Throw-Backs are for Primetime

Can you believe it? I would have bet you 100 million dollars that the Bears would not be 3-0 going into week 4 and yet here we are.
After Robbie Gould missed a 49 yard field goal, Green Bay jumped out to a 10-0 lead. The pressure was getting to Cutler and the defense wasn't stepping up, I began to mentally prepare myself for a blowout. But Jay Cutler had something to prove. Even with the pressure consistently coming after him, Cutler threw a strike to Greg Olsen. The ball was thrown where only his receiver could get it, making the score 10-7 at the half.
Aaron Rodgers marched his team down the field with an aerial assault and threw a touchdown pass to Jermichael Finley, well sort of. On the play Green Bay was penalized 10 yards for offensive holding which negated the touchdown. The defense held strong and forced a field goal attempt. So from 37 yards out, you would think Mason Crosby should be pretty automatic right? Wrong. Julius Peppers got his big old paws up there and blocked the kick, a play that ultimately lost me my fantasy football match-up...happily. So, with no score at the end of the 3rd quarter I began to gear up for what could be a season defining fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter started with an Aaron Rodgers incomplete pass which brought up a fourth dawn and forced a punt. Years ago I would have been overly excited for the punt return simply because Devin Hester was back to return the punt and I always thought he would return it to the house. But after 2 years the feeling has passed...stupid me, stupid Packers. Devin Hester danced to the Soulja Boy music playing in the background before the punt and then, it was off to the races. Hester returned the punt 62 yards for a touchdown.
Aaron Rodgers answered by putting together a drive of his own capped off by his short touchdown run.
Cutler responded by putting together a nice looking drive (which included a Cutler pass that was intercepted but taken away due to a helmet to helmet hit on Cutler) to set up a game tying field goal.
With exactly four minutes to go it was all up to Aaron Rodgers to win the game. On the fourth play of the drive, Rodgers hit James Jones for a first down. As Jones was being tackled by Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher came over and ripped the ball out, a fumble which was recovered by the Bears' Tim Jennings.
Cutler set up shop and was given the opportunity to go for the win. However, on the fifth play of the drive Cutler was intercepted again but once again a Green Bay penalty gave the ball back to the Bears this time in game-winning field goal range. And that's exactly what happened.
I'm yet to jump on the "Bears are going to the Superbowl" bandwagon simply because I'm still not sold. The offensive line is still a question mark and the pass defense is also a cause for concern. It took a field goal block, a punt return and a late game forced fumble to get this win and those things don't happen every game. However, if the Bears show up to the Meadowlands next week and win outright over the New York Football Giants, then I may have to reconsider.
A few things I noticed: First, while Julius Peppers isn't recording sacks, it's amazing to see what a difference maker he is. He was responsible for making several Green Bay players commit several penalties and his run stopping ability is extraordinary. Plus, he got way up in the air to block Mason Crosby's field goal try. Second, I did like what I saw out of Tim Jennings who was given playing time in place of Zachary Bowman. His coverage was good, he hits hard and he recovered that fumble late in the fourth which shows his excellent on-field awareness. Third, Kevin Shaffer was given the difficult task of stepping up and blocking Clay Matthews on the right side, boy did he do a great job. Last but not least. Jay Cutler really is thriving under the Mike Martz system. The Bears are able to move the football through the air which is something I'm not sure I've witnessed in my lifetime.
Looking ahead at the schedule, which I know you're not supposed to do, I can realistically see this team being 8-0 by the time the Vikings come to town in Week 9. The only real threats would be the Giants this week and Seattle in two weeks. But the Giants look completely lost and the Seahawks haven't played well away from home this season...but let's just take this one game at a time.

There We Go! We're 2-0!

After winning last week against the Lions on a technicality, almost everyone on this planet who watches football picked the Bears to lose Sunday. Even me. With an offensive line that struggled throughout all of last season and in week 1 of this season, it was hard not to pick against them. In the early stages of the game it appeared the offensive line would play the same way we had all gotten used to watching. Jay Cutler was getting thrown to the ground on every snap and it started looking like there was just a few more plays before he started forcing the ball into tight spaces just to get rid of the darn thing which would lead to interceptions or even attempt to avoid the rush thus leading to fumbles. But it didn't stay that way. With the addition of Brandon Manumaleuna, the poor offensive line play was able to somewhat righten the ship. But the key came when Mike Martz dug deep into his own playbook and pulled out some not-so-Martz-like plays. In a typical Martz offense the quarterback will have to drop back 4-7 steps after taking the snap, however, due to the constant pass rush Cutler went to 1-3 step drops. It gets the ball out faster and it makes the receivers do more after the catch.
The Cowboys seemed to have no answer offensively for the Bears defense. Tony Romo was intercepted twice in the first half including one on the Cowboys opening drive. The defense held strong for the second straight week allowing just 36 yards on the ground. More impressively 56 total yards on the ground combined this season. That's as much as Jamaal Charles had on his second rush of the season.
Another impressive play came in the second quarter. The Bears were faced with a long 3rd and 15. Jay Cutler stepped up in the pocket and heaved the ball deep down field to hit Johnny Know in stride. The play picked up 59 yards and lead to a Cutler to Hester touchdown (which by the way was a spectacular one-handed grab and Hester dragged his feet to keep them both inbounds).
So all in all, here's what I've taken away from both games. The offensive line needs to get their act together quick because you cannot allow Jay Cutler to keep getting hit. Also, we need to start getting to the quarterback faster. As you saw Sunday, Romo had enough time to sit back in the pocket on several occasions and then throw the ball against Charles Tillman who was falling all over the place. Once that is taken care of, the Bears may be a sleeper in the NFC. With the explosive offense just starting to bloom and a defense that hasn't given up more than 40 yards on the ground to an entire team....Well let's not get carried away just yet.
Green Bay will be tough. They always are. But put pressure on Aaron Rodgers and pick up their pass rush I don't see why the Bears can't pull off an upset, especially at home. The key to the big win Sunday was the fact that the Bears did not turn the ball over once, stay on the positive side of that equation and good things will happen.