OK, I’ve had about all I can take of the negativity surrounding the Chicago Bears after their week 2 disaster in Green Bay. The Packers walloped them. The offensive game plan had some holes in it, the offensive line had some holes in it, and apparently Jay Cutler’s head had some holes in it. Time to move on, time for a different type of look at the Chicago Bears.
Navy and orange colored glasses; Check!
Polish Sausage; Check!
Deep dish pizza; Check!
Chicago Bears sweater vest; Check!
Adult beverage; Check! Check! Check! And Check!
Alrighty then. Now that I’m in the proper mood to tackle some glass half full thoughts on the Monsters of the Midway, it’s time to get down to business.
With the Packers’ win, the Bears’ loss, the Vikings’ loss, and the Lions’ loss, there’s now a four way 1-1 tie atop the NFC North. I suppose technically the Pack are on top since they have the lone division win, but the fact remains that the season is a scant two games old. With 14 games left to be played it’s far too early to get too low or too high for that matter. There’s a lot of football left on the schedule.
How about that defense? A big question mark for the Bears heading into the 2012 season was their aging defense. Many experts thought they would lose a collective step, then with the lingering Brian Urlacher knee injury some feared the worst for the D.
Urlacher was held out of the second half against the Colts in week one, he didn’t practice during Packers week, and that only fueled the negative speculation. But the defense played pretty good on Thursday night. They stymied the Packers offense and Green Bay had to resort to trickery for their first touchdown.
The Packers didn’t manage their first offensive TD until 11:17 in the 4th quarter. They sacked Aaron Rodgers 5 times and intercepted him once. And even though Brian Urlacher still isn’t where he needs to be, he did improve from week 1 to week 2. He’s starting to get some of his speed back. Also, I would like to point out that Tim Jennings now has 3 interceptions on the season.
With regards to the trick play, the Bears special teams unit is one of the best in the business. Being tricked by that fake field goal is an anomaly and special teams coordinator Dave Toub will make sure that never happens again.
But we do need to address the offense… so in keeping with my positive spin, I hope everyone realizes that this was only the second game ever for Mike Tice as an offensive coordinator and only the second live test for the revamped new look hybrid offense. It will improve. As will the Bears. The Bears also had a critical drop by Devin Hester that could have extended a drive, and then there was the sure TD that Brandon Marshall dropped.
Last year the Bears laid an egg in week 2 to fall to 1-1, but went on to that 7-3 start before the Jay Cutler thumb injury. So no worries Bears fans, there are better days ahead for the Chicago Bears.