New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears Game Preview

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip never amounted to much of a show but this is one of my favorite five minutes in TV history.

The Saints are horrible. The Bears are slightly more horrible. So why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

WHY ELSE?

If the Saints didn’t win a Super Bowl a half decade ago they’d be the Chicago Bears. Their sideline is lousy with coaches shouting at one another, their defense is in the tank and now will have 2013 first-rounder Kenny Vaccaro on the bench, their offense shows up every other month and they are coming off a humiliating thrashing at the hands of the also-terrible Carolina Panthers. That was remarkably their fourth consecutive loss at home – a place where they’ve dominated the sport in the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era. It’s bad in New Orleans but…
…if you are miserable in New Orleans, you must not like drinking or eating or music or joy.
40 carries, 271 yards, 6.8 yards a clip, 2 touchdowns. That is what the Panthers did to the Saints with a wasteland of an offensive line and a combination of Jonathan Stewart, Cam Newton, Mike Tolbert & Fozzy Whittaker.
Cam Newton is the fifth most sacked quarterback in the NFL. The Saints didn’t get near him.

2014 Draws Comparisons to 2009

The 2009 Chicago Bears were 3-1 heading into their early-season bye week. They came out of the bye and lost 8 of their next 10 games, including defensive embarrassments against Cincinnati, Arizona and Minnesota. The team was dead and buried.

WHY ELSE?

Let me think…
The Cowboys had a ton of success running the ball against this 49ers front but suffered from Tony Romo’s complete unwillingness to make the football game competitive. Expect the Bears to take the same approach. Forte, Forte and more Forte. Slow the game down. Take the crowd out of it. This should be a thirty rush attempt night for the Bears and if their adjusted offensive line holds up they should be able to keep things close.
Niners offense was non-existent in second half against the worst defense in the league.
I think the Bears secondary matches up well with the 49er options on the outside, especially if they use Jennings inside on Vernon Davis. (They can’t expect to cover Davis with any of their linebackers or safeties. It isn’t possible.)
The Bears outside threats, if healthy, match up well against every secondary in the sport with the possible exception of Seattle. San Fran is down to second and third-stringers so a healthy Marshall/Jeffery combination could be in line for a big night.
Is it even possible Mel Tucker’s primary (and perhaps only) point of emphasis this week won’t be containing Colin Kaepernick in the pocket? If Kaepernick is gouging the Bears defense for huge chunks of yards and first downs serious questions can be asked about what happened Tuesday through Saturday in the defensive meeting rooms. If Kaepernick beats them from the pocket, so be it.
These games are the reason Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston and Willie Young are in Chicago. They are not only talented rushers but also smart, disciplined ends.
Bears actually have two linebackers with the speed to spy Kaepernick: Bostic and Shea. I’d expect both to play that role Sunday night, with Bostic getting a majority of the snaps.