If you were watching last night’s Bears 26-23 preseason victory over the Browns trying to catch a glimpse of your favorite Bears, I hope you didn’t blink.

After a Zack Bowman interception on the first play from scrimmage, Jay Cutler took the field and handed off to back-up running back Kevin Jones six times, leading to a Robbie Gould field goal. Matt Forte didn't even play. After those first seven plays, it was scrub time.

Only two defensive starters returned to the field for the Bears on their second possession, as Kevin Payne and Daniel Manning could still use some playing time.

Defensively, it was a sloppy game from the Bears’ back-ups, with plenty of missed tackles. Newly signed corner Rod Hood was surprisingly in tune early on, having joined the Bears three days earlier. Unfortunately, he followed up by being out of position on a long pass play and failing to wrap up a ball-carrier on a sorry excuse for a tackle attempt. Missed tackles have been an Achilles’ heel for the Bears, so the coaching staff must make that an emphasis this season.

Continue reading "Bears Answer Few Questions in Victory Over Browns"

Do you smell that? It smells like football! No more preseason, no more scrubs fighting for jobs. It's time for the return of the Opening Drive!

Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers

In the Thursday night season opener, we get what should have been last season’s AFC Championship match-up. The eventual Super Bowl winner Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to make another deep postseason run, and they’re talented enough to do it. Running back Rashard Mendenhall is back after spending most of last year on IR with a shoulder injury. During this campaign he’ll begin to see more carries each week as an eventual successor to Willie Parker. Ben Roethlisberger may still have a lot on his mind, but beating the Titans on national TV may cure what ails him. (For now anyway.)

Continue reading "Joe's Opening Drive: Week 1"

Maybe you didn’t hear the NFL kicked off its season last night. Maybe you didn’t know the Chicago Bears are headed to Lambeau Field to play the Packers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. What I’m pretty sure you heard is that Jay Cutler is a Chicago Bear. 

Wait, you didn’t know that? Stop reading this blog. Now. 

For the informed, let’s get you ready for this Sunday night opener on the not-yet frozen tundra! Lovie Smith and the Bears are coming off a solid preseason where they saw glimpses of what their new QB was capable of. Their first-team offense scored 17 first-half points on both the Giants and Broncos while the defensive starters held their counterparts to only a field goal in each of those contests. 

Continue reading "Joe’s Gameday Preview: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers"

Well that was a hot mess. I’m just glad to have that one behind me now. I’m writing this article as fast as possible just to get the taste out of my mouth.

A positively putrid performance was put on by the Chicago Bears offense in what ended up being a defensive battle. Like it goes in the NFL, the quarterback is going to get most of the blame. Jay Cutler threw four interceptions in Chicago’s 21-15 loss to the rival Green Bay Packers Sunday night.

To his credit, three of those interceptions came in the first half, and the Bears were still only down eight points. Ron Turner’s play-calling did nothing to stop the bleeding, as he completely abandoned Matt Forte and the running game in the first half. Maybe Turner didn’t realize that you should take the ball out of your QB’s hands when he’s throwing interceptions? You let him settle back down with some hand-offs and then ease him back into throwing. Cutler is not Tom Brady; he gets emotional and needs to be reigned in every now and again. Deal with it.

Continue reading "Cutler tosses 4 INT's as Bears fall to Packers"

Week one of the 2009 NFL season is in the books. Filled with injuries, blowouts and a dramatic ending out in Cincinnati, let’s take a look around the league in this first edition of the Final Drive!

Minnesota Vikings 34, Cleveland Browns 20

For Brad Childress’ sake, this should be the formula for every Vikings game this season. All Favre has to do is throw a downfield pass every now and again in between hand-offs to Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. Short accurate passes to Viking playmakers will keep this offense balanced.

Oh, Brady Quinn was Cleveland’s starting quarterback. Was it an advantage Mangini? Not really, as the Browns offense was anemic after the first half, mainly hitting short throws that didn’t move the chains. That’s not an offense Eric.

Continue reading "Joe's Final Drive: Week 1"

With 16 games in the regular season, losing your first two isn’t a cause for panic, but it is a cause for concern. In the Week 2 edition of the Opening Drive, here are some teams who need to avoid an 0-2 start.

Carolina Panthers (0-1) at Atlanta Falcons (1-0)

What’s the over / under on Jake Delhomme interceptions in this NFC South match-up? I’m going to set that line at 2. Though after 9 picks (and 2 fumbles) in his last two games, I’m being generous. His leash could not be shorter. If Atlanta takes down the Panthers, they could share the division lead (or own it outright) after only two games. Expect heavy doses of both teams’ running attacks.

Continue reading "Joe's Opening Drive: Week 2"

This certainly has been a troublesome week for Bears fans after a confounding opener in which Jay Cutler threw four interceptions and Brian Urlacher dislocated his wrist, ending his season. With a load of criticism being heaped Jay’s way and a depth chart shuffle since Monday, the Bears now have to focus on Sunday’s match-up to avoid starting this season 0-2. Unfortunately their mountain to climb is steep, as the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to town.

Thankfully, Chicago’s offense won’t have to worry about the ball-hawking Steeler safety Troy Polamalu adding to Cutler’s interception total for the season. Out with an MCL injury, Polamalu may be the heart of Pittsburgh’s defense, but they certainly aren’t to just roll over for Cutler. Tyrone Carter will be filling in at free safety, and the Steeler linebackers will be anxious to get after the quarterback.

Continue reading "Joe's Gameday Preview: Steelers at Bears"

Critics be silenced! The Chicago Bears have defeated the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers!

A week after his less-than-stellar outing against the Green Bay Packers, Jay Cutler came home to Chicago and proved to be worth the king’s ransom that was paid for his services. Though there is certainly room for improvement, this is a win the Bears desperately needed.

On the their opening possession, the Steelers drove the ball 92 yards down the Bears throats to the result of a Matt Spaeth touchdown grab on fourth and goal from the one. Chicago looked doomed to fall to a superior team, but the football gods came down and deemed my Bears worthy of victory.

Continue reading "Bears Shock Steelers with Late Field Goal"

Week two had its fair share of upsets and surprises. (Not the least of which were my Bears!) Let’s take a look at the week that was in my Week 2 edition of the Final Drive!

(2-0) Atlanta Falcons       28
(0-2) Carolina Panthers   20

That Matt Ryan kid’s pretty good. Atlanta’s acquisition of Tony Gonzalez could be the most underrated move of the offseason. For Carolina, Jake Delhomme only tossed one interception. I’d call that an improvement.

(1-1) Cincinnati Bengals   31
(1-1) Green Bay Packers   24

HA! That’s just embarrassing for Green Bay fans. You take down your division rival in week one just to fall to the lowly Bengals the next week. Carson Palmer hasn’t been himself for a few years; maybe this is the season he can get back on track as being one of the best QB’s in football.

Continue reading "Joe's Final Drive: Week 2"

In week three, two early unbeatens face off at the Metrodome while numerous 0-2 teams try to avoid the near-insurmountable playoff climb out of the 0-3 hole. Let’s get started with this week’s Opening Drive!

Washington Redskins (1-1) at Detroit Lions (0-2)

I’m rooting for the Lions to avoid the longest regular season losing streak in league history (20 games). Why? So I can see the chaos that will undoubtedly ensue in Washington when the ‘Skins fall. Jim Zorn is already under pressure for his inept offense that barely put away the Rams last week.

San Francisco 49ers (2-0) at Minnesota Vikings (2-0)

One of these two hard-nosed squads will finally lose this week. Unfortunately, Niners QB Shaun Hill can’t put up enough points up to hang with Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Vikings for very long. Mike Singletary’s defense needs to go above and beyond if they’re going to stay undefeated.

Continue reading "Joe's Opening Drive: Week 3"

After winning a game no one expected them to win, the Bears are now widely expected to travel to Seattle and defeat the injury-battling Seahawks. Which Seahawk is injured you ask? Someone pretty important…

How about former Pro-Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck? After being viciously (but legally) leveled by 49er linebacker Patrick Willis, Hasselbeck was discovered to have a fractured rib. Needless to say, the Seahawks are being cautious with their star. No one expects him to be able to play on Sunday, so back-up Seneca Wallace will be asked to fill in.

Continue reading "Joe's Gameday Preview: Bears at Seahawks"

It was tougher than it should have been, but the Chicago Bears left Seattle with a 25-19 victory over the Seahawks. Despite a Jay Cutler interception and fumble, the Bears found a way to win. After three heart attacks and defibrillator attention, I found a way to write this story. 

After getting great field position on the opening drive, Robbie Gould missed a field goal, giving the Seahawks good field position of their own. Driving the ball down the field, back-up QB Seneca Wallace dropped the ball off to running back Julius Jones who broke two Bear tackles en route to a 39-yard touchdown. Two Olindo Mare field goals put Seattle up 13-0 with five minutes left in the first half.  

Pushing the attack, the Bears were closing in on a score when Matt Forte fumbled the ball reaching for the goal line. Not to be a buzz-kill, but I have NO idea what replay the refs got when they reversed the call. Whatever the case, Lovie Smith tossed the challenge flag and won, giving Cutler a chance to hit Greg Olsen in the endzone to put the Bears on the scoreboard at the end of the half.  

Continue reading "Cutler leads Bears to 25-19 win in Seattle"

Plenty of drama in a weekend that saw one team break a 19-game losing streak and another keep their undefeated streak going. Let’s start the Final Drive of week 3! 

(1-2) Detroit Lions 19 (1-2) Washington Redskins 14 

The Lions had to win eventually. Though it would be an unfortunate day for whatever unlucky team they defeated. Jim Zorn will keep his job… for a while longer. Congrats to the Lions and the fans that actually showed up to see it.

  
Get ready to lose next week.

(3-0) Minnesota Vikings 27
(2-1) San Francisco 49ers 24 

We’ve all seen or heard of Favre’s late game heroics. I blame Mike Singletary’s defense, which put only two players on the endzone. There were five Niners in the middle of the field! Everyone knows when they need a touchdown on the final play of the game you stack men in the endzone so they can bat the ball down. Horrible call from a good coach.

Continue reading "Joe's Final Drive: Week 3"