Week 3: Bears-Cowboys Match-up

Quarterback:

Rex Grossman vs. Tony Romo

Romo has been playing much better than Rex.

EDGE: COWBOYS

Running Back:

Cedric Benson vs. Julius Jones/Marion Barber

The Cowboys have duo running backs and together they'll probably be more productive than Benson.

EDGE: COWBOYS

Wide Receivers:

Moose Muhammad, Bernard Berrian vs. Terrell Owens, Sam Hurd/Patrick Crayton

Of course T.O. is an All-Pro, but the loss of Terry Glenn makes the Cowboys seem like a team with only one WR. The Bears could double team T.O. and force Romo to throw to Hurd and Crayton who aren't as good as Glenn.

EDGE: EVEN

Tight End:

Desmond Clark/Greg Olsen vs. Jason Witten

Witten has a touchdown and that gives him the edge.

EDGE: COWBOYS

Defensive Ends:

Mark Anderson, Adewale Ogunleye vs. Marcus Spears, Chris Canty

No debate here.

EDGE: BEARS

Defensive Tackles:

Tommie Harris, Darwin Walker vs. Jay Ratliff

Um..let me think...

EDGE: BEARS

Linebackers:

Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Hunter Hillenmeyer vs. Anthony Spencer, Bradie James, Akin Ayodele, DeMarcus Ware

Briggs and Urlacher have 35 total tackles and 2 sacks. The Cowboys starting linebackers have 26 total tackles and 1 sack.

EDGE: BEARS

Cornerbacks:

Nathan Vasher, Peanut Tillman vs. Nate Jones/Terence Newman, Anthony Henry

EDGE: BEARS

Safeties:

Danieal Manning, Adam Archuleta vs. Roy Williams, Kem Hamlin

The Cowboys safeties are actually pretty good.

EDGE: EVEN

I'm not longer doing Special Teams because I'm assuming no team has a better Special Teams unit than the Bears.

Keys to Victory:

- Big game for Rex

Rex has to have less interceptions and needs to pass for more yards.

- Throw the deep ball

The Bears should go deep to Berrian on Sunday. It worked last year so why won't it work this year?

- No turnovers

I'll make this prediction: If the Bears make no turnovers, they will win the game.

- Pressure Romo

In this week's Sports Illustrated, Paul Zimmerman said, "If the Cowboys can block the Bears' rush, I see decent numbers for Romo and a Dallas win over the defending NFC champs."

I assume that if the Bears can get to Romo, they should be able to win.

Week 2: Bears vs. Chiefs

Chicago Bears 20
Kansas City Chiefs 10

The Good:

• Bears RB Cedric Benson ran for 101 yards on 24 carries.
• KR/PR Devin Hester returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown. Hester had 5 punt returns for a total of 143 yards. He was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
• LB Lance Briggs had 12 total tackles (11 solo), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and a defected pass. I would say that's a good game.
• MLB Brian Urlacher had 9 total tackles (8 solo) and had his first sack since 2005.
• John St. Clair, a reserve offensive lineman, caught a 2 yard touchdown pass.

The Bad:

• QB Rex Grossman threw two interceptions.
• The O-line allowed three sacks.
• The Bears had three turnovers, but the Chiefs only scored three points off turnovers.
• The offense scored only 13 points and three points were thanks to Hester whose punt return got the Bears to the Chiefs 18 yard line.

Why the Bears won:

Grossman wasn't much better and the Bears had a lot of turnovers. What was the difference? More points. The Bears had three points last week and scored 20 points this week. The key reason was Devin Hester who scored a touchdown and helped set up a field goal.

Player of the Week: Devin Hester- 143 punt return yards, 28.6 PR AVG., 1 TD

You're better than that player of the week: Rex Grossman- 20-34 160 yards 1 TD 2 INT

Week 2: Bears-Chiefs Match-up

Quarterback:

Rex Grossman vs. Damon Huard

Huard passed for only 168 yards last week against the weak Houston Texans. Rex Grossman is going against a defense that was 18th against the pass in 2006 and Huard is going against the Bears defense that made Phillip Rivers look like an ordinary QB, not an AFC pro bowler.

EDGE: BEARS

Running Back:

Cedric Benson vs. Larry Johnson

Even though Cedric Benson could likely end up with more rushing yards on Sunday than Johnson, Johnson is the better RB.

EDGE: CHIEFS

Tight End:

Desmond Clark vs. Tony Gonzalez

If Antonio Gates is the #1 TE in the NFL then it is very possible that Gonzalez is #2 or #1a.

EDGE: CHIEFS

Wide Receivers:

Bernard Berrian, Moose Muhammad vs. Samie Parker, Dwayne Bowe

Bears catch a break with Chiefs starting WR Eddie Kennison not playing on Sunday with an injury. Bowe is a rookie and Parker scored one TD last year.

EDGE: BEARS

Defensive Tackles:

Darwin Walker, Tommie Harris vs. Alfonso Boone, Ron Edwards

Haha, this is should be a good match-up for the Bears. Boone is an ex-Bear that the Bears got rid of because guys like Harris and Dusty Dvoracek were better. Edwards had 2.5 sacks last year but still nowhere near as impressive as Harris and Walker.

EDGE: BEARS

Defense Ends:

Adewale Ogunleye, Mark Anderson vs. Tamba Hali, Jimmy Wilkerson

Hali had 8 sacks in '06, but Wilkerson, playing in his 5th season, has 0.5 career sacks. Anderson and Ogunleye already have one sack each.

EDGE: BEARS

Linebackers:

Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Hunter Hillenmeyer vs. Derrick Johnson, Napoleon Harris, Donnie Edwards

The trio of Johnson, Harris, and Edwards is an impressive one that combined for 275 tackles and 9.5 sacks. The Bears trio had only 44 more tackles and 8.5 less sacks. I'll give the Bears the
edge but it's only a slight one.

EDGE: BEARS

Cornerbacks:

Nathan Vasher, Peanut Tillman vs. Ty Law, Patrick Surtain or Benny Sapp

Surtain is listed as the Chiefs 2nd CB on the depth chart but didn't play last sunday. About 4 years ago, I would have given the edge to KC, but Sustain and Law are now both in their 30's and they won't be as big of an impact as Nate and Peanut.

EDGE: BEARS

Safeties:

Adam Archuleta, Danieal Manning vs. Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard

Bears are better even without Mike Brown. Page and Pollard combined for 45 tackles in '06.
Archuleta alone had 60 tackles last season.

EDGE: BEARS

Punters:

Brad Maynard vs. Dustin Colquitt

Colquitt had a 44.3 punt avg. last season. Maynard's avg. was 44.2.

EDGE: EVEN

Kickers:

Robbie Gould vs. Justin Medlock

Medlock is a rookie. Gould made the pro bowl last season.

EDGE: BEARS

Kick/Punt returners:

Danieal Manning, Devin Hester vs. Jeff Webb, Eddie Drummond
Webb and Drummond are both decent returners but neither of them have the same impact as Hester.

EDGE: BEARS

KEYS TO VICTORY:

- Pass more, run less

The Bears gave Benson his shot and he did ok. The Bears need to throw the deep ball. They'll get more yards and score more points. Grossman should throw to Hester or Berrian. Law and Sustain are not as young as they used to be and might have lost a step. This Chiefs defense should be much easier than the Chargers defense

- Protect the football

Turnovers are the reason why the Bears lost last week and if they do it again this week, they could easily lose the Chiefs. If you don't think so, think back to last year with the 2 games against Miami and Green Bay on New Year's Eve. There are no guaranteed wins. I'm not saying be conservative. The last thing the Bears want is a defensive struggle like last week. Benson has to handle the ball with 2 hands, Berrian has to run his routes, and Grossman has got to make smart decisions. The Bears can be aggressive and still be able to not turn the ball over.

- O-line has to protect Rex

Grossman struggled last week because he was getting pressured. If Grossman has time in the pocket, he'll have a great game.....I guarantee it.

- Force turnovers

Even though the offense should do their job, it would be great if the Bears get a bunch of takeaways. The Bears offense does a lot better starting from the OPP. 45 yard line instead of their own 20 yard line.

- Get Hester involved

The Chiefs secondary seems mediocre at best. The punter won't kick it to Hester, so Grossman has got to find a way to get him the ball on offense.

Week 1: Bears at Chargers

Chargers 14
Bears 3

Good:

• Mike Brown had 2 takeaways: an interception and a fumble recovery.


• Adewale Ogunleye, Mark Anderson, and Nathan Vasher had sacks.


• Tommie Harris forced a fumble.


• The Bears Defense held LaDainian Tomlinson to 25 yards rushing.

Bad:

• Four turnovers (Grossman INT, McGowan fumble, Benson fumble, Peterson fumble)


• Cedric Benson had only 42 rushing yards.

Why the Bears lost:

Turnovers is why the Bears lost. The Chargers got all their points of turnovers. If the Bears were to protect the football better then they could of won. The punt that bounced off Brandon McGowan is what really lost the momentum and the game for the Bears.