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Archives for Game Recap

A Disappointing End To A Great Season: Bears Fall Short Of Super Bowl Shot

25th January 2011 by under Game Recap     

The Bears lost the NFC Championship on Sunday to their NFC North rival, the Green Bay Packers.

The game meant so much to both teams. Most importantly, a trip to Dallas for the Super Bowl. This was the third match up between these two teams this season and the 182nd of all time.

This rivalry might be the most established in all of sports besides, MLB (Yankees-Red Sox), NBA (Lakers-Celtics) and NHL (Red Wings-Blackhawks). The Bears against the Packers is just a match up everyone enjoys watching.

The Bears seemed to be uninterested in the first half. They struggled mightily, allowing Green Bay to put up 14 first half points. So, with a 14-0 lead at halftime for the Packers, the Bears seemed to be in it on the scoreboard, but out of it in the way they were performing on the field.

They came out in the second half with a banged up Jay Cutler (he suffered an MCL II sprain, which is likely to keep a player out 3-4 weeks) and he went out after the first drive by the offense. QB Todd Collins (claims to have suffered a shoulder injury in his short time in the game) came in, then was taken out at the end of the third quarter in favor of Caleb Hanie.

Hanie sparked the team, driving the Bears down the field for two touchdowns, but he threw a pick six to big DT B.J. Raji, which really hurt the comeback. The Packers hung on to win 21-14. They ended the Bears season.

It’s sad because the Packers get the chance at the title, not the Bears, but the Packers deserved it more. They did beat the Bears on their home field.

Who knows what the Bears will do next season. They need some changes that is for sure. They need to bring a big bonafide #1 receiver into the mix, add some offensive lineman, decide what to do with Tommie Harris and figure out the defense because it is aging.

Those are the wants, needs and questions of many Bears fans right now. But I have a big gripe about the game that took place on Sunday. The coaching was bad in the first half, but the decision to have Todd Collins as the number two quarterback ahead of Caleb Hanie is joke.

I joked all week about the Bears starting Todd Collins over Jay Cutler, but I never thought I would actually see that veteran bum on the field for the Bears in the NFC Championship. Collins threw four incomplete passes, two of which were almost picked off by Green Bay.

To put Todd Collins at the number two quarterback position is a joke. He completed 10 passes and threw four interceptions in a week five affair with the Panthers. After that game, the Bears should have either given Caleb Hanie a look or brought in another veteran because Todd Collins is a joke. How he could be in the NFL and make one million dollars is beyond me.

I honestly believe I could throw farther than him. I think the Bears wasted a whole quarter with Todd Collins running the offense. Right after Urlacher’s big interception, Collins came in and that really hurt the momentum for the Bears. Hanie might not have won the game for the Bears, but he would have performed much better than that old bum Collins.

The Bears will have to figure things out this off-season if they want to regain there composure because a lot of fans are upset at their coaches and players right now, especially QB Jay Cutler. I’m not going to complain, this season was very great to watch, but to lose to the Packers in the NFC Championship, that is tough.

Hopefully that gives them a drive to come back stronger next season. We can only hope. Right?

Bear Down!

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Game Recap: Bears Bully Seattle, Will Host Green Bay For NFC Title

17th January 2011 by under Game Recap     

You can say the Bears got a lucky break in the divisional round by playing the Seattle Seahawks, but that’s who the league sent to Soldier Field and the Bears played them yesterday.

They had a 28-0 lead at halftime. Had TE Greg Olsen go off for 3 catches, 113 yards and one touchdown. They had QB Jay Cutler throw for two touchdowns and run for two touchdowns. They had Matt Forte and Chester Taylor combined for 144 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries.

The Bears bullied the Seahawks all day. It wasn’t till the second half until the Bears stopped playing. At that point in the game, they had it won basically and had their minds on next week’s match-up against Green Bay.

That worries me a little considering the type of effort they put on display in that second half. CB Tim Jennings could have had a fumble return for a touchdown on a Hasselbeck backward pass, but he couldn’t control the ball.

Matt Forte threw a pass out of the wildcat and fooled no one on the Seahawks defense and threw an interception. Charles Tillman covered Mike Williams tough all day and then the Bears coaches decided to put Danieal Manning on Williams at the goal line.

The coaches made some dumb decisions in that second half that could cost them against Green Bay next Sunday. I don’t expect the Bears to run plays like that unless the game is 45-0 at half, but I don’t expect the game to be high scoring.

The Bears showed on defense, offense and special teams why they are in the playoffs. The Bears won the time of possession by 15 minutes. They had 437 total yards of offense compared to Seattle’s 276 yards. The Bears converted 10-18 third downs, they will need to convert a better percentage against the Packers.

The Bears match-up well with the Packers in every area of the game. The Bears will have the home field advantage, the crowd in the game, and momentum on defense from the big divisional victory of Seattle.

Seattle was a hot team coming off a surprise win over the Saints in the wild card, but the Bears showed once again why they are a good football team.

The Packers-Bears at Soldier Field for the chance at the Super Bowl doesn’t get much better than that. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was 1941, seven days after Pearl Harbor.

Get ready for a great game, I would love to see a low scoring game with great defense.

Bear Down!

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Almost Knocked Them Out: Bears Fall To Packers 10-3

4th January 2011 by under Game Recap     

The Bears technically had nothing to play for against the 9-6 Packers on Sunday, but they wanted to bump their NFC North rival out of the playoffs.

They failed to do so. Some negatives and some positives came out of the game. The negatives were clear. The offensive line struggled allowing Jay Cutler to be sacked 6 times, Jay Cutler threw two interceptions. Johnny Knox failed to reel in a pass. TE Brandon Manumaleuna stunk it up on blocks.

Everyone on offense except Matt Forte and Rashied Davis struggled. Matt Forte ran the ball and caught the ball out of the backfield pretty well. Rashied Davis played well in Earl Bennetts’s absence catching seven passes for 63 yards.

The offense has to step it up two weeks from now because it will be hard to win a game scoring three points. The defense on the other hand played very well. They shut down QB Aaron Rodgers for the most part. DT Tommie Harris had a key sack, Brian Urlacher and Henry Melton split a sack, D.J. Moore forced a fumble and Charles Tillman intercepted a pass. This defense was playing like a playoff defense.

The Bears next game will be January 16th at Soldier field, it will be a 1 PM ET kickoff. They will play either the winner of the Saints-Seahawks or the Eagles if they defeat the Packers. The Bears need to get some preparation in these next two weeks because not playing for a while hurts the funk of the team.

Getting Jay Cutler back in the groove starts with getting the offensive line back together. They need a healthy Earl Bennett back, so Johnny Knox can get some open space down field. Matt Forte just needs to keep on running hard. The offense worries most Bears fans more than the defense, but we all know that the offense can be just as good as the defense if not better. If the offense clicks this Bears team will be very tough to beat.

Lets all hope for a Packers loss during wild card weekend.

Bear Down!

For Bears news on Twitter, follow @Bearsbacker.

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Game Recap: Bears One Win Away From #2 Seed In NFC With Win Over Jets

29th December 2010 by under Game Recap     

No one thought this week 16 match-up between the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets was going to be a shootout.

It turned out to be one because Jets QB Mark Sanchez was completing slant passes with success against the Bears cover 2 defense.

Jay Cutler was tearing up the Jets defense in the second half when he threw three touchdowns. Two to Johnny Knox and one to Devin Hester. Cutler looked unstoppable and so did Matt Forte running and catching passes out of the backfield.

If the offense can consistently play on this level everyone in the NFC better watch out.

Devin Hester and Johnny Knox were Cutler’s favorite targets. Hester was excellent returning kicks when the Jets kicked to him. Forte was great running all day and he was catching wheel routes with great success.

The defense needs to get back on track against the Packers, if they want to get the #2 seed in the NFC.

Big win over the Jets, but this Sunday’s game against the NFC North rival Packers is even bigger.

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Game Recap: Bears Win NFC North In Promising Win Over Minnesota

21st December 2010 by under Game Recap     

The Bears won the NFC North division last night and beat down the Vikings 40-14 in a convincing win. They got great play from all three phases, offense, defense and special teams.

Jay Cutler was throwing the ball great last night. He was 14 of 24 for 194 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He had a QB rating of 106.6. The one interception came on a blitz by Antoine Winfield which caused the arrant pass.

Cutler had to get three stitches in his chin and he played the rest of the game with tape over his chin. Cutler played well even after that play.

The running game of the Bears was very successful as well. Matt Forte ran for 97 yards and averaged 5.4 ypc. Receiver Johnny Knox caught a 67 yard touchdown pass, Devin Hester added a 15 yard touchdown pass in the red-zone and rarely used Rashied Davis caught a nine yard touchdown pass to put the Bears up for good.

The offensive line played great all night. They allowed only one entire sack and that allowed Cutler and Forte to have success all night.

The defense came out to play after a disappointing performance last week against the Patriots. Brian Urlacher led the defense with 7 tackles and had an interception called back on a penalty late in the second half. Urlacher looked surprisingly slow on the return and that isn’t a good thing to see if your a Bears fan.

But back to the performance on the defensive side of the ball, they played tremendous. The forced five fumbles. They allowed Favre to drive down the field on the first drive and complete a touchdown pass to Percy Harvin. After that they completely shut down the Vikings offense, by forcing Brett Favre out of the game by injuring him.

Corey Wootton sacked Favre and forced him out of the game. That sack was the first of Wootton’s career and it will be apart of many highlights down the road. Israel Idonije, Lance Briggs and Matt Toeaina all added sacks. Charles Tillman, Julius Peppers and Chris Harris all added interceptions.

The defense allowed a total of 273 yards. They let the Vikings convert only 3 of 11 third down conversions.

The special teams was even more special then the defense or offense. Devin Hester not only caught a 15 yard touchdown pass, he returned a kickoff 79 yards to open the second half and then returned a punt 64 yards for a record setting touchdown. Danieal Manning was vicious on two kickoff returns. Robbie Gould added four field goals. Brad Maynard punted three times and did very well.

This was a great team performance. They now move on to the Jets next Sunday at Soldier Field. Then finish the season at Green Bay. They need to play hard these next weeks to get the momentum they need to earn a first round bye in the playoffs.

Great victory by the Bears and the Bears have won their first division crown since 2006.

Bear Down!

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Bears Get Crushed By Patriots In Snow 36-7

13th December 2010 by under Game Recap     

The Bears got crushed by the Patriots. There is simply no rhyme or reason around it. The Patriots are the most complete team in the NFL and when their good it is scary how good they really are.

The Bears are still 9-4, still have a very good defense and still own are leading the NFC North. The Packers lost to the Lions and lost QB Aaron Rodgers for the game. Rodgers could be out the rest of the season and that would be a huge break for the Bears.

The Bears don’t want breaks at this point, they know they just got crushed by the best team in the NFL, the best QB, and the best coach.

They have to improve, they have to forgot about this performance. They were close to creating turnovers, Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and Chris Harris all should have had interceptions. The defense couldn’t get enough pressure on Brady and that allowed, but this defense just needs to move on and focus on next week.

Sometimes games like that help you in the end. The next three games against the Vikings, Jets and Packers won’t be easy. But they need to show that they are team destined for the big show.

If they can get on a hot streak at the end of the season then they can make a run at the Super Bowl and possibly face the Patriots again in Arlington, TX. How crazy would that be? Do you think the Bears would be able to change up their gameplan and defeat the Patriots? Who knows, but right now is a critical time for a Bears team that is still sitting pretty on top of the NFC North.

It stinks to get blown out, but at least it was by the best and not the worst. Focus on the Minnesota game next week because that needs to be the most important thing on the team’s mind right now. A team meeting was a great idea for today’s day off. Looking at film is important, getting back to the basics and getting the spirits of the team up needs to happen.

Bad loss for the Bears, but they’ll shake it off and come back next week against Minnesota.

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Game Recap: Bears Improve To 9-3 In A Close Matchup In Detroit

9th December 2010 by under Game Recap     

This game was considered a trap game and the Bears played like it was in the first half at least. The Bears came away with the win in Detroit against a Lions team starting their third string QB.

You would think it would be a blow out, but the Bears played uninspired football in the first half. They let the Lions score 17 points, including a score with 34 seconds left in the first half.

The Bears defense was playing okay, but that drive made them look awful. The Bears special teams was the reason the Lions were looking good in the this game, Lions return man Stefan Logan averaged 38.7 yards on kicks and 19 yards on punts. The Lions consistently had good field position and the Bears defense was holding them for the most part.

The offense got the running game going with Forte and Taylor, they both found their way into the end zone in the first half. They combined for 97 yards on 19 carries and 2 touchdowns.

Getting the running game going was very important, but seeing Jay Cutler play the steady role was nice. Cutler completed 21 of 26 for 234 yards and one touchdown. Earl Bennett caught seven passes for 104 yards and he seems to be Cutler’s favorite target as of late.

Cutler’s lone touchdown pass came with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter, when Lions DE Suh just got penalized for elbowing Jay Cutler. Cutler hit Brandon Manumeluena on the following play for a touchdown and that allowed them to pull away.

Even though it looked like the Bears were struggling at times and they were, I think this was a good game to have before a big match-up against the 10-2 Patriots. The defense must be on it’s top game because the last time these two teams played, the Bears defense caused 5 turnovers and still lost. Expect the Bears to play hard nosed football in the cold windy city temperatures.

Matt Forte and Chester Taylor will be the focus in this game, running and catching balls out of the backfield will be important keys to the offense. The offense just needs to keep drives going because you don’t want Brady and the boys’ out on the field, they put up 45 points against the NY Jets, who were said to be a Super Bowl favorite.

The Bears close win over the Lions might be the reason they win or lose against the Patriots. Sunday should be a good game either way.

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Bears Improve To 8-3 With Big Win Over Philly

30th November 2010 by under Bears News, Game Recap     

The Bears stopped Michael Vick and played their most complete game on offense all season long on Sunday. They beat the Eagles 31-26, but the game wasn’t as close as the final score insists.

They improved to 8-3 and are currently ahead of the 7-4 Packers by one game in the NFC North.

Jay Cutler played arguably his best game as a Chicago Bear. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 247 yards, four touchdowns and most importantly no interceptions. His QB rating was 146.2, the highest of his career. Good Jay showed up against the Eagles.

The offensive line allowed him to get sacked four times in the first half, but after that they protected him pretty well and that allowed him to make some big plays.

Wide receivers Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett and Devin Hester all had big catches in this game. They all had lots of yards after the catch. They seem to be thriving in the Mike Martz system.

Speaking of big catches, TE Greg Olsen caught his fifth receiving touchdown when he took the ball away from an Eagles defender in the end zone.

The running game set up all these big plays. Matt Forte ran the ball 14 times for 117 yards. He had runs of 61 and 28 which helped the Bears offense out tremendously. This breakout game by Forte helped open up the passing game for the Bears.

They seemed to have a perfect mix of run and pass in this game and if the offense keeps clicking like this they will be hard to beat.

The most steady part of the team is the defense and they contained Michael Vick. Vick had most of his passing yards in the second half.  They didn’t let the Eagles make the “big play” and that allowed them to contain Vick. The Eagles converted only 4 of their 13 third down conversions.

The defensive line consistently brought pressure. Julius Peppers had a sack and a forced fumble. Matt Toeaina had a sack. Anthony Adams had a sack and a forced fumble. Israel Idonije and Henry Melton both recorded a half of a sack.

This defense was startling Vick with four man pressure. Most importantly if Vick actually got past the line, the linebackers were ready to wrap him up. Brian Urlacher had nine tackles and Lance Briggs added five. Safety Major Wright had four tackles and played his most snaps all season long.

The most critical moment in the game came with two minutes in the second quarter when the Eagles were trailing 14-13 and looking to score. DT Tommie Harris got his hands up and tipped a Michael Vick pass into the hands of safety Chris Harris who returned the ball to the Bears 35 yard line.

Then off that interception the Bears took the ball down the field and scored with 38 seconds left before the half.

Bears fans have been all over Tommie Harris since he basically disappeared from the stat sheet a couple of seasons ago. I have always liked the guy, but I understand the hatred towards him. Fans have to love Harris a little more after Sunday’s performance against the Eagles.

Without that tip by Harris, safety Chris Harris would have never picked that ball and the Bears wouldn’t have gained the momentum they needed to get back in the game.

My hats off to both Harris’s on the play, but Tommie Harris stepped up and showed why he is still a good player. Plays like that are expected by the Bears defense and Tommie Harris. So it was good to see him make a big play.

Special teams is the third phase head coach Lovie Smith talks about and they played pretty well. Danieal Manning and Devin Hester split time on kick returns and both consistently set up the Bears offense with great field position.

With all three phases clicking, offense, defense and special teams this team will be very hard to beat. This was the biggest win all season for the Bears and it proves that this team does have what it takes to win it all, um Pat Kirwan doesn’t think so.

Four straight wins, a one game lead in the NFC North all feels good, but they still have four very tough games left on their schedule. They better not take the Lions for granted this Sunday either. They need to keep playing at the level they have been playing at in their four latest wins.

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Bears Shutout Dolphins 16-0 In South Beach

19th November 2010 by under Game Recap     

The Bears put together their first shutout victory since 2006 last night. They defeated the Miami Dolphins 16-0, but most importantly shut them down completely in all aspects of the football game.

They allowed the Dolphins to convert only one third down conversion out of 11 attempts. They held the Dolphins under 200 yards of offense for the entire game.

The Dolphins game-plan might have been questionable considering they ran the ball seven times or a total of 12 yards. They gave third string QB Tyler Thigpen the ball and said throw it around. Thigpen was 17 of 29 for 187 and one interception. Thigpen was also sacked six times, three of those sacks came in garbage time.

Considering the Bears had the ball for 37 minutes of the game and ran 68 plays in that time that didn’t allow the Dolphins to run many plays. The Dolphins actually ran only 48 plays in the entire game.

The Bears defense and running game took this game over. They took advantage of the Dolphins confusing game-plan and played Bears football. Great defense and solid running led the Bears to so many victories over the years and the Bears are  back at it once again.

Matt Forte had 97 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown with two minutes left in the quarter to put the Bears up 16-0.

Three field goals by Robbie Gould came before the Forte touchdown.

The Bears were great on defense and pounded the ball on offense. Those are the keys to Bears football and they are back to playing it again. Down the stretch the Bears will need this type of play. Three home games against the Eagles, Patriots and Jets will be tough. Three road games against NFC North opponents, Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay will be tough as well.

The remaining six games will show how good the Bears really are. If they can continue to play great defense and convert third downs on offense they will be able to compete all of those games. Last night’s game against Miami shows that they are a good team, but we just don’t know how good they really are just yet.

Playing against Philadelphia next week won’t be easy.

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Back In First Place: Bears Win 27-13 Over Minnesota

15th November 2010 by under Bears News, Game Recap     

This had to be the biggest game of the season for the Bears. They came up huge. They shut down RB Adrian Peterson, QB Brett Favre and for the most part kept WR Percy Harvin in check.

Beating the defending NFC North champions was a big step in the right direction for the Bears. They went from being a shaky 5-3 team to a pretty dangerous 6-3 team. If all three phases click on a regular basis like they did on Sunday this team should keep having success.

The Bears were clicking on offense, defense and special teams yesterday. Jay Cutler completed 22 of 35 passes for 237 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

One interception came on a rocket pass to Johnny Knox that was deflected into the hands of Viking defender. The other interception was in the red zone and was all Cutler’s fault, all he had to do was scramble or throw the ball away.

The most important statistic the Bears improved on was their third down offense, they were able to convert 11 of 19 third downs on the day.

The running backs had some success against the Vikings defense, Chester Taylor and Matt Forte combined for 102 yards on 33 carries. Getting the running backs going in the cold weather is very important down the stretch.

The offensive line played its best game all season and really looked like they meshed well together. They committed some dumb false start penalties, but those will go away with experience. They allowed Cutler to scramble when he needed and for him to throw on the run when he needed. Most importantly they only allowed one sack by the Vikings defense.

The receivers played very well. Johnny Knox caught five passes for 90 yards. Devin Hester who struggled early slipping on routes added a huge touchdown late in the second quarter which put the Bears up 14-10 at halftime. Earl Bennett, Rashied Davis and Devin Aromashodu all added grabs as well.

Tight ends Greg Olsen and Kellen Davis both added touchdown grabs. Olsen’s came on a third and 14 in the second quarter, when Jay Cutler threw a laser to Olsen to put the Bears up 7-3.

Davis had the lone score in the fourth quarter. The Davis touchdown came on a third-and-one, where the Bears came out in the Tank package. If you didn’t know the Tank package is where they call a three tight end package. On that play call Davis released off the line and the play-fake sucked up the defense. He had no one near him as he went in for the score.

TE Kellen Davis had this to say about the play:

“There was nobody near me. I was just like, ‘Man, hurry up and throw it before somebody comes.’ It was taking a long time to get there.”

The defense played very well once again. They shut down Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre. They kept Percy Harvin in check. The defense got enough pressure on Favre to rattle him. They didn’t record a sack, but they made big plays. DE/DT Henry Melton forced a key fumble on a Brett Favre scramble in the second half, which was recovered by Tommie Harris.

LB Lance Briggs picked off Favre in the second half, so did nickel back D.J. Moore and safety Chris Harris. Moore now has four interceptions, which is a team high. He seems to have a knack for interceptions, he got the interception mainly because Israel Idonije tipped the ball on the line.

The Bears defense has held opponents under 17 points in six of the nine games they have played this season. They only allowed the Vikings to score one touchdown and it came on a mistake by safety Chris Harris, who bit on the play and allowed Percy Harvin to reel in an easy touchdown pass. Danieal Manning committed a dumb pass interference penalty in the second half, but besides that the defense played smart and sound football.

Adrian Peterson only ran for 51 yards on 17 carries and Brett Favre only passed for 170 yards on 31 attempts. The Bears should get the credit they deserve for shutting down the Vikings weapons.

Special teams played a huge role in this victory for the Bears. Devin Hester returned his first kickoff since last January. He added 100 yards on two kick returns and 47 yards on two punt returns. Rashied Davis also added a 32 yard kick return, but Hester was the story of the game. The Devin Hester of old was flying all over the field looking more dangerous than ever. He was consistently setting the Bears offense up with great field position.

What the Bears envisioned him doing when they first converted him to wide receiver seems to be working right now. He is a weapon on offense and a weapon on special teams and that could be a recipe for disaster for opponents.

The coaches called up a great game plan. It was a great mix of passes and runs and when they needed a boost on third down the right play seemed to be called consistently. The offense was clicking and the plays being called were just right. I would like to see more game plans like this.

They’ve basically eliminated the defending NFC North champion Vikings from the playoffs. Now Chicago and Green Bay will battle it out for the division crown, both teams sit at 6-3, but they rest of their schedules are very challenging.

The Bears have a short week to prepare for the Miami Dolphins. The Thursday night game in Miami should be tough on both teams. The Dolphins lost both of their quarterbacks named Chad (Pennington and Henne) for the season and now have to go with four year pro Tyler Thigpen. Look for the Dolphins to use the wildcat more on Thursday night.

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