After a controversial end to Sunday’s season opener against Detroit, the Bears have a trip to Dallas on the schedule next to face the 0-1 Cowboys. Opening the season at home against a division opponent and getting that first win is a huge confidence booster to start off the season. The celebration would have to be cut short as focus quickly turned to their week two opponent, the Dallas Cowboys. According to Jay Cutler, “They’re going to be intimidating. We just have to find their weaknesses and exploit them.” With the upsetting news regarding Hunter Hillenmeyer, the Bears must remain focused in their attempt to go 2-0. The Cowboys, on the other hand, will be hungry for a win especially after a disappointing loss to the new-look Washington Redskins. In a division as competitive as the NFC East, Romo and the Cowboys cannot afford to lose two in a row to start the season. “You can’t get started 0-2. It’s a very deep hole to get into and our football team understands that. You can’t get behind the eight ball,” Romo said during Wednesday’s Q&A.
Despite being sacked four times, the Bears offense outgained the Lions 463-168 in the opener. A stronger Dallas defense with a different defensive scheme is sure to keep that margin much smaller. It also doesn’t hurt to have someone like DeMarcus Ware on your side. Cutler calls him “physical, strong, and someone who gets around the edge quickly.” If he doesn’t like what he sees rushing the quarterback, Ware has the ability to drop back in coverage as well. The Bears offense took advantage of a matchup similar to that Sunday when Cutler found running back Matt Forte for a twenty-eight yard touchdown strike. With an offensive line that allowed four sacks against a weaker Detroit defense the Cowboys are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the starting quarterback. Romo and the Cowboys have to be ready for pressure of their own as their offensive line may be down two key starters in Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier due to knee injuries. That should favor the Bears if reserves are trying to contain the likes of Julius Peppers.
On the other side of the ball, Mike Martz’s system is impressive-plain and simple. Whether the Bears have the ability to become the next “Greatest Show on Turf (or whatever they use in Soldier Field)” is still in question. Cutler used Matt Forte nicely out of the backfield as exhibited by his two touchdown passes in the game. Forte took a simple screen pass eighty-nine yards for the score to close out the first half on the first score and the second came with a minute and a half left in the fourth to put the Bears up for good. Cutler saw a match-up he liked and took advantage of it. Perhaps more importantly the offensive line allowed the receivers and quarterback to let the play develop and unfold in front of them. Cutler did his best at spreading the ball out by completing passes to six different receivers. Devin Hester was only targeted once, whereas Devin Aromashodu was thrown to ten times. Hester and Cutler both gave their thoughts on the statistic. Cutler said, “If Devin would’ve gotten open, I would’ve thrown the ball. Devin’s going to have his games. I’m not worried about him.” Hester’s rebuttal was less directed at any one player in particular and more of a statement regarding the offense. “There’s no number one on this team. This offense isn’t designed to have a number one receiver.” With a Dallas defense that likes to switch up coverages Mike Martz had better be ready to pull some magic out of his playbook.
Playing at home is an automatic advantage as exhibited by teams such as the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints. Tony Romo feels the same way. “It’s easier to communicate offensively. Homefield matters.” With 100,000 screaming Cowboys fans itching for the team to get its first win the decibel level in there will be deafening. Greg Olsen compared it to “being in college again.” The Bears need to avoid becoming awestruck by the size of the stadium and the scoreboard and focus on going into a stadium as visitors and coming out victors. The Cowboys know what it’s like to play in that stadium better than anyone obviously. They know the nuances and all the secrets on how to effectively communicate in order to win. They hold that huge advantage over the Bears and I think it will show. The Bears still have some kinks to work out in that offense and it may not be wise to take too many chances against a defense as tough as Dallas. They say everything is bigger in Texas. In this case, there is an exception and that is the Bears margin of error. I do expect a closer game than some, but the factors going into that atmosphere for the first time with a new offense this early in the season are too much. Cowboys 24, Bears 20.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Beginning of the End?
Sox-Twins series begins tonight. This will most likely be the end of the season on the Southside if they don't bring their A game. We'll see what they've got left in their tank.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
My Oh My
What an interesting September this is going to be. With the Sox and Twins trading win for win, the Twins lead is 3.5 going into the second week of September. This would lead one to assume next week's Twins-Sox series will decide the season. For us Sox fans, be glad it's at U.S. Cellular Field and not the new House of Horrors, Target Field. After sweeping Boston at Fenway for the first time in 19 years and with the Twins beating the A.L. West leading Texas, it's hard to say just who has the momentum. Everything is clicking for both teams right now. Ozzie and the Sox begin a four game set with Detroit tomorrow at Comerica and the Twins take on the lowly Royals. The Sox need to keep winning and stay within a reachable number because things don't get any easier for them. Hopefully, we'll have some October baseball to talk about in this city. I would love to see what October magic Manny can do in a Sox uniform.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Manny Era
The Month with Manny has officially begun as he joined the team in Cleveland Tuesday night. Although he didn't get a chance to hit, you knew he was in the building with the constant camera shots on him on the railing of the dugout. He did appear in the on-deck circle but was quickly sent back after an AJ Pierzynski game winning shot in the ninth. If Manny is the difference maker and the missing component that will put this team in the postseason, then let Manny be Manny. He is a player with October experience and comes up huge in tight spots. As the WGN ads said quickly after his acquisition, it's "Time to Manny Up." Also, let's not forget to mention Edwin Jackson's gem to extend the team's winning streak to 2. He became the first Sox pitcher since Floyd Bannister to strike out ten or more in his first three starts as a member of the team. It will be an interesting month as the team will play 16 of their final 22 games at home.
All Systems Go
After throwing twenty-six interceptions last year in Ron Turner’s ball-control offense, quarterback Jay Cutler and the Bears needed an answer for this season and they needed it rather quickly. The man they needed and were looking for was Mike Martz. Martz was brought in this year to replace the aforementioned Ron Turner. It’s not that Turner’s offense was predictable and traditional; it’s more the fact that Martz’s offense is unpredictable and non-traditional. Martz has more of a high-risk, high-reward approach to the game. Martz says, “We want to play fast and keep the defense on their heels.” According to breakout receiver Devin Aromashodu, Mike likes to keep the offense on their heels as well, “There’s a lot of flexibility in the offense. He puts a lot of pressure on us giving us a lot of plays so we’re prepared during the season.”
Mike Martz is best known for his days in St. Louis, where he turned Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Marshall Faulk, and Isaac Bruce into the “Greatest Show on Turf.” He coached the Rams to four playoff appearances and a Super Bowl. He was also the offensive coordinator in 1999 when the Rams won the Super Bowl. The Bears organization hopes he can do the same with Cutler, the two-headed backfield of Matt Forte and Chester Taylor, Johnny Knox, and Devin Aromashodu. The Jay Cutler Bears fans saw last year looked uncomfortable and far more inaccurate than he has ever looked in his five year career. With Martz holding high standards and demanding fundamental excellence, this may be where Cutler and Martz butt heads. Tight end Dez Clark knows of the offensive coordinator’s expectations. He said, “He has high standards and he’s going to push you. He leaves it up to you to get it done.” Clark, however, calls Martz “the best teacher I’ve ever had.”
Jay Cutler has had a tough task with Martz being the third offensive coordinator he has had in the last three years. He claims to have a very good grasp on Martz’s system. Cutler sums it up this way, “You can see that Mike’s system works. If we do what we’re supposed to do, the ball’s going to be moved down the field efficiently.” That seems easier said than done though with what appears to be a very shaky offensive line in the first two games of the preseason. Martz isn’t worried about the offensive line though. He says, “From what we see out of these guys in practice everyday, I think they’ll be just fine.” The offensive line as a whole has high praises as well for their newly acquired coordinator. Locker-room leader and thirteen year veteran Olin Kreutz says, “He’s as good as it gets. He’s the best I’ve been around at teaching his system. He coaches every position, knows what he’s talking about.”
Mike Martz appears to be looked at as so much more than an offensive coordinator. He takes on the role of coach, mentor, and teacher as well. The praise for him as those titles and as a person could not be higher. With praise however, there comes expectations. Hopefully, the Bears can turn it around with an offensive mastermind at the helm and Cutler can be molded into the quarterback Martz saw prior to coming here. If he throws twenty-six interceptions again, though, the offense won’t be the only ones on their heels. Martz isn’t worried saying Cutler “has such a good grasp on what’s going on with us on offense” even going as far to call him “brilliant.” Since Martz has been in control of the offense, you can see the excitement in the locker room and on the sidelines. What a difference a year makes and what a difference a coordinator makes.
Mike Martz is best known for his days in St. Louis, where he turned Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Marshall Faulk, and Isaac Bruce into the “Greatest Show on Turf.” He coached the Rams to four playoff appearances and a Super Bowl. He was also the offensive coordinator in 1999 when the Rams won the Super Bowl. The Bears organization hopes he can do the same with Cutler, the two-headed backfield of Matt Forte and Chester Taylor, Johnny Knox, and Devin Aromashodu. The Jay Cutler Bears fans saw last year looked uncomfortable and far more inaccurate than he has ever looked in his five year career. With Martz holding high standards and demanding fundamental excellence, this may be where Cutler and Martz butt heads. Tight end Dez Clark knows of the offensive coordinator’s expectations. He said, “He has high standards and he’s going to push you. He leaves it up to you to get it done.” Clark, however, calls Martz “the best teacher I’ve ever had.”
Jay Cutler has had a tough task with Martz being the third offensive coordinator he has had in the last three years. He claims to have a very good grasp on Martz’s system. Cutler sums it up this way, “You can see that Mike’s system works. If we do what we’re supposed to do, the ball’s going to be moved down the field efficiently.” That seems easier said than done though with what appears to be a very shaky offensive line in the first two games of the preseason. Martz isn’t worried about the offensive line though. He says, “From what we see out of these guys in practice everyday, I think they’ll be just fine.” The offensive line as a whole has high praises as well for their newly acquired coordinator. Locker-room leader and thirteen year veteran Olin Kreutz says, “He’s as good as it gets. He’s the best I’ve been around at teaching his system. He coaches every position, knows what he’s talking about.”
Mike Martz appears to be looked at as so much more than an offensive coordinator. He takes on the role of coach, mentor, and teacher as well. The praise for him as those titles and as a person could not be higher. With praise however, there comes expectations. Hopefully, the Bears can turn it around with an offensive mastermind at the helm and Cutler can be molded into the quarterback Martz saw prior to coming here. If he throws twenty-six interceptions again, though, the offense won’t be the only ones on their heels. Martz isn’t worried saying Cutler “has such a good grasp on what’s going on with us on offense” even going as far to call him “brilliant.” Since Martz has been in control of the offense, you can see the excitement in the locker room and on the sidelines. What a difference a year makes and what a difference a coordinator makes.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Last Call times two
Live remote from Joliet Catholic in a few hours. We're going to preview the first game of the season happening tomorrow against Montini. Bears, White Sox, and airing of the grievances to follow. Tune in and listen to groundbreaking radio.
Grin and Bear It
The atmosphere around Soldier Field Saturday night had a regular season feel to it. The grills and fans were fired up and ready to go for the 2010 Chicago Bears season. Fathers and sons were playing catch attempting to do their best Cutler to Knox impressions. One of the things missing from that scene was the collapsing pocket around them.
The Raiders and Jason Campbell won the coin toss and wouldn’t waste any time getting to work. A false start put the Raiders in the first of two successfully converted third and long situations on the opening drive. Campbell answered back by completing a twenty-four yard pass to Michael Bush. The Raiders would take advantage of the very loose coverage by the Bears secondary and marched eighty-one yards on ten plays in six and a half minutes to take a 7-0 lead. Jason Campbell completed all five passes on the drive for a total of eighty-nine yards. If that weren’t bad enough, the Bears would lose Brian Urlacher to a strained left calf on the fourth play of the game.
Now, the moment Soldier Field had been waiting for. They wanted their questions about the offensive line answered and they wanted to see their quarterback play more than one series in the new Mike Martz system. The answer awaiting them was not the one they wanted to see or hear. The Bears would go three and out and Cutler would also get sacked twice for a total loss of twenty yards. Oakland would soon find themselves very deep in Chicago territory, but an ill-advised throw by Campbell would find the hands of Charles Tillman. Although the Bears were deep in their own zone and trailing by ten, that didn’t discourage the fans from attempting to put some life back into their team. Matt Forte would take the first play from scrimmage following Tillman’s interception eighty-nine yards to the endzone to put the Bears within four. A botched snap by emergency long snapper Dez Clark, however, would keep the score at 10-6 at the end of one.
The scoring would come to a halt for a good portion of the second quarter as the Raiders appeared to be stifled by the Bears defense. With the Bears trailing 13-6, Martz and the offense decided to go for it on fourth and seven from the Oakland twenty-two. A gutsy call would prove to be successful as Cutler would improvise a bit and find an open Johnny Knox on the left side of the field for a twenty-two yard touchdown, which would be followed by a Chester Taylor run to complete a two point conversion and give the Bears their first lead of the game. One final attempt by the Bears before the half would prove to be unsuccessful as Chris Williams allowed Kamerion Wimbley to continue his career day by letting him get to Cutler two more times bringing his sack total to four for the day. When asked about Chris Williams’ performance after the game, Coach Lovie Smith would go on to say, “Not good enough. Chris is a better player than that.” Smith would go on to a utter a phrase similar to one he repeated practically every week for the 2006 season when referring to a certain quarterback. “Chris Williams is our left tackle.”
With an unimpressive display of protecting Cutler looming over them, the offense would take the field first in the second half. Rookie quarterback Dan Lefevour led the charge, or should I say led the lack of charge. Things quickly went awry as forrmer Northwestern Wildcat Eric Peterman muffed a punt resulting in an Oakland touchdown when linebacker Slade Norris recovered the loose ball in the endzone, putting Oakland up 20-14. The wind had been knocked out of the Bears’ collective sails at this point. Kyle Boller would do nothing more than hand the ball off to Michael Bennett and run very simple short rollout routes to chip away slowly at the Bears defense. There was nothing difficult or complicated about the Raiders play calling the entire game, but the lack of a secondary and the ability of Campbell and Boller to spread the ball out was enough to keep the Bears on the go constantly. Boller would scamper two yards into the end zone before the end of the third to put Oakland up 27-14.
A Swayze Waters field goal halfway through the fourth would begin sending fans to the exits shaking their heads wondering what else this season could possibly hold for them. It’s a good thing they left, though, because what would follow was just more reason to shake their head. Dez Clark would botch another snap and Slade Norris would again find himself in Brad Maynard’s face resulting in an Oakland safety, which would put them up 32-17.
The Bears left the stadium dejected as did the fans. The preseason is the time to answer questions going into the season and work out the kinks with a chance to compete for the ultimate prize. The secondary seems to be lost and is as loose as it has been in recent memory. The special teams were anything but special. The offensive line was downright offensive for lack of a better word. Olin Kreutz said, “We have a lot to improve on. There’s little things we have to learn playing together.” Mike Martz’s offense doesn’t appear to be set in 100%. According to Cutler, though, “You can see that Mike’s system works. If we do what we’re supposed to do, the ball’s going to be moved down the field very efficiently.” It seems that concept is easier said than done after the first two preseason games. The first string will play into the third quarter next week as the Bears welcome the Arizona Cardinals to Soldier Field. If there is a bright side, the Bears will not be seeing any more of the AFC West the rest of the way.
The Raiders and Jason Campbell won the coin toss and wouldn’t waste any time getting to work. A false start put the Raiders in the first of two successfully converted third and long situations on the opening drive. Campbell answered back by completing a twenty-four yard pass to Michael Bush. The Raiders would take advantage of the very loose coverage by the Bears secondary and marched eighty-one yards on ten plays in six and a half minutes to take a 7-0 lead. Jason Campbell completed all five passes on the drive for a total of eighty-nine yards. If that weren’t bad enough, the Bears would lose Brian Urlacher to a strained left calf on the fourth play of the game.
Now, the moment Soldier Field had been waiting for. They wanted their questions about the offensive line answered and they wanted to see their quarterback play more than one series in the new Mike Martz system. The answer awaiting them was not the one they wanted to see or hear. The Bears would go three and out and Cutler would also get sacked twice for a total loss of twenty yards. Oakland would soon find themselves very deep in Chicago territory, but an ill-advised throw by Campbell would find the hands of Charles Tillman. Although the Bears were deep in their own zone and trailing by ten, that didn’t discourage the fans from attempting to put some life back into their team. Matt Forte would take the first play from scrimmage following Tillman’s interception eighty-nine yards to the endzone to put the Bears within four. A botched snap by emergency long snapper Dez Clark, however, would keep the score at 10-6 at the end of one.
The scoring would come to a halt for a good portion of the second quarter as the Raiders appeared to be stifled by the Bears defense. With the Bears trailing 13-6, Martz and the offense decided to go for it on fourth and seven from the Oakland twenty-two. A gutsy call would prove to be successful as Cutler would improvise a bit and find an open Johnny Knox on the left side of the field for a twenty-two yard touchdown, which would be followed by a Chester Taylor run to complete a two point conversion and give the Bears their first lead of the game. One final attempt by the Bears before the half would prove to be unsuccessful as Chris Williams allowed Kamerion Wimbley to continue his career day by letting him get to Cutler two more times bringing his sack total to four for the day. When asked about Chris Williams’ performance after the game, Coach Lovie Smith would go on to say, “Not good enough. Chris is a better player than that.” Smith would go on to a utter a phrase similar to one he repeated practically every week for the 2006 season when referring to a certain quarterback. “Chris Williams is our left tackle.”
With an unimpressive display of protecting Cutler looming over them, the offense would take the field first in the second half. Rookie quarterback Dan Lefevour led the charge, or should I say led the lack of charge. Things quickly went awry as forrmer Northwestern Wildcat Eric Peterman muffed a punt resulting in an Oakland touchdown when linebacker Slade Norris recovered the loose ball in the endzone, putting Oakland up 20-14. The wind had been knocked out of the Bears’ collective sails at this point. Kyle Boller would do nothing more than hand the ball off to Michael Bennett and run very simple short rollout routes to chip away slowly at the Bears defense. There was nothing difficult or complicated about the Raiders play calling the entire game, but the lack of a secondary and the ability of Campbell and Boller to spread the ball out was enough to keep the Bears on the go constantly. Boller would scamper two yards into the end zone before the end of the third to put Oakland up 27-14.
A Swayze Waters field goal halfway through the fourth would begin sending fans to the exits shaking their heads wondering what else this season could possibly hold for them. It’s a good thing they left, though, because what would follow was just more reason to shake their head. Dez Clark would botch another snap and Slade Norris would again find himself in Brad Maynard’s face resulting in an Oakland safety, which would put them up 32-17.
The Bears left the stadium dejected as did the fans. The preseason is the time to answer questions going into the season and work out the kinks with a chance to compete for the ultimate prize. The secondary seems to be lost and is as loose as it has been in recent memory. The special teams were anything but special. The offensive line was downright offensive for lack of a better word. Olin Kreutz said, “We have a lot to improve on. There’s little things we have to learn playing together.” Mike Martz’s offense doesn’t appear to be set in 100%. According to Cutler, though, “You can see that Mike’s system works. If we do what we’re supposed to do, the ball’s going to be moved down the field very efficiently.” It seems that concept is easier said than done after the first two preseason games. The first string will play into the third quarter next week as the Bears welcome the Arizona Cardinals to Soldier Field. If there is a bright side, the Bears will not be seeing any more of the AFC West the rest of the way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)