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Archives for 2009-2010 Schedule

Is The Chicago Bears Secondary Acutally Better This Season?

17th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule, Did you Know?     

58558763The Chicago Bears pass defense ranked 30th in the NFL last season and the defense as a whole gave up 21.9 points per game.

In the secondary they used Mike Brown, Kevin Payne, Charles Tillman, and Corey Graham. Danieal Manning was used as a nickel back and Nathan Vasher couldn’t stay healthy.

This season the 2009 Bears have sixth rounder Al Afalava starting at strong safety and Danieal Manning playing nickel back and free safety. They also have Charles Tillman and Zack Bowman as their corner backs. It looks like it is working. They also have Kevin Payne, Nathan Vasher and Corey Graham as some good solid depth.

Although this group only has one interception, which was by Charles Tillman against the Steelers. They have been able to control the four teams they have played so far this season, except in game one against Green Bay, when we all remember what Greg Jennings did to Kevin Payne and Nathan Vasher. The passing yardage of the opposing team has increased every game: 150-203-243-308. Teams are completing 62.3 percent of passes against, ranking 23rd overall and allowing 19.5 points per game.

Danieal Manning is clearly the best athlete on this defense because of his ability to play both the nickel and free safety position as well as being a successful blitzer. He was a very a good return man last season and has returned a couple this year, but Johnny Knox is good enough to claim that role. Anyway, Danieal has 30 tackles, tied for third in the NFL among DB’s, and a sack. He doesn’t look anything like the rookie, who struggled in Super Bowl XLI.

Charles Tillman came back from his back surgery sooner than most people thought and has looked solid covering some of the best receivers in the NFL, Calvin Johnson, Santonio Holmes, etc. Zackary Bowman was great this off-season and has looked good at times this season, but he isn’t the most consistent cornerback just yet.

Nathan Vasher and Kevin Payne both blew the game in Green Bay, when Greg Jennings beat them for a long touchdown which won Green Bay the game. They are both former starters, who just can’t get the job done when there in the lineup, but there good depth.

Al Afalava has to be the biggest surprise at strong safety. He was a sixth round pick out of Oregon State and he came into training camp later than most rookies because he had to go back to school. He is a big hitter and has been very consistent. I like him a lot, he reminds of a mixture of Chris Harris and Mike Brown.

Overall this pass defense is clearly better than last season, with a healthy Charles Tillman and a very athletic Danieal Manning this secondary is nice. Bowman and Afalava are very good players as well.

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Bears Release TE Gaines To Make Room For DE Gaines

17th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule     

54cc10f2To make room on the 53 man roster for newly acquired DE Gaines Adams, the Bears released veteran TE Michael Gaines. Gaines was only active for two games this season and made the roster this off-season as the fourth tight end after signing a one-year deal. Gaines is considering a very good blocking tight end and when Dez Clark was injured Gaines was active on game days.

Teams that might pickup Gaines are Cleveland, Arizona, Buffalo and Miami.

We got a Gaines, but we lost a Gaines too.

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Breaking News: Bears Acquire Gaines Adams From Tampa

16th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule, Did you Know?     

gaines-adamsAccording to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Bucs have sent the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft to Chicago for a 2010 draft pick.  According to the Chicagobears.com, the bears gave up a second-round selection. That means the Bears won’t have first round and second round picks for the second straight draft.

This is a surprise move considering the Bears have been very good at getting to the quarterback this season. But you have to remember Adewale Ogunleye, who is leading the team this season with four and half sacks will be a free agent after this season along with fellow defensive end Mark Anderson.

Gaines Adams disappointed many in Tampa Bay including their head coach Raheem Morris, but the Bears probably think defensive line coach Rod Marinelli will get the first round potential out of Adams. Adams has appeared in 37 games with 29 starts in three seasons, registering 86 tackles, 13½ sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. I like this trade a lot considering how good of player Adams can be, but I really like Adewale Ogunleye and I think this trade signals the end of his time with the Bears. Ogunleye will demand a lot of money this off-season, but the Bears won’t want to give a 33 year old player that kind of dough, I think they’ll go younger and keep Anderson and Adams over Ogunleye. Gaines Adams is signed through 2012, so if he looks good this season the Bears will look very smart. Adams won’t take over Ogunleye’s starting spot, but he’ll be part of the rotation.

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Who Will Man The Middle This Sunday: Roach Or Hillenmeyer?

16th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule     

1Since the Bears defensive leader Brian Urlacher went down in week one with a wrist injury, the Bears have seen his backup, Hunter Hillenmeyer get injured as well. Nick Roach, who started nine games at strong-side linebacker last season and two this season (for the injured Pisa Tinoisamoa)  played in the middle against Seattle and Detroit and did a pretty solid job.

Hillenmeyer, was suited up today in practice. He hasn’t practiced since suffering a rib injury against Seattle in week three. He is listed as doubtful for the game on Sunday night.

Why would the Bears go with Hillenmeyer over Roach?

The Bears might want to go with Hillenmeyer if he’s ready because of his experience and his leadership on the field. He is a smart player, but he’s not the fastest player.

Why would the Bears go with Roach over Hillenmeyer?

Roach is the healthier option anyways, but he has put together nice statistics the last two games. Against Seattle he came in for Hillenmeyer and made seven tackles and an important pass deflection to the seal the victory. Against Detroit he made seven tackles and sacked Matthew Stafford.

I really liked Nick Roach last season as the strong-side linebacker, but I didn’t know he was talented enough to play in the middle. I guess I was wrong. I think a line-backing core of Briggs, Roach and Tinoisamoa is very solid. That means Jamar Williams, and Hunter Hillenmeyer are the backups and there not bad to have just in case.

Nick Roach’s Future

I think Nick Roach could be Brian Urlacher’s replacement, when Brian decides to retire. Brian Urlacher should retire a Bear at least that’s what the organization owes him after all his hard work. But back to Nick Roach, if Hillenmeyer was healthy I still think Lovie would have put in Roach just because of his speed and ability to get down field in pass situations. The linebackers will have a big challenge to face this coming Sunday night when they have shadow future hall of fame tight end Tony Gonzalez and Roach manning the middle is a key to their success or there failure.

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Which Ex-Bear Will Make The Pro Bowl: Orton or Benson?

14th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule     

Bengals Browns FootballEx-Bears Kyle Orton and Cedric Benson were decent players with the Bears at best, but now they have entered the next stages of their careers.

Cedric Benson, who the Bears drafted with the fourth selection in 2005 was basically dumped by the Bears last season after he had off the field issues. The Bengals decided to pick him up about halfway through the season. This season the surprising 4-1 Bengals have Benson playing and looking like whole different player. Benson has 487 yards on 111 carries and is averaging 4.4 yards per carry through five games this season.

Kyle Orton, who the Bears threw into their starting lineup during his rookie season, 2005, was traded this off-season in the blockbuster deal to get Jay Cutler. Nicknamed the “neck-beard” and ‘game manager”, Orton has looked like a different quarterback for the 5-0 Broncos. It is hard to believe that the Broncos, who were thought to be in rebuilding mode are undefeated through five games. Everyone thought when they traded their “Next John Elway”,(Jay Cutler), Brandon Marshall demanded a trade and Mike Shannan was fired that the Broncos would be one of the worst teams this season.

The Broncos have one of the best offensive lines, combined with some very talented running backs and receivers and that has made Kyle Orton looking very good. Orton has thrown for over 1200 yards, seven touchdowns, one interception and a 97.4 QB rating through five games. Those are some nice stats for an average quarterback. Trust me the Bears got the better end of the deal because they got the quarterback with better potential and better arm. Kyle Orton will always be an average quarterback because he has no deep ball. Broncos fans should be excited that there 5-0, but that doesn’t mean that there truly a good team. Once the season plays out you’ll see that the Broncos are pretenders rather than contenders.

So which Ex-Bear will make the Pro Bowl?

I believe Cedric Benson will make the Pro Bowl over Orton because he already has almost 500 yards through five games and if he keeps up the pace he should find a spot on the AFC Pro Bowl roster. Kyle Orton’s stats won’t play this good throughout the entire season, I promise you that.

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Ex-Bears Draft and Johnson Sign With Buffalo

13th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule     

0063The Buffalo Bills, who are banged up on defense have added two former Bears. They added linebacker Chris Draft and safety Todd Johnson.

Chris Draft was a sixth round pick by the Bears in 1998 out of Stanford. He only played one game with the Bears that year and was waived after the season. He went on to play for San Francisco, Atlanta, Carolina and most recently St. Louis. The 33 year old Draft should get some playing time at strong side linebacker for the Bills, who just lost Kawika Mitchell for the season.

Todd Johnson was a fourth round pick by the Bears in 2003 out of Florida. He played with the Bears from 2003-2006 and he was a pretty good player. He appeared in 42 games making 143 tackles and played a lot during the 2006-2007, when the Bears went on their Super Bowl run. He left for St. Louis the following year and played the last two seasons there, but was released this off-season. He should get some playing time with Bills safeties Byron Scott and Donte Whitner banged up, if not he provides good depth.

Good to see former Bears get another shot in this league. One guy I want to see play sometime this season is Brandon Rideau, I just think he deserves a shot to show his stuff.

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Injury Updates: Hester, Hillenmeyer, Knox, Idonije and Tinoisamoa

7th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule     

hesterThe Bears practiced today and they saw only Pisa Tinoisamoa (PCL strain) and Johnny Knox (shin) return to the  field.

Israel Idonije, who had knee surgery on Tuesday sat out practice and is expected to miss the Atlanta game, October 18th. Adrian Peterson is in the same boat, he has a sprained knee and isn’t expected back for Atlanta. Devin Hester (strained muscle in his neck) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (bruised ribs) both sat out, but are expected to play in Atlanta.

Pisa Tinoisamoa talked about his injury, here’s what he had to say:

“I tore the PCL, there was nothing holding it from going back and moving around. I was like, you know what, this isn’t good, I just had to get comfortable with my knee and the movement that I do. The position we play is a pretty athletic one, and you’re going against athletes, so you can’t go out there with one and a half knees, fortunately, being Samoan, we get big legs and big calves, I was born with this stuff. I was real fortunate, very.”

Devin Hester also spoke up about his injury, here’s what he had to say:

“Anything dealing with your neck, you’re pretty much nervous, but the results came back and it’s just a little strained muscle in my neck. It’s nothing major, I’m just in the process of resting it, trying to recover from the game, I’ll be ready for the Atlanta Falcons game.”

all quotes from espn.com

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Ex-Bear Ayanbadejo Out For The Season

6th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule     

83728520Ex-Bear Brendon Ayanbadejo was officially ruled out for the season with a torn quadriceps.

Ayanbadejo has been a special teams leader for most of his career, but this season for the Ravens he was more than that. In four games this season Ayanbadejo had 22 tackles, one sack and one interception. The 33 year old Ayanbadejo was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week last week, when he recorded four tackles, one sack and one interception.

It’s a shame to see such a good former Bears player finally get a shot in the starting lineup go down with a devastating injury. The Ravens were using Ayanbadejo as a pass rusher, he would play about 20-30 snaps a game.

I wish the Bears kept Ayanabadejo just for the special teams unit, because he was a real leader out there, but the Bears weren’t willing to give him one million dollars a season. The Bears special teams has been good this season, but they would be even better with Ayanbadejo leading the way.

Good luck next season Brendon.

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Dominic Rhodes To The Bears?

5th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule, Did you Know?     

90023173Could running back Dominic Rhodes be on his way to the Windy City?

With the report that Adrian Peterson is out for two to three weeks with an MCL strain, the Bears could be in the market for a running back. Luckily the Bears have a bye week this week, but they will still have to be worried for the Sunday night match-up against the Falcons in week six. They could go into the game with Wolfe as Matt Forte’s primary backup, or they could promote practice squad running back Kahlil Bell or they could sign a running back like Dominic Rhodes off the street.

Why would the Bears sign Dominic Rhodes?

Well, Rhodes has played in 96 games in seven seasons, rushing for over 3000 yards and 26 touchdowns. Rhodes came into the league out of undrafted out of Midwestern State. He’s played seven seasons, appearing in 96 games, rushing for over 3000 yards and 26 touchdowns. He played in Indianapolis from 2001-2007, I know all Bears fans remember when Rhodes ran for over 100 yards in the Super Bowl XLI loss to the Colts. Well he left for the lucrative contract from the Raiders, but only lasted a season there. He found his way back to Indy last season and did pretty well, but the Colts let him hit the free agent market once again. He signed on with the Buffalo Bills, but was released before the start of the season.

I think Dominic Rhodes would be a nice complement to Matt Forte. Other options for the Bears could be the veteran Warrick Dunn or the young and inexperienced runners Chris Henry and Antonio Pittman. I don’t know what the Bears will do with their running back situation, but it’s definitely something to watch for at least a couple weeks. The Bears will also have to find someone to replace Adrian Peterson’s spot on special team, and they’ll most likely do that by snatching someone off their practice squad.

Don’t be surprised if the Bears add Dominic Rhodes to their roster by the end of the week, he is a better option than any other free agent or practice squad running back available.

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Bears Look Special In 48-24 Victory Over Detroit

4th October 2009 by under 2009-2010 Schedule, Did you Know?     

APTOPIX Lions Bears FootballIf you take a look at the box score from this game, you would think that the Detroit Lions won the game. The Lions had 25 first downs (eight more than the Bears), 308 passing yards (183 more than the Bears) and had the ball for 36 minutes (13 minutes more than the Bears). So, how did the Bears win this game. Well it was mix of great special teams play throughout and some good defense in the second half.

Special Special Teams:

The Bears saw Robbie Gould make two field goals today, one of them was a 52 yarder, which was his longest attempt ever made. Punter Brad Maynard punted four times and every time the ball landed inside the Lions 20 yard line. Devin Hester returned a punt 35 yards in the first quarter to set up a touchdown drive, Earl Bennett returned a punt 20 yards and set up a field goal, and Danieal Manning returned a kick off 43 yards to set up a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. Also, how can you forget about Johnny Knox, he returned three kickoffs for a total of 147 yards and returned the opening kickoff of the second half 102 yards for a touchdown. I mean I knew the Bears had good special teams, but wow today was amazing. They set the offense up with a great field position all day and the defense was playing inside the Detroit 20 yard line most of the day.

Surprising Lions:

The Lions came out firing on all cylinders in the first half, by racking up 21 points. Calvin Johnson couldn’t be stopped and Matthew Stafford looked the real deal. He did get sacked five times in this game, fumbling the ball once and throwing an interception once as well. The Bears pass rush looked unstoppable at times. Alex Brown (0.5), Adewale Ogunleye (2.5), Nick Roach (1)and Israel Idonije (1) all got to Matthew Stafford today. Also, Mark Anderson, Tommie Harris and Lance Briggs were everywhere. The pass coverage looked soft during the first half, but they came back in the second half by only allowing Detroit to score three points.

Jay Jay:

Jay Cutler threw two touchdowns, both in the red zone, to tight ends Greg Olsen and Kellen Davis. Cutler also scrambled in for a touchdown, where he jumped over Lions linebacker Julian Peterson and risked his body just for the score. That was an incredible play. The Bears had short fields all day, so they didn’t really need to throw the ball deep too often. Cutler hooked up with seven different receivers.

Injury Bug:

Unfortunately injuries hit the Bears in this game, but luckily it didn’t affect them too much. Running back Adrian Peterson went out in the first quarter with a knee injury, wide receiver Devin Hester left the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter and Johnny Knox left the game in the third quarter with a bruised shin. The Bears do have a bye week next week, so they will get to rest those players and see how serious the injuries are. The Bears should have linebackers Hunter Hillenmeyer and Pisa Tinoisamoa back for the week six Sunday night match-up against the Falcons.

Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner had this to say about the injuries to his wide receivers:

“I think they’re going to be fine, it sounds like.”

Running Game Looked Good At Times:

Matt Forte had runs of 61 and 37, but had only 23 yards on ten other carries. Forte broke into the end zone late in the fourth quarter on his 37 yard run. Garrett Wolfe had five carries for 22 yards and a touchdown (the first of his career). The Bears out gained the Lions 151-90 on the ground.

Things To Improve On:

The Bears offense was two of ten on third down conversions, and that must improve. The Bears must start fast on both offense and defense today, we saw it from the offense, but not so much from the defense. Those are my two biggest concerns heading into the bye week. I’m sure Lovie Smith and Co. will patch things up, they sure looked good with their half time adjustments today.

Overall the Bears should be happy with their 3-1 record with a quarter of the season in the books. Also they should be pleased with their pass rush because they have 14 sacks through four games so far this season and only had 27 sacks all last season.

all quotes from chicagosuntimes.com

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