NFL Power Rankings Week 5

1. NY Giants (3-0)—The Giants are the only team still undefeated in the rugged NFC East and are currently sitting in first place coming off their bye week. With the Seahawks, Browns and 49ers as the next three opponents, the Giants should be 6-0 heading to Pittsburgh on Oct 26th.
2. Titans (4-0)—One of two undefeated teams in the AFC and the franchises first ever 4-0 start. We’ll see if the Titans are for real Sunday when they play at Baltimore.
3. Bills (4-0)—The Bills are 4-0? Really? Their opponents have a combined record of 4-11, but the Bills have done what they needed to do to win.
4. Redskins (3-1)—Big win at Dallas this past weekend. Dominated most of the game as they controlled the clock with Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts churning out yards on the ground. Another huge game for the Skins Sunday at Philly.
5. Steelers (3-1)—Managed to beat the Ravens on Monday night, but not without a cost. Rashard Mendenhall is out for the year with a shoulder injury and Willie Parker is out for a couple more weeks with a injury. Can Mewelde Moore handle being the featured back?
6. Cowboys (3-1)—Lost a hard fought game at home to the Redskins. To make matters worse, T.O. had a closed door meeting with Romo to discuss the passing game and where balls are being thrown. Is T.O. going to hurt the offense in the long run by wanting more balls his way?
7. Panthers (3-1)—Jake Delhomme is playing well at quarterback, and Steve Smith and Mushin Muhammed give the Panthers a great one-two punch at receiver.
8. Buccaneers (3-1)—Great win over the Packers to follow up their come from behind victory over the Bears. Griese improved to 3-0 since taking over as the starting quarterback.
9. Eagles (2-2)—Only one yard away from being 3-1 right now. Valiant effort against the Bears considering they were missing Brian Westbrook, L.J. Smith and Shawn Andrews. Big game against the Redskins on Sunday.
10. Chargers (2-2)—Crushed Oakland to get back to .500 on the season. Have a winnable game Sunday at Miami before hosting New England on Oct. 12th.
11. Jaguars (2-2)—We’ll see what this team is made of when they host Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football.
12. Broncos (3-1)—Awful loss to a reeling Chiefs team that is one of the worst in the league. The defense needs to improve and can’t be giving up an average of close to 30 points per game is this team wants to make the playoffs.
13. Ravens (2-1)—Tough loss Monday night at Pittsburgh. It would have been huge to start off 3-0 in that division.
14. Patriots (2-1)—Needed to improve on their bye week and get over the fact that Tom Brady is out for the year.
15. Saints (2-2)—Deuce McCallister adds another weapon on offense, allowing Reggie Bush to line up more often as a slot receiver. Lance Moore has been huge in the absence of Marques Colston.
16. Packers (2-2)—If Aaron Rodgers is out for any significant amount of time, this team could be in trouble.
17. Bears (2-2)—Statement win against the Eagles on Sunday night. The defense finished off the game for the first time in three weeks, and the offense moved the ball at will in the first half. The Bears need to put together a complete game this week at Detroit.
18. Colts (1-2)—The Colts enjoyed their bye week by relaxing and getting Peyton Manning back to old Peyton. With Manning missing all of training camp after knee surgery, he didn’t look right the first three games and neither did the Colts offense. Playing the Texans on Sunday should help the Colts improve to 2-2.
19. Jets (2-2)—Who said old man Favre was washed up and this was an awful trade for the Jets? Favre threw for six touchdown passes in their rout over the Cardinals. Should give the team momentum heading into their bye week.
20. Cardinals (2-2)—The defense gave up 56 points to the Jets. That is totally unacceptable. It would also help if the offensive line could protect Kurt Warner so he isn’t running for his life every other play.
21. Seahawks (1-2)—The bye week allowed the Seahawks to get healthy, especially at receiver. This should allow Matt Hasselback to be able to throw the ball down the field more frequently.
22. Vikings (1-3)—Probably the most disappointing team of the year so far. It doesn’t get any easier for the Vikes as they play at New Orleans on Monday Night Football.
23. 49ers (2-2)—How this team is .500 with JT O’Sullivan as your starting quarterback is beyond me. Will fall below .500 with the Patriots coming off a bye week.
24. Falcons (2-2)—The Falcons have beaten the bad teams and lost to the good teams. Michael Turner has been a stud so far. He should carry the ball 30+ times a game if this team wants to win games.
25. Browns (1-3)—Beat archrival Cincinnati to get their 1st win of the year. Now they go into the bye week needing to straighten out issues on offense.
26. Dolphins (1-2)—Can the Dolphins pull off another upset this Sunday against the Chargers?
27. Chiefs (1-3)—Shocking win over the Broncos. Can they make it two in a row against the Panthers?
28. Texans (0-3)—Let one get away against the Jaguars. Now the Texans get to entertain Peyton Manning and the Colts coming off their bye week.
29. Raiders (1-3)—Lane Kiffin got fired and Al Davis came on ESPN and called Kiffin “a liar.” This team is in total disarray.
30. Bengals (0-4)—Lost to a Browns team that looked awful in their first three games. What happened to the Bengals teams of a couple of years ago that looked like legitimate AFC contenders? If Carson Palmer is out for a significant amount of time, this team might be worse than the Rams.
31. Lions (0-3)—Headed in the right direction now that Matt Millen is no longer running the team.
32. Rams (0-4)—Marc Bulger is back as the starting quarterback after getting demoted for a week. Scott Linehan got fired as the head coach and Jim Haslett got promoted as the interim head coach.

Top 5 QB's for the 2009 Draft

We all know Rex Grossman is not the answer at quarterback. After this season, we will know if Kyle Orton is or isn't. Let’s say Orton is not the answer. Then the question beckons: What quarterbacks should the Bears keep their eyes on for the 2009 draft?

Unfortunately for the Bears, the 2009 quarterback class is looking like one of the worst in recent memory. The senior class has no first-round worthy quarterbacks. Unless some underclassmen declare early, very few quarterbacks will be drafted in round one.

Here is my list of the top 5 quarterbacks the Bears should keep their eyes on for next year’s draft (in no particular order).

* denotes underclassmen

• Sam Bradford* (Oklahoma)—Bradford is only a redshirt sophomore, so he still has two years of college elgibility left. He is the best pure passer in college, and if he declares early for the draft, he should be number one on the Bears quarterback board. Has shown composure in the pocket and can make all the throws.

• Chase Daniel (Missouri)—Daniel is listed at only 6’0’’ which is going to be a major drawback for a lot of NFL teams. Daniel is a leader and is durable, not missing a start since he took over at the end of the 2006 season. He has excellent physical and mental toughness, and his teammates have been quoted saying they believe in him. Daniel also has demonstrated good enough mobility to be able to scramble and get outside the pocket.

• Colt McCoy* (Texas)—McCoy is a junior quarterback with a year of elgibility remaining. He has great size, 6’3’’ 210 lbs. and can make all the throws. He also has scrambling ability, which is important in keepings plays alive. McCoy is off to a great start this year, and it would be wise of the Bears to keep an eye on his performance throughout the rest of the season.

• Mark Sanchez* (USC)—Sanchez is a redshirt junior who still has one year of elgibility remaining. This is his first year as the starter, so he’ll only get better with more game experience. He has all the physical tools necessary to be a great quarterback in the NFL. He’s 6’4’’ and has a real strong arm.

• Matthew Stafford* (Georgia)—Stafford has a great arm and above average mobility. He can throw the deep ball really well and has matured as a leader. This is his 3rd year starting, and he has improved every year. The Bears would be wise to take a look at Stafford if he declares early, but he needs a couple years of seasoning before he could start in the NFL.

Bears stuff Eagles on the goal-line; hang on for 24-20 victory

The Bears defense made a statement tonight. They finally finished a game. After giving up two fourth quarter leads the past two games, the Bears picked up a huge win to improve to 2-2 on the year.

The Eagles had 1st and goal on the Bears four yard line and could not punch it in. The photo up above from the AP shows the Bears defense celebrating as they stopped Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter on 4th down from the 1 yard line, essentially ending the game.

It was interesting that the Eagles did not try one play-action pass. Why the hell wouldn’t they when the Bears had 9 men in the box??

The defense truly won the game because they caused the Eagles to settle for field goal attempts and not touchdowns. It also helped the Eagles kicker David Akers missed two field goals.

For how good the offense looked in the first half with Orton passing for 3 TD’s and putting up 21 points, it was atrocious in the second half.

Here’s the Bears offensive stat line for the 3rd quarter

-2 total yards of offense; 3 turnovers

The Bears first 1st down of the second half?

-13:17 left in the 4th quarter

The Bear’s six offensive possessions in the 3rd quarter went like this:

-punt
-interception
-punt
-fumble
-punt
-fumble

Are you kidding me? Something needs to be done with the offense. It didn’t help that the only playmaker at the wide receiver position, Brandon Lloyd, left the game with a knee injury right before half time and did not return. When are the Bears going to put together a complete game on offense?? This is the main reason why the Bears have blown leads the past 2 weeks. The offense doesn’t generate anything in the 2nd half and the defense wears down.

The Bears could not generate any type of running game and that allowed the Eagles to bring pressure and constantly get to Orton (causing the fumbles and interceptions).

If Lloyd is out for any significant amount of time, the offense could be in trouble. They have no viable threat at receiver, and the only other players Orton looks comfortable throwing to are his TE’s, Dez Clark and Greg Olson.

With the Bears defense noticeably starting to wear down in the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Bears offense put together their one drive of the second half, as they moved the ball from their own 40 to the Eagles 23 yard line before kicker Robbie Gould connected on a 40 yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-20.

This was a good enough drive to give the defense a much needed rest, and the defense took care of the rest.

Some questions the Bears need to answer for next week’s game:

What can Ron Turner do to make the offense more efficient in the 2nd half?
Is his play calling too conservative? Does he need to mix it up more?
After Forte’s big game in Indy, the running game hasn’t done much, especially the last two weeks. How can the running game get back on track?
Does Kyle Orton hold onto the ball too long? A couple of those sacks he took he needed to throw the ball away.


***Another injury note: Charles Tillman left the game in the 4th quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return.

My NFL Power Rankings for Week 4

This is my first time doing the power rankings. For next week’s rankings, teams will be moved up or down depending on their performance and if they won or lost on Sunday.

1. Cowboys (3-0) Clearly the best team in football right now, beating the Eagles at home and the Packers in Lambeau, both legitimate NFC contenders. Even with Romo having a subpar game against the Pack, the running game picked up the slack with Barber and Jones both having big games.

2. Giants (3-0) Won a squeaker against the Bengals, but otherwise have been impressive so far. Should win their next three games (Seattle, at Cleveland, San Francisco) and be
6-0 heading into Pittsburgh on October 26.

3. Eagles (2-1) Great response in beating Pittsburgh after losing an offensive shootout last week at Dallas. Westbrook and McNabb are both banged up but are expected to play Sunday at Chicago.

4. Broncos (3-0) After barely beating San Diego and New Orleans at home, the Broncos can finally relax Sunday in Kansas City and should improve to 4-0. And Mike Shannahan won’t have to go for a 2-point conversion at the end of the game.

5. Steelers (2-1) Offense could not get anything going in loss to the Eagles. Steelers need to improve on pass protection as Eagle linebackers and defensive backs were constantly in the backfield.

6. Titans (3-0) Maybe losing Vince Young and having Kerry Collins was a blessing in disguise for this team. A pretty soft schedule has helped so far, but we’ll see if the Titans are for real in their next two games (Minnesota, at Baltimore).

7. Packers (2-1)The loss to Dallas on Monday night wasn’t pretty, neither was the site of Al Harris writhing in pain. If he’s out for the season, it’s a big loss for the Packers secondary.

8. Bills (3-0) The Bills barely survived the Raiders on Sunday after a shaky performance. They play the Rams Sunday and should improve to 4-0, but then play at Arizona and home against the Chargers and Dolphins. Check back with me in three weeks and I’ll let you know if this team is for real.

9. Carolina (2-1) Bad loss to the Vikings as Jake Delhomme was constantly harassed in the backfield. The defense did a credible job in containing Adrian Peterson. Should have two cake-walks against the Falcons and Chiefs the next two weeks.

10. Chargers (1-2) Dominated the Jets on Monday night football and made Brett Favre look awful out there. Good response after losing two heart-breakers to open up the season.

11. Buccaneers (2-1) Huge game against the Packers at home on Sunday. If Griese can play like he did in the last 5 minutes and in overtime against the Bears, the Bucs could be 3-1 and a legitimate NFC contender.

12. Redskins (2-1) Statement game Sunday against the Cowboys. Have responded nicely after losing to the Giants on opening night.

13. Patriots (2-1) Showed no emotion in loss to the Dolphins (yes the Dolphins). Has Tom Brady’s injury destroyed this team??

14. Jaguars (1-2) Big win in Indy. Showed the intensity and passion they demonstrated last year. David Garrard is a winner at quarterback.

15. Ravens (2-0) Opened with home victories over Cleveland and Cincinnati, two average teams. Now we’ll find out if this team is for real as they play at Pittsburgh on Monday night and then play Tennessee at home and at Indy.

16. Colts (1-2) This team has some issues right now. The running game is not on track, Peyton Manning still doesn’t look like Peyton, and the defense can’t stop anyone from running the ball (where are you Bob Sanders?) The bye-week could not have come at a better time.

17. Cardinals (2-1) Play at the Jets. If they don’t turn over the ball like they did at Washington, they should improve to 3-1.

18. Bears (1-2) Could easily be 3-0 right now and have led all three games in the 4th quarter. Need to find a way to close out the game and put teams away. The loss to Tampa could come back to haunt the Bears come playoff time.

19. Vikings (1-2) I give props to Brad Childress for making the switch to Gus Frerotte at quarterback. All he did was lead the Vikings to their first win of the season. If the offensive line can protect him, he should make enough plays down the field to open up running lanes for Adrian Peterson.

20. 49ers (2-1) I predicted the 49ers to win 3 games this year. A good start so far, but the schedule gets a lot tougher (at Saints, New England, Philly).

21. Jets (1-2) The Jets looked awful on Monday night against the Chargers. They couldn’t stop the Chargers on defense and Brett Favre looks like he needs another month to learn the playbook. Hello bye-week.


22. Saints (1-2) This team is struggling right now. Defensive lapses are killing them, especially in the secondary. Sound familiar Saints fans?

23. Seattle (1-2) Beat an awful St. Louis team to earn their first victory of the season. Have a bye-week this Sunday to get everyone healthy and regroup after a disappointing start.

24. Dolphins (1-2) Shocking win against the Patriots earned the Dolphins their first win of the season. Ronny Brown looked like a league MVP out there, accounting for 5 touchdowns. After a bye-week, we’ll see if the Fins are for real when they host the Chargers.

25. Falcons (2-1) The Matt Ryan era is off and running with the Falcons having won two of their first three, albeit against Detroit and Kansas City. Now comes the real test: games at Carolina and Green Bay and home against the Bears.

26. Raiders (1-2) Darren McFadden is playing like he can be the great running back many predicted him to be. At least the Raiders have been competitive in their past two games after getting destroyed by Denver the first weekend.

27. Browns (0-3) The Browns are struggling mightily on offense. There seems to be a lack of focus out there. Brady Quinn anyone????

28. Texans (0-2) Disappointing start so far. Now there is talk of a quarterback controversy. A win would help silence the skeptics.

29. Bengals (0-3) At least they played hard and gave the Giants a run for their money after two awful losses to start the season. Play Cleveland on Sunday, a must win if this team wants to have any playoff aspirations.

30. Rams (0-3) Boulder got benched. Not much going right for the Rams right now.

31. Lions (0-3) Matt Millen got fired. That’s good. Now what about the team on the field? Must win game against the Bears on 10/5 after a bye week this week.

32. Chiefs (0-3) Herm Edwards is playing musical quarterbacks and started one that no one had ever heard of this past Sunday. This team might not be able to beat USC or Oklahoma.

Bears blow another late lead, lose in OT to Tampa

Oh man, where do I even start after another painful, painful loss??

I mean I could talk about our offense not capitalizing on all the turnovers their defense forced and settling for field goals early in the game.

Or I could talk about the defense allowing Tampa to score 10 points in the last five minutes of the 4th quarter. Griese was able to complete any pass he wanted to. The Bears lineman looked exhausted against the no-huddle.

How about Rashied Davis dropping a beautifully thrown ball from Orton at the Tampa 40 yard line in overtime? Like Slim Shady used to say, can anyone besides Brandon Lloyd please stand up? (and catch a pass).

And to put the icing on the cake, what kind of call was that against Tillman in overtime? A personal foul penalty for jumping on the pile and pushing off the other team’s lineman?

Explain to me how that’s a penalty but punching someone in the nuts and swinging your elbow at their head is legal? That’s what the Tampa lineman Trueblood got away with.

Instead of Tampa punting from their own end zone with the Bears getting the ball back near midfield, Tampa gets an automatic first down and marches the ball all the way down the field and kicks a game winning field goal.

As my one friend put it, “an embarrassing loss.”

The Bears are now 1-2, and should be 3-0. When they just miss the playoffs at the end of the year, they can look back and circle today’s loss as the game that cost them a playoff spot.

The Bears are the NFL version of which college team??

The Bears are the NFL’s version of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Both teams have solid defenses, good running backs and a terrible passing game, specifically awful quarterback play.

Kyle Orton can’t move the ball, just as Jake Christenson can’t.

Every time Orton drops back to pass I get all nervous, just like I do when Christenson drops back. You think the worst with both of them.

When the defense forces a turnover for both teams, the offenses don’t move the ball and score a touchdown, instead settle for field goals.

Totally unacceptable.

Top 10 sports moments in the past 10 years

10. THE AUTISTIC TEENAGER THAT COULD

Jason McElwain, the manager of the Greece Athena varsity basketball team in Rochester, New York was just happy to be on the bench. McElwain had autism, but during the team’s last home game of the season the coach put him in the game. McElwain hit six three-pointers and another jumper at the final buzzer to finish with 20 points. As he sank his final “J,” the ecstatic fans rushed the court and celebrated with McElwain. It truly was a Hollywood ending, as Columbia Pictures bought the rights to his story.

9. ZINDANE’S HEADBUTT IN WORLD CUP FINAL

As France and Italy were playing in sudden death overtime of the 2006 World Cup Final, France midfielder Zinedine Zidane did the unthinkable. He head-butted Italian defender Marco Matterazi right in the chest. The referee quickly ran over and gave Zidane a red card, an automatic ejection from the game. To add insult to injury, this was Zidane’s last game before retirement, a terrible way to go out. France lost in penalty kicks as the Italians and Matterazi celebrated.

8. THE ILLINI’S MIRACLE COMEBACK AGAINST ARIZONA

The 2004-2005 Illinois Fighting Illini were the #1 ranked team the entire season. When the brackets came out in March, Illinois did not have to leave the Midwest to make it to St. Louis, home of the Final Four. Anything short of a Final Four would have been considered a failure for a team that had Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head and James Augustine. But against Arizona in the Elite Eight in Rosemont, Ill, the Illini looked like they were going to fall a step short of the Final Four. Down 17 to Arizona with just over four minutes to go in the game, everyone thought it was over. However, someone the Illini made a furious rally with some outstanding plays by Williams, Head and Brown and forced overtime. They then survived a Salim Stoudamire miss at the buzzer and escaped with an improbable one point overtime victory. It was the greatest college basketball game I have ever seen.

7. GIANTS OVER THE PATRIOTS IN SUPER BOWL XLII

The Patriots were 18-0 and ready to make history. All they needed to do was beat the New York Giants for a second time in the Super Bowl and history was all theirs. However they did not, losing 17-14. Some say it’s the greatest upset in N.F.L. history.

6. VINCE YOUNG’S SUPERMAN PERFORMANCE AGAINST USC
USC had Reggie Bush, Lendale White, Matt Leinart and many other great players on what was considered the greatest team in college football history. #1 USC vs. #2 Texas. Could not have asked for a better national championship game. Vince Young played the best game I have ever seen a college football player play, rushing for over 200 yards and passing for over 200 yards in leading the Longhorns to an upset victory, 41-38.

6. GREECE’S IMPROBABLE RUN IN EURO 2004
Rewind to 2004. Greece, definitely not a futbol power house in Europe by any means, plays great strategic defensive soccer and catches some lucky breaks along the way in going from afterthought to European champions. Greece won their quarterfinal, semifinal and championship game by identical scores of 1-0. Greatest moment of my life (as a futbol fan).

5. BOISE STATE’S FIESTA BOWL WIN OVER OKLAHOMA
I am sad to admit that I actually turned this game off and went to bed in the 3rd quarter when I saw Oklahoma was up by 20 points. I thought, game over. Then I wake up the next morning and turn on sportscenter and they keep showing highlights from this game. Between the lateral pass on the touchdown to bring Boise within one point, and then Boise’s coach having the balls to go for two points and calling the statue of liberty, amazing victory. I ended up watching the game in its entirety on ESPN Classic as an instant classic the following night.

4. KOBE’S 81 POINTS VERSUS TORONTO
This was just an amazing performance by Kobe. In today’s NBA, 81 points might never be topped again. Kobe hit every time of shot and was just on fire, only missing a couple shots the entire second half. He was a men among boys out on the court.

3. BOSTON’S IMPROBABLE COMEBACK VERSUS NEW YORK IN ALCS
The Red Sox were down 3-0 to the archrival Yankees in the ALCS. Series is over right? Wrong. The Red Sox won the next four games of the series and then swept the St. Louis Cardinals en route to their first world series title in over 80 years.

2. THE TOM BRADY “TUCK RULE” GAME
Brady fumbled the ball, Raiders recovered and would have won the game. Instead the ref called it an incomplete pass, the Patriots won the game and the Super Bowl and the rest is history.

1. MJ’S GAME WINNING SHOT VERSUS UTAH IN 1998
This should be everyone’s number one moment. Jordan, the best player to ever play the game, hit a picture perfect game-winning swish over Byron Russell to give the Bulls their 6th NBA championship in 8 years.

Penalties, Missed Opportunities Cost Bears in 20-17 loss to Carolina

The Bears blew the game today, period. They had a perfect opportunity to go home with two big road wins to start the year.

Instead, they are 1-1.

Some thoughts on the game:

What kind of play calling was that at the end of the game? Forte runs the ball on 1st down for nine yards to make it 2nd and one. And then they pass on 2nd and 3rd downs?

Are you kidding me? With Kyle Orton as your QB?

And then on 4th down, a handoff to the fullback? Give the damn ball to Forte and let him follow the fullback for a first down! Instead McKie gets stuffed and the Bears lose the game.

Terrible play calling by Ron Turner. Not only at the end of the game, but most of the 2nd half.

After two games, I’ve learned that Kyle Orton can not throw the deep ball to save his life. He missed a wide-open Marty Booker that would have been six points. He makes that throw, the game is over.

The Fox analysts showed a very intriguing statistic at the end of the game.

Orton was 11/12 when throwing from 0-5 yards from the line of scrimmage, 7/9 from 6-14 yards, and 1-11 from 15+ yards from the line of scrimmage.

The Panthers DB’s were giving the Bears WR’s a five yard cushion and then coming up and making tackles. They didn’t respect Orton’s deep ball, because he can’t throw it.

How about bringing in Rex Grossman to throw a couple deep balls to loosen up the opposing secondary? Something the Bears have to consider because the offense is way to vanilla.

What about all the penalties? The Bears had about 7 holding penalties. Totally unacceptable, especially for an offense that has a hard time moving the ball as it is.

REMINDER TO GREG OLSON: HOLD ONTO THE FOOTBALL. YOUR 2 COSTLY FUMBLES WERE A BIG REASON YOU LOST THE GAME.

One fumble was in the red zone, cost the Bears at least 3 points. His second fumble occurred on the Bears own 30 yard line, and a few plays later the Panthers punched it in the end zone.


***Making the loss worse, Devin Hester was carted off to the locker room with an apparent rib injury in the 3rd quarter and did not return.

Let’s hope he doesn’t miss any games, because the Bears need his punt and kick returning abilities if they want to make the playoffs.

Week 2 Preview

Which victory was more suprising? The Bears beating the Colts in Indy or the Panthers (minus Steve Smith) beating the Chargers in San Diego??

Both teams head into tomorrow's game with 1-0 records, the winner a surprising 2-0.

If the Bears can move the ball efficiently on offense I like their chances tomorrow.
Kyle Orton needs to play smart like he did last game, and not have a turnover.

If he does, the Bears will win the game. Neither DeAngelo Williams nor Johnathon Stewart are great running backs, so I think the Bears will shut down the Panthers running game.

To add a little intrigue to tomorrow's game, it's the first time Moose is playing against the Bears since their bitter divorce in the offseason. Moose didn't like the fact he was released by the Bears for no real reason, and had a few things to say about Bears management to the Chicago media.

I like the Bears, 20-17.

1-0. That's what the Bears record is after an upset victory over the Colts in Indy.

3 Things the Bears got right in week 1:

--They came off the bus running, as Lovie Smith always says. Ron Turner was committed to the run from the start of the game, and the offensive line opened holes for Matt Forte to run through.

--The Bears defense played like the did in '06. The defense constantly blitzed and pressured Manning, and stopping the run was a priority. The Colts rushed for 50 yards, and Manning never got comfortable in the pocket.

--Orton threw the ball to his TE's. It's no secret Greg Olson and Dez Clark are the Bears 2 biggest offensive weapons (sorry Devin Hester not this year) and Orton's 2 biggest pass plays went for 29 yards to Olson and 26 yards to Clark.

3 Things the Bears need to improve on next week against the Panthers:

• Work on throwing the ball to the wide receivers. The wide receivers did very little the entire game. Not good for a group where there really is know difference between the #1 and #5 receiver.


• Devin Hester needs to get more involved in the offense; reverses, wide receiver screens and lining him up at tailback are all ways Hester can get more touches, because any time he gets touches he can take it to the house


• Better secondary play. The secondary looked good yesterday because the d line and linebackers were constantly in the backfield wreaking havoc. When Manning had time to throw the ball, he constantly found receivers open. The cornerbacks need to play more press coverage, with safety help over the top.

In general the Bears played a great game, and if they can play this way all year they will be a playoff team.

How about the Bears? Who woulda thunk a victory over the Colts in Indy in their new stadium?

I sure as hell didn't.......especially after the 1st offensive play of the game and the season.

Kyle Orton fumbles the center-quarterback exchange and has to pounce on it.

I was like o great, this is going to be a microcosm of the Bears offense this year.

Luckily I was wrong......all because of MATT FORTE.

The rookie running back from Tulane was spectacular in his debut, gaining 123 yards on the ground on 23 carries with a TD.

With the Bears being able to move the ball on the ground, Kyle Orton was able to complete enough passes to TE's Greg Olson and Dez Clark to move the ball and score points.

But the most encouraging thing, Bears fans, was the dominant play of the defense. They played like they did in 2006, swarming to the ball and dominated the opponents offense.

Peyton Manning had little time to look downfield, and the Colts rushed for 50 yards. Wale Ogunleye and Alex Brown had superb games at DE, and Briggs and Urlacher were both all over the field.

And And Mike Brown did not get hurt and will play next week at Carolina.

Big win for the Bears, hopefully this sets the tone for the rest of the season and is a big confidence builder.

53 man roster

Hi, I'm Greg Chiakulas, and my blog is going to be about the Chicago Bears. This first blog is going to contain my thoughts on the Bears 53-man roster announced Saturday night.

The Bears made roster cuts a couple days ago and the big news was that quarterback Caleb Hanie made the roster.

Hanie was the best Bears quarterback in the preseason, outplaying both Orton and Grossman.

I was hoping he would make the team, and I'm hoping that if Orton falters, Hanie will get a look. The guy can scramble and make all the throws.

My biggest beef is that Mark Bradley made the roster over Brandon Rideau. Rideau had a strong preseason, leading the Bears in recieving with 127 yards and 3 touchdowns.

What is the Bear's infatuation with Mark Bradley anyway? The guy had about 6 good games his rookie season in 2005 and hasn't produced since.