)so that he doesn't get hurt. He's too important. He made so much better decisions though than the G.B. game and he's trusting the Oline more.
-

What's with all the love for Tommie Harris ? He had one tackle ! We would be better off with almost anyone below him on the roster taking his place. It's not his fault I understand and accept that, but a one-legged gimp is not effective.

From the trib, for anyone who still doubts Cutler :

"The tape shows the Steelers brought five or more pass rushers 11 times, and Cutler absolutely slew the blitz. He completed passes on nine of the blitzes for 106 yards. On those 11 blitzes, he had a 137.1 passer rating, a completion percentage of .810 and an average per completion of 11.7 yards.

Cutler had only two bad throws as a result of the pass rush -- on one he was called for intentional grounding, and the other could have been intercepted but wasn't. Interestingly, he left the pocket to throw because he was under pressure only once -- quite a departure from the previous game. Because most of the Steelers' pressure came from the outside, Cutler had to step up in the pocket more this game, and he did that well."

That's getting it done.

Kellen Davis blocking two guys on one play ? Touchdown ? 6'7 - we are set at TE. Although the pass protection was better this week, the run blocking was terrible. We need Gaines in there more on obvious running downs because Olsen can't block.

In fact, how about Davis and Gaines in full time ? Olsen drops the ball way too much ......

By the bye, IF Brooks was brought in, who plays the Mike ?

Anyone notice that on Forte's fumble,(knocked out from behind)that he had the ball in the wrong arm and that play was one step from going all the way. It turned out we kept possession, luckily and Olson was "johnny on the spot" to recover. In my opinion 22 looks beefed up and is 1 step slower. I bet the coaches will be on him to start running harder and looking less tentative, especially with this years slow start.

I agree Forte needs to make some plays against Seattle, he really hasn't done much so far. I heard Seattle will be wearing a booger green throwback jersey on Sunday. does any one know when the BEARS wear the ornage jersey???

Nice post!