General Note

Having not watched the game live, I was following along on Twitter and with a few friends via text message. It was absolutely astounding the level of hysteria permeating the Tweets whilst my friends were all texting me things like, “they look ok” or “not much to actually learn from this crap”. When I woke up this morning and saw some of the work by the illustrious Chicago media, I expected to be viewing a train wreck. That was not the case. My thoughts on the game last night were overall positive.

Three Thoughts on the Offense…

• Jay Cutler to Eddie Royal is going to be this offense’s security blanket. Expect the Bears to start a lot of drives with quick outs to put them in second and six or less.
• Will Montgomery is a HUGE upgrade at center. He attacked Suh at the line of scrimmage on several plays and frustrated arguably one of the best defenders in the sport.

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Things you can actually watch tonight if you have very little else to do:

• Every person in Bourbonnais has mentioned Willie Young’s struggles to adapt to a new role in the defense. Might be interesting to see just how long the coaching staff leaves Young on the field. (This also begs the question, as many have asked, why don’t the Bears simply shop Young to a straight-forward 4-3 team with an edge rush need? What’s the purpose of having him go through this adaptation?)
• Is anyone convinced Jordan Mills will be the starting right tackle after Labor Day? Might be interesting to see who plays well at the tackle spot once the starters have left the field, hopefully after 3 plays.
• Is this Shea McClellin stuff real?
• Injuries. Injuries are the only significant element of preseason games. Anybody who tells you otherwise is selling you something.

Enjoy.

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.

A NOTE ON CAMERON WAKE

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.

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The Bears play three of their next four games on the road: at the Martz-had-no-use-for Greg Olsen in Carolina, at the Lovie-found-no-use-for Devin Hester in Atlanta and at Tom Brady and the now prematurely-buried Patriots. Sandwich in a home game against the Miami Dolphins and you have a four-game stretch that will set this season’s tone. Some teams battle for division titles. Some teams chase the top of the table all year long. How the Bears perform over these four games will position them in one of those two categories.

This is not a long-winded column. This opinion does not require a ton of explanation. When the Bears emerge from their bye week in November they play five of the their final eight games at home, including the warm weather, dome-based Saints and Cowboys in Soldier Field on cold evenings where both have been unmitigated disasters in the past. The other three games are at their division rivals. Those eight games will define the 2014 Bears.

Four out of four means the Bears are title contenders. Three out of four means they’re a serious playoff team. Two out of four means they’ll have a meaningful final two months of the season. Anything less is a crap shoot. Anything less than .500 over these next four games will be a serious cause for concern and more than likely leave the Bears with a second wild card ceiling.

To paraphrase Al Davis, “Just win…half of em…baby.”

Week One

Sunday September 7th – Noon

BILLS AT BEARS

Week Two

Sunday September 14th – SNF

BEARS AT 49ERS

Week Three

Monday September 22nd – MNF

BEARS AT JETS

Week Four

Sunday September 28th – Noon

PACKERS AT BEARS

Week Five

Sunday October 5th – Noon

BEARS AT PANTHERS

Week Six

Sunday October 12th – Noon

BEARS AT FALCONS

Week Seven

Sunday October 19th – Noon

DOLPHINS AT BEARS

Week Eight

Sunday October 26th – Noon

BEARS AT PATRIOTS

Week Nine

BYE

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