Is the defense back?

After the embarrassing performance that the Bears put forth last week in Cincinnati, every fan expected a classic Soldier Field beat-down on the next opponent, the woeful Cleveland Browns. Defensively, we got the job done. 2 interceptions and 3 forces fumbles is a statistic that we're used to seeing out of our defense. I would have like to see more than just one sack but I'm not going to complain. Daniel Manning's interception was one of the most athletic plays I've seen. Diving, with his body completely parallel to the ground and still being able to snag that ball was just unreal. Props to him.

I hate to say it, but our offense is struggling. Matt Forte is getting criticism for his numbers being down and Jay Cutler threw more interceptions than touchdowns for the 3rd time this season. I hate to do it, but our problems lay in the trenches. Our offensive line is having trouble opening up holes on running plays, and can't seem to block very well on passing plays. The average NFL quarterback has between 3 and 4 seconds to get rid of the football under normal pressure, Cutler has about 2.5- 3 seconds on every play regardless of how many men are being sent on a blitz.

The line needs to get it together with Darnell Dockett and the Arizona Cardinals coming to town. Dockett should see a lot of double teams simply because he already has 9 tackles for a loss this season not to mention a few sacks. Give Cutler time and he could pick apart this secondary. Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart were able to run for 245 yards against this team last week so Forte could have some success. Defensively, Anquan Boldin is hurting badly and has been for a few weeks now. I wouldn't expect Boldin to play Sunday as he has been sitting out all practices so far this week. Even if Boldin does play, I wouldn't be to worried about him. Larry Fitzgerald is arguably the NFL's best receiver but hasn't had nearly half as good of season this year as last year. Expect a lot of double coverages sent his way while we take our chances against Steve Breston. We need to get to Warner quickly because he likes to just throw the ball up and let his tall receivers go get it. If we get pressure on Warner we could easily generate 3 interceptions.

Its unclear whether or not I'll be able to watch the Bears this week. Chabad is taking us paintballing. Its $15 for 3 hours and unlimited paintballs. It great might be too great of a deal to pass up. I'm going to try to record the game but I'm not sure what's going to happen.

In other news, I had the privilege of watching the Bulls season opener against the Spurs. I was stunned. This team looks completely different then our team last year with weapons all over the court. We have huge in the paint presence with Joakim Noah, Brad Miller, Tyrus Thomas and rookie Taj Gibson. They were creating a ton of second chance points or they were kicking it out to our gaurds in Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons and Luol Deng. There is a lot of talent on this team and I like their style. I understand I only watched one game but if they continue to play the way they did, it won't even be a question if they'll make the playoffs.