adam

lol, the ball was changing hands a lot.

The last thing we needed was a turnover, that was ugly.

Forte is the man, the delayed draw and screen were both nice plays.

This is crazy. I have never seen anything like this.

I would really like to see a dominating performance, especially for the offense. The schedule is brutal going forward, so a 7-1 start is a must. We could go 4-4 in the 2nd half and still end up 11-5.

1. The 46 was moth balled because it became ineffective against the West Coast offense. The Bears scheme is fine, it actually works to the strengths of many players. The only thing I don't like is when we drop the Safeties deeper late in the game into more of a prevent Cover-2. That is when we get soft. Otherwise, we really challenge the offense to play almost perfect to score. 2. I am sold on Cutler. Just look at what he has had in terms of WR's since joining the Bears. Marshall is the first elite talent at that position. He also has dealt with numerous OC's and schemes, and a pretty weak offensive line. It is hard to compare him with other QB's unless you put them on the Bears. A great indication of his value was the Bears record (1-5) after he got injured last year. His record alone, especially in the last two years (12-4) speaks volumes about his value to this team. Also, if you notice, he is not taking the same risks as he was previously. This is a good sign. 3. They are still a work in progress, but most teams have trouble with the Lions front-4. We just need to cut down on the penalties from the O-Line, that would help a lot.

The cheering when he came back out onto the field was awesome too. It is amazing how polarizing he can be. Now the media has their attention on Newton and Sanchez. I even heard Dilfer and Young both compliment Jay, which is amazing because they have ripped him in the past.

Congrats to Peanut again. That would crazy for our CB's to win the monthly award back to back. That just shows you how good our Defense is when our CB's are getting that award with Peppers, Briggs, and Urlacher on the team.

Bears ranking from major outlets after this week: NFL.com - #3 - http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000008...ns-in-free-fall ESPN - #5 - http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings CBS Sports - #2 - http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/powerrankings Fox Sports - #3 - http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/powerRankings Yahoo Sports - #5 - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown...46183--nfl.html Average - 3.6

Yeah, not driving his head into the ground. What was I thinking.

If any team is inflated by their schedule, it's the Falcons. Their combined opponent record is 13-24. So it is hard to actually know where they stand. I would have them at #5. The 49ers have a comparable defense to the Bears, but there offense is slightly worse, and they looked pathetic at home vs NYG. The Giants seem like they are hitting their stride and look really good on both sides of the ball. The Pats have lost 3 games by a total of 4 pts. They could easily be 7-0 but they still lost. They look really good with a running game and Hernandez is just coming back. The Texans looked bad against GB and great against a depleted BAL team. I would say their schedule is the closest to ours with the GB loss. 1. NYG 2. HOU 3. CHI 4. NE 5. ATL 6. SF 7. GB 8. MIN 9. SEA 10. DEN I dropped BAL out because this team is not the same team that started 5-1. This team looks more like CLE than BAL.

Cutler only had 1 or 2 ill-advised passes all game, which is nice to see. Stafford on the other hand had a few interceptions dropped (Conte and Wright for sure). The Bears abandoned the run a few times that I thought was odd because Forte and Bush were looking good. Also, the threat of the running game would've taken some more pressure off of Cutler, so I am surprised they kept dropping him back.

We also have a great rotation on the D-Line, probably the deepest in the league. Our LB corps is definitely a Top 5 unit, CB's of Peanut and Jennings are perfect for Lovie's scheme, and the Safeties are starting to play better. Marshall sure makes the offense better, but we will have to wait and see on Alshon. Hopefully he comes back healthy, in shape, and prepared to contribute during the stretch run. He could be our x-factor. Yeah, I saw Urlacher tip the pass, but I believe they would've called it anyway since he was in contact with Megatron before the tip. It would've been a close call either way. I did not like Suh's sack, it was legal, but excessive. He could easily have just taken him to the ground, but he drove Cutler into the ground with his elbow clearly on his helmet and neck. That is where I have the problem, he hit the QB's head.

Exactly, they don't get behind our Safeties for 55 minutes, so why drop them even further. At least we won, 5-1 is a great start.

I hate garage time TD's. The Bears get sooo soft.

lol, might Yeah, he is definitely not playing up to potential. Angelo's last failure?

Yeah, that was pretty dumb, spread it out and run it. Bush was effective, and they were clearly playing the pass and blitzing. At least we got 3, but 7 would've been nice.

Suh is a dirty player, all his hits are dirty.

They hit by Suh was dirty. No need to pull him down like that. He slams Cutler to the ground and elbows him in the head on the way down, this isn't the WWF. I can't stand Suh. Cutler in for x-rays, the way he was moving, looks like broken or bruised ribs. Hopefully nothing major.

Yeah, two full Sunday's of football without the Bears playing feels like forever. We just need to apply the Madden curse here and stop Megatron. Easier said then done, but everyone should be rested and hopefully healed. Would like to see Urlacher closer to form. Detroit is -11 in score differential, Bears are +78 (NFC best) and Bears are at home, after bye. Bears 8-2 Monday Night under Lovie Smith, and 7-1 following a week off in last 6 years. Bears 31-17 Computer predicts Bears 39.8 - 22 over Lions: http://www.oddsshark.com/nfl/nfl-picks-computer-vs-pickett Accuscore: I thought the bold comment was interesting. http://accuscore.com/game-forecast-preview...icago-bears-104

Here are my short recaps for this Sunday's games: NFC GB 30 - 20 STL, close until mid-4th, GB has no running game, Rodgers now with 2 straight games with QB Rating over 130, wow. GB a very one-dimensional team, surprised teams have not been able to exploit that yet. Leading rusher Green was 20-35 and that was with a 15 yarder. GB now 4-3. They will easily win next week vs JAX, but I can see ARZ the following week posing a threat with their strong Defense. Next week, STL welcomes NE into town. MIN 21 - 14 ARZ, Ponder with 58 yards passing and they still win (Grossman-esque vs ARZ), Skelton sacked 7 times and MIN defense scores on INT. ARZ defense still pretty good and kept them in the game. A very defensive-oriented game with AP the only real offensive player that stood out. ARZ had a 100 yard Rusher (Stephens-Howling) and 100 yard Receiver (Roberts), had more total yards (356-209), TOP (35:05-24:55), 1st Downs (21-11), 3rd Down Conv (5/14 - 1/10) and still lost. MIN now 5-2 and plays on a short week (THU) at home vs TB. ARZ gets SF at home on Monday Night. NYG 27 - 23 WAS, Washington scores with 1:32 left and gives up a 77 yard TD to Cruz? Manning is silly in the 4th. Why would you not have Safety coverage over the top? WAS should've won, but you will lose most of the time when you have 3 fumbles lost. NYG now 1.5 games up in division at 5-2. RG III is the real deal and if I am STL I have to be questioning that trade now. Next week, NYG goes to DAL, and WAS goes to PIT. DAL 19 - 14 CAR, both teams looked bad, Austin was DAL only bright spot and he fumbled, Romo was decent but team still seems out of sync. CAR is just bad, Newton was team's leading rusher but he just looks like a different player compared to last year. CAR playing for the 1st pick at 1-5. After starting his career with 3 out of 4 games with over 300 yards passing (2x with 400), Newton only has one other game with over 300 yards (Week 1 this season). CAR comes to Soldier Field next week, so hopefully this will be the same team that shows up. DAL gets NYG at home. NO 35 - 28 TB, Neither team believes in FGs, both defenses are brutal, Freeman and V-Jack went off, but NO wins a nail-biter. NO is all pass, just seems hard to defend with all their playmakers. Both teams now 2-4. Next week NO plays at DEN on Sunday Night and TB goes to MIN on short rest for THU Night football. AFC HOU 43 - 13 BAL, Baltimore looks lost without Lewis on O and D, HOU defense was stout (4 sacks, 2 INT, 1 TD). HOU now 6-1. BAL still 2 games up in their division though. NE 29 - 26 NYJ, either NE is overrated or NYJ is underrated, or both. NYJ scored with 1:37 left after another bone-headed play by Sanchez (took a sack that almost pushed them out of FG range). Then NYJ Defense allows Brady to go 50+ yards in a minute to allow FG to tie game. Sanchez had one of the worst INTs you will ever see by a pro QB in the 1st half killing a drive. He also kicked the ball out of the endzone after a failed handoff that resulted in a NE safety. TEN 35 - 34 BUF, both teams look bad on defense, CJ finally breaks out. Both teams now 3-4. IND 17 - 13 CLE, another ugly game, Luck with 2 Rushing TDs, Richardson 8 yards on 8 carries, ouch! Cleveland is playing for the first pick and in the lead at 1-6. OAK 26 - 23 JAX, who cares, ugly game with some excitement at the end. MJD hurt and McFadden pretty lackluster again. Gabbert got hurt too, and they probably win if he stays in the game. JAX playing for the 1st pick at 1-5. Also, here are the NFC division records after this week: NFC East - 14-12 NFC North - 16-10 NFC South - 11-13 NFC West - 16-12 NFC Current Playoff Standings: 1. ATL 6-0 2. CHI 4-1 3. NYG 5-2 4. SF 5-2 5. MIN 5-2 6. GB 4-3 7. ARZ 4-3 8. SEA 4-3

It was actually Briggs.

NE and GB are both 3-3 and should not even be in consideration. The top teams are the Bears, ATL, NYG, SF, and HOU. BAL would be in there, but those injuries on defense are going to hurt. For GB, we played at GB on a Thursday night game in Week 2. That is almost an automatic loss for any team. Just look at the last two weeks Thursday games: PIT loses at TEN and ARZ loses at STL. Home teams are 4-1 on Thursday Night games. Also, Forte got hurt, Urlacher was playing hurt, and they scored on a fake FG which was the only drive for them over 50 yards. NE is just not the same this year. Maybe they will get better with the return of Hernandez, but right now at 3-3, they are tied for first and last in their Division. In terms of ceiling, you don't think the Bears can get any better? We are 4-1 and not even playing our best ball yet. That should be scary for other teams, especially if Forte gets going and Cutler/Marshall stay hot. For the defense, just wait for the forced fumbles to start.

Injury to McManis:

Yeah, and Detroit has allowed no less than 20 and 44 to a bad TEN team 2 weeks ago. I see us scoring 30 again. Stafford has looked bad, they have no running game, and Megatron has the Madden Curse on his back. In regards to the article, I just like the fact that we are improving and had the Bye Week to get healthier. We should be 7-1 at the halfway point in the season. Looking at the games this week, SF and HOU now seem much more beatable than they did a week ago. Based on some metrics, the Bears are the best team in the league with biggest margin of victory. NYG would be #2, then SF, NE, and SEA. See SRS: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2012/