AZ54

I think Anderson is quite a bit better in pass coverage than Roach ever was. I wish I had data to back that up but then again it's only 3 games. Nonetheless I say that Anderson has a better knack for getting into the right position to defend passes. OTOH Anderson only has 3 games of experience in our system (versus Roach's years) so there is reason to think he'll only get better as he is more comfortable with his assignments. He has out-played DJ Williams so far but I hope that trend is changing based on what I saw in the Steelers game.

No trade, he has no value to our roster and we need cap room for last minute signings to replace guys like Melton. Freeman does not know the offense (duh), not sure he knows any offense at all at this point. Let him get cut and if we have some interest I'd bring him in for a work out and see what the QB Whisperer says. I was never impressed by Freeman even when he had some decent stats but there are other issues that need research. I want to know why his teammates did not want him to be a captain, or was that the result of his head coach interfering in the vote process? Either way there are problems. It's impossible to know what all is going on in Tampa but the team is a mess and when I see two or three players give up on a tackle and allow a Patriot a free ride into the end zone I know the team, at least parts of it, has quit on the coach.

The Buccaneers have quit on their coach. Watch some of the game highlights and you can see some matador tackles.

I watched the Steelers game again with a lot of slo-mo for both defense and offense. Peppers is nearly back to his old self. I think he's still not back to where he was in terms of his energy but he was bringing it in the pass rush and on run D. He does get double teamed a lot because nobody else on our D line is worth worrying about consistently. I think with another week to recover from the flu and now with his hamstring obviously healed up (TD run as proof). FWIW...There was a strain of the flu out here in AZ in August that made a lot of people miss a full week of work including my daughter who was affected for nearly two weeks.

Paea should be our starting 3 technique, he'll be far more productive than what we've seen from either Melton or Collins there. Park Collins and Minter at NT with Collins also getting some time at the 3-tech. We must get some push up the middle and Paea is the only one who's shown he can do that with any consistency and he's doing it from the NT spot. In fact we won't find a decent 3-tech on the street as those guys are too valuable so if we are going to sign someone grab a big body who can handle the NT spot for run defense. We can cover the pass rush downs at NT in other ways.

Do we really need a QB named Chuckie?

Ditto that.

I expected a very physical Steelers team to show up tonight on both offense and defense, especially the defense. That's exactly what we got. We had the game in control until we hit their punter and that ended up giving them a TD a few plays later. Yet on the road where the momentum changed in the home team's favor the Bears responded on both defense and offense in the 4th quarter and that is what good teams do. It's not all perfect, we're still missing a pass rush and we gave up far too many big plays on D. The Oline must get better at run blocking. Our first draft pick in 2014 will likely be a DT. Depending on who drops it could be a CB but I think DT is going to be at the top of our wish list.

This... and the fact they won't go anywhere without a QB in today's NFL so might as well go all out for the right guy. I think Lombardi is right to make the deal for a 1st Rd pick. On Richardson's durability I haven't watched him play but some RBs are better at avoiding the big hit. LT was very good at it in his prime. Other RBs just run into defenders. Not sure where Richardson falls on that scale but if he takes a lot of contact that has to be a factor when considering his longevity.

Haka...pre game cheerleading. It's been a tradition at my kids' high school for many years because we have a strong polynesian influence here. Started some time around the time Deuce Lutui was there. I've never seen it at the few rugby games I attended here in AZ but it expanding in popularity. I wish the Bears would do it the way our high school does where all the players line up and participate as it really gets the crowd going.

From week 1: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...a-big-game.html It’s early yet, but it seems best to step aside when Bennett gets on a roll, which is most of the time. He certainly was rolling Monday, a day after he dropped the first pass thrown his way, caught the first touchdown pass of the season for the Bears, was flagged twice for holding and threw a key block on a fourth-and-one play that helped his team beat the Bengals in the season opener.

Most importantly there is that these stats came against two teams that went to the playoffs last year and both of them have good defenses. Last year we put up some good numbers against the Colts in game 1 but I value our week 1 win over the Bengals more as a barometer of what we are than that Colts game last year.

After a shaky start Martellus certainly looks like a great signing. His catch in the end zone (out of bounds) was incredible but the fact he was hurt, stayed in and still made more plays including a twisting back shoulder grab that only the best WRs make to win the game was something we haven't seen in years from a TE. Greg Olsen wasn't even able to make as acrobatic catches as what we've seen from Bennett. Only two games in and he's played a key role in both victories. Teams are going to have to pay more attention to him in pass coverage and that will open things up even more for Forte and Jeffrey. Speaking of Forte: He quietly had a much better day than AP with 90 yds rushing and 71 yds receiving. I say quietly because he is not getting any props from the media as they like to focus on the spectacular plays (or the "100yds rushing target") but he generated consistent offense for us throughout the game.

As I told my son after the game: This isn't your father's Chicago Bears. We used to play ugly on offense and win games 17-13. Plus to get to 17 pts we would have needed a INT pick 6, the other would have come from Hester. Today we played as ugly as possible and won 31-30. We still had the pick 6 in there but the rest was the offense doing something. However bad it was, that is new. Now if we can just clean up a few things.

If you are staying overnight I recommend a short trip out to Greektown for breakfast at Lou Mitchell's. It's a legendary place with great service, great food at a good price. There is a lot of history there as many famous people have eaten there. My daughter lives in Greektown and last year when we visited we stopped by...I'll be back on my next trip. http://www.loumitchellsrestaurant.com/index.asp “If God made omelets, they’d taste like creations at this loop, World-class breakfast place. Open for lunch, too. Great pancakes. ...” —Zagat Survey

I'm with you here. Urlacher at the time was clear he'd play for less money for another team like the Patriots and he wanted a home team bonus. His words and his perspective of today after nobody else came calling for him represent some perspective. Over time he will have even more perspective. I'm just going to sit back and allow him to gain that perspective realizing it is very hard for elite athletes to end their careers. I've never been elite at anything but I can get a sense of the emotions someone else likely has when they come to the realization they are no longer elite, especially during that first weekend of the NFL season when he's not playing. There may even come a point where he learns to actually appreciate Bears fans once again. When you see that you will likely see the warm embrace of the Bears community welcoming back one of their legends. I will add that if Urlacher's agent didn't understand the Bears cap situation, and if that agent also didn't understand the market for Urlacher (and other vet FAs) then he clearly had bad advice. Perhaps he is coming to that realization as well and some of that perspective seems to be showing in his comments.

Game plans actually based on what opponents weaknesses and strengths are. I also like the way he talks about adversity, how it always happens in games you just don't know when it will be. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...49-f903772f5d2b

I haven't been able to post much since the first game but one of the most obvious differences I noticed with our D against the Bengals was the lack of gang tackling. I give Lovie credit because we always had 11 guys running toward the ball and it paid off routinely. Too often against the Bengals we would have one or two players go for a tackle but additional support was either late getting there or never arrived. I'm glad Tucker and the players are addressing this in practice this week as we need this to stop AP this weekend. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...rn-fundamentals

They need a better drug dealer.

On NFL AM some reporter from Detroit said Suh will not change his ways and summed up Suh's fines this way: He's made $51 million since entering the league. His total fines since he entered the league equate to a fine of $55 for a person earning the average annual salary here in the US. That's not even a speeding ticket, so yes he does not care.

While watching highlights last night I noticed the slight limp Vick had as he walked off the field late in the game, and so it begins. Anyway, Chip Kelly also plans on practicing on Tuesdays which is when most teams are letting their players rest or come in for treatment. We'll see how this all adds up.

Having watched Kelly's offense at Oregon a lot I will say this: Gary Crowton's offense looked unbeatable in his first start. Oregon always struggled when they hit the big name competition. The media would have us believe nobody could stop Kelly's offense and that's not true. Whenever they had the athletic advantage (which was often in the Pac 10) Oregon would dominate. In college it is easier to isolate your faster players (when you have a lot of them) against slower players but talent in the NFL is far better balanced. I believe after 4 games his plays will be figured out and the going won't be so easy. The presumption the only way to beat this offense is to have your offense make long drives is partially correct but keep in mind the point is to win a game not necessarily "stop" his offense. Forcing Chip's offense to go 3-and-out in 30 seconds (or 6 and out in 60 sec) really hurts his defense and gets you more plays as well. I don't think the Eagles defense is that good to begin with but tonight they succeeded by relying heavily on blitzes that left huge holes open behind them. RGIII and the Redskins were not prepared for this, however, teams will figure this out very quickly and I think we will see a lot of big plays given up. As far as the Eagles offense and all read-options...just go hit the QB. These plays have always been around in college there's a reason they weren't used much in the NFL. And I don't buy the story that we haven't had talented running and passing QBs (Steve Young for one) in the past. In the NFL your QB determines your success more than any other player and it's a brutal 16 game season so protecting the QB from hits is of paramount importance. Unlike recruiting for college where elite programs find it easier to keep talent in the pipeline, finding your next NFL QB is a crapshoot. QBs who are predominately runners (average accuracy or below as passers) can take you far in college but who has done that in the NFL? National Championship rosters are littered with the names of these players. I could be wrong but Jim Harbaugh didn't sound as if he likes his QB taking hits on run fakes. I'll stand alone, or in the minority, that this offense won't be looking so elite by mid-year.

No surprise here.

After reading the post-game articles it was intentional play-calling for the first few series to make sure the Oline could keep Cutler upright. Long missed one assignment early that led to a pressure. Once they settled into the game we opened up the playbook and results followed. Going into the next game against the Vikings we will have more confidence with the rookies and they won't have as big of a challenge facing them.

It's game 1, don't get too high and don't get too low with one exception....our brand new Oline did not give up a single sack. The Bengals didn't show much of their two TE offense in the preseason so we didn't have much to plan with. I was nervous as the second half started but after seeing what they were doing we improved in the second half. DJ Williams missed the entire preseason so he was rusty out there, he will get better but if he doesn't we'll be seeing the rookie before the end of the season. Pass rush was the biggest disappointment, not so much the sack total but the lack of pressure overall. Bengals Oline is really good but we were not showing any passion to get after the QB in the first half. It got better in the second half where they kept Dalton to quicker releases and that helped the secondary quite a bit.