Chicago Bears at New England Patriots Thread
Fact #1
Jay Cutler will have a bounceback game.
Here’s a rather remarkable stat for Jay Cutler. In his season and a half under Marc Trestman, anytime his passer rating in a game has dipped below 90 he has a rebounded well.
Trust history. Cutler’s passer rating: 109.4
Fact #2
Matt Forte will have more carries than he’s had all season.
Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?
I always like the Chicago Bears.
Because there is no earthly reason to believe this football team – maligned quarterback, emotionally excitable star receiver, ignored tailback, coach under the microscope, temperamental right guard, derided defensive coordinator…etc. – can go into Foxboro and beat one of the greatest head coach and quarterback combinations in the history of the sport with their season on the line, they probably will.
Chicago Bears 40, New England Patriots 31
Per a Patrick Finley report in the Sun-Times (and many other reports), Lance Briggs left the Bears locker room during Brandon Marshall’s tirade after the team’s humiliating loss to the Dolphins:
“I just left because I could see where things were kinda going,” he said on his weekly Comcast Sports Net show, which airs Tuesday night. “And I knew that when you get emotional there are moments when, you get in an argument and both people are emotional, you’re not going to get anywhere, continuing to argue.”
So let me get this straight. Lance Briggs is the team’s most veteran presence and supposedly leader of an entire side of the ball. Instead of sharing his views with Marshall and the team or, you know, leading…he LEFT THE LOCKER ROOM?! Has any player revealed themselves to have less character over these past two seasons than Lance Briggs? From his Twitter outbursts regarding the team moving on from veterans to his refusal to speak with media for much of 2013, Briggs has become a player whose brilliant prime in Chicago is starting to fill like a distant memory.
I watched him do it. From behind the goal post, decked out in ski goggles and enough waterproof clothing to stay dry in Seattle, I watched Tom Brady dissect the Bears defense in a blizzard. He was not phased. He was not human. Moon Mullin described the early dismantling:
The Patriots went through the Chicago defense on drives of 85 and 87 yards, lasting 12 and 11 plays against a unit that had allowed drives of double-digit plays only five times in the last five games. Less than five minutes into the second quarter the Bears were in a 14-0 hole.
In fairness I only watched the first half. That was plenty for me.
Now that same quarterback, that same coach, stand between the Bears and the possibility of a successful 2014 campaign. A win Sunday at Foxboro would send the Bears into their bye at 4-4, a respectable mark and a record to build upon over the second half of the season. A loss would compound early inconsistency and leave the Bears to answer a relentless stream of questions over the next two weeks. The most frequently asked question: how did this happen?
I discussed Bears v. Dolphins at length with my pal Trent Condon in Des Moines. Here is the audio. (Editing is a bit dicey but all the Dolphins stuff is secured.)
The Bears have two games they had no business losing. They lost them both. They have no business losing to the Miami Dolphins at home Sunday. So…
Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?
I always like the Chicago Bears.
Cameron Wake can ruin this game for the Chicago Bears. He is a premier pass rusher, most comfortable on the left side, and if the Bears rely on Jordan Mills to handle him solo for any extended period of time they will find themselves in a situation where Jimmy Clausen is warming up on the sideline. Of the 2014 projected starters on offense, Mills has been the only weak link and he is coming off his weakest performance of the season in Atlanta.
Wake has attacked in spurts this season, disappearing for large chunks of games, but he played his best sixty minutes Sunday. If Aaron Rodgers didn’t get the ball out of his hands quickly all afternoon he would have ended up on a cart to the locker room midway through the third quarter. Bears must use Martellus Bennett. They must use Eben Britton. They must not be afraid to take Mills out of the game and replace him with Michael Ola if Bushrod returns.
It is the most important match-up of the game. If the Bears win it their offense should consistently win all afternoon.
