While Jeff is getting drunk and golfing in Ireland, I have been put in charge of doing NFC North Previews for DBB. To help get knowledge on some of the other teams, I called up a pair of colleagues and they had the same thought about the NFC North standings this year: The Packers will finish first and the Bears will finish last.

While my attempts to record podcasts with both failed, I spoke with Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Jeff Risdon of RealGM and ESPN 961 and they both were in agreement on how the division would shake out.

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Three Final Thoughts

(1) Unless Cutler goes 31-37, 385 yards and three touchdowns and the Bears lose a shootout, the quarterback will be the story today. Sometimes the NFL is not about Xs and Os. Sometimes its just about about one guy putting a team on his back and saying, “We’re not losing today, fellas.” That is what Cutler needs to do today.

(2) Bears need Jared Allen. They need his presence and they need his production. If he misses the game due to illness or is limited due to weakness, the Bears will need heroic efforts from Young and Houston.

(3) Mike McCarthy likes to be creative with his special teams calls against the Bears, especially at Soldier Field. Bears should be careful every time the Packers line up to kick/punt and be wary of the Packers overloading the Bears right side when P.O.D. is dropping back.

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

(But this week just a bit more.)

A Thought on Aaron Rodgers

For the first time in his tenure with the Green Bay Packers, The Golden Boy hath lost his shine. His gold is more a beige. The Beige Boy.

It started a year ago with Greg Jennings criticizing Rodgers on the way out the door, causing national NFL media types to start a letter-writing campaign in hopes of having Jennings ex-communicated from the league. Aaron Rodgers not a good leader? Aaron Rodgers not a great teammate? How dare anyone insinuate such a thing!

(Side note: Outside of Devin Hester, who couldn’t play the position he was asked to play, how many players from Jay Cutler’s huddle have made such accusations?)

On opening night of the 2014 campaign there was Aaron Rodgers verbally ripping his fifth-round rookie center in front of a national audience. After the Packers loss to Detroit, one of their most woeful offensive performances in years, he ripped the individuals responsible for adjustments. (Some call these individuals “coaches”.) From Packers.com:

“We didn’t make enough adjustments to score enough points,” Rodgers said.

Adjustments?

“Adjustments, yeah. We didn’t make enough adjustments,” Rodgers said.

“Their goal was they were going to limit the number of one-on-one coverages and roll the coverage to Jordy. We need balance. We have to run the ball better, more effectively. We haven’t done it in the first three games,” Rodgers said.

So it’s the coaches and their adjustments. And it’s those responsible for running the ball. So everybody on the offense except for…him? You think this was harmless? Mike McCarthy did not and took veiled shots back when he met the media:

“I’m not really up here to talk about scheme,” McCarthy said at his Monday news conference. “One thing I always talk to our players about all the time is scheme is not a crutch. The fundamentals and the things we do from an execution standpoint were not good enough, clearly, on offense.”

There is blood in the water for the first time in the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay. If the Bears don’t pounce on them at home like Alex Kintner, they are not ready to seize the moment and control of the NFC North.

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Sean Jensen received a text from Jared Allen stating the Bears push “came out of nowhere”. We’ve gotten used to that approach from Phil Emery during his short Chicago Bears tenure. Here are a few thoughts on the signing.

• The Bears added two defensive ends in free agency who excel in run support but are a bit lacking when it comes to pressures, disruptions, sacks. Now they’ve added one of the best 4-3 pass rushers in the sport. I’m not a huge of fan of big contracts to veteran defenders but the Bears needed sacks and they bought some. With the welcome return of Izzy Idonije Bears now have talent and depth at end.
• I’ve said many times I thought the Emery/Trestman regime would yield a championship contender in 2015. I still believe that, which is why I think it’s important to note the Bears gave Allen a second guaranteed year. Bears still have two gaping holes at safety and question marks at both linebacker and defensive tackle. But expectations for 2014, barring major injuries, should be no less than a playoff appearance.
• Kyle Long in 2013. Jared Allen in 2014. The Bears have added something I always thought they lacked in the Lovie Smith era: tough guys. They added some bloody noses. Some alley fighters. And while I can’t stand Jared Allen off the field, I’ll have little issue rooting for him on it.

I have gone back and forth on the meaning of day’s division title contest for Jay Cutler. Part of me thinks it’s the game that will define his Bears tenure to this point and set the tone of his relationship with the fans moving forward. Part of me thinks while it’s an important game, it is only Cutler’s eleventh start in this new system and Cutler should not be expected to be Aaron Rodgers…yet. As the game has gotten closer I am leaning towards the former. I think the folks saying today is the biggest regular season of Jay Cutler’s career are dead right. I hope his play, his intensity, his decision making, reflect that.

Enjoy sixty minutes for the division crown.

Photo from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

While the national media wanted to turn Sunday night’s debacle into a Jay Cutler debate (they failed), those of us who’ve watched every snap of this Chicago Bears season know better. The Bears as currently constructed and currently performing can’t beat an opponent they trail by 14-21 points. Why? Because two things have to happen for a team to eradicate a deficit that wide: they have to stop the run and they have to create turnovers. But the Bears are so bad at stopping the run the opponent never needs to throw the ball and thus the opportunity for turnovers does not present itself.

So with a defense so incapable of stopping the run…and the pass, for that matter…

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

FIRST, A RODGERS THOUGHT OR TWO…

• I know he’s a remarkable player but his playing Sunday does not drastically impact my opinion on the game. I thought Matt Flynn and the Packers offense would have continual success moving the ball down the field on the Bears defense. How many more points does Rodgers create? 7-10? At most? Well I’ve got them in the 30s already…

BUT WHAT FOOTBALL REASONS, JEFF?

• Bears defense since the bye week (and the Briggs/Tillman injuries that proceeded it) has not been bad at home in the least. They lost to Detroit, giving up only 21 points. They beat Baltimore, giving up only 20 points. They thrashed Dallas, giving up 28 points and 7 of those on a last-minute Kyle Orton drive that seemed to define garbage time. Their road form has been abysmal but this contest is at Soldier Field.
• Packers are 1-2 on the road since the Rodgers injury, beating only the Cowboys in one of the NFL’s greatest collapses. In those three road games they’ve allowed 103 points.

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“I think this is almost the perfect scenario to find out once and for all if Cutler is our QB.”

-4ever85 (AKA Butch Deadlift)

The Bears turned in their worst performance of the 2013 campaign, a three-phase meltdown in the City Where Santa was Booed. Soon after the players made it to the locker room and Tribune beat Rich Campbell made it to his smart phone, word began circulating that the focus had already shifted to the Green Bay Packers.

Just back from the Bears’ locker room. Those guys have already moved on to next Sunday’s game against the Packers.

Bears HC Marc Trestman said this game tape is going “in the trash can” after coaches watch it.

Bears DT Jay Ratliff: “We’ve got to put this game behind us & focus on next week because next week is really what matters.”

Make no mistake about it. Everything the Bears have achieved on the offensive side of the ball and failed to achieve on the defensive side will be forgotten at 3:25 PM CT Sunday. All the Alshon Jeffery catches, Chris Conte poor angles and Adam Podlesh shanks will be considered prologue. Those sixty minutes at Soldier Field will now be how the 2013 season is remembered. A victory will give Marc Trestman a division title in his rookie season and the Bears a home playoff game the following week. A loss will give the Bears a book of questions that require answering before they report to Bourbonnais next summer.

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