adam

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9698750

Great game all-around. I am still somewhat in shock because I thought it would be a closer game. That was domination on national tv.

I heard about that, but nothing replaces the real thing. Especially an away game with somewhat of a new passing game. Audibles will be a little more difficult at the line of scrimmage. Thanks, just tried to scour all the news outlets for snippets of info, then compile everything with my own thoughts and perceptions.

Too bad for him. At least Davis has stepped up and filled that void.

I agree that a healthy Rex Grossman is more important than Benson playing time, but I don't know how much worse he could do than Jones did vs Minnesota in pass protection.

Game Info: 7:15 pm Central, Sun Oct 1, 2006 Weather: 73 High / 57 Low, Sunny, Wind: SSE 6 mph TV: NBC TEAM STATS Bears Offense (26.3pts/g, 356.3 Total yds, 273.3 Pass yds, 83 Rush yds) vs Seattle Defense (15.3pts/g, 281.3 Total yds, 222.7 Pass yds, 58.7 Rush yds) Seattle Offense (24pts/g, 312.7 Total yds, 198.3 Pass yds, 114.3 Rush yds) vs Bears Defense (7.7pts/g, 266 Total yds, 184 Pass yds, 82 Rush yds) Things to look for: The lost of last year's MVP Shaun Alexander will definitely hurt Seattle's offense this week vs the Bears. Maurice Morris, who is averaging 3 yards a carry, will get the start. In his last game, Morris only had 15 carries for 18 yards, but can be a threat out of the backfield as a receiver. I don't see the Seattle running game being that big of a factor. With the addition of Deion Branch, Seattle will be employing more 4 Receiver Sets than they have in the past. This might actually play into the strength of the Bears Defense since majority of their pressure and sacks have come from their Front Four. I expect a lot of WR action around the line of scrimmage (WR Hitches, WR Screens, and probably some picks). The Bears DBs will have to do a good job of communicating on the switches so they do not get burned. The Bears will be facing two receivers they should know pretty well (Engram and Burleson). For the Bears, they will be going up against the 2nd best run defense in the league. The Seattle Defense has stopped some decent runners (K. Jones- 35 yds, E. James-64 yds, T. Barber-64 yds) this year, and will be facing a Bears running game that has started to sputter (averaging 83 yds/game). The good news for the Bears is that Grossman and the Bear's receivers are in sync and seem to be building steam. The Bears have three receivers with 12 or more catches (Muhammad 19, Berrian 12, Clark 12) and may have found another big play threat in Rashied Davis who is averaging 29 yds/rec. Seattle's Pass D is ranked 22nd in the league and can be exploited if the Bears can establish the run early. This will be key. Both teams came off big wins last week and this game will give the winner a nice edge in the NFC title race. Keys to the game: 1. Bears Secondary vs Seattle's Wideouts 2. Pressure with the Bears Front Four 3. Bears establish running game early 4. Crowd noise affecting Seattle's passing game

Seattle has the #2 ranked Run D in the league. Benson needs to get some carries so the offense can wear down that Seattle D. He did not get all those yards in college for nothing, he knows how to play. I really think Lovie has something against him. Jones won the job deservingly so, but our #2 RB has only 21 touches, and Peterson who could probably start on a few teams in the league has 1 touch all year. I can't even imagine how good this team would be if the running game got going. Defenses would have zero chance to stop them. My biggest concern is the amount of time our D has been on the field because our offense is pass oriented. I thought the Minnesota game showed that with all the missed tackles.

It's been a long time since we had one of these.

If we beat Seattle, we will be in the top 3, no doubt. Hell, if it is a convincing win and Indy or Cincy struggle, we could easily be on the top of some polls.

Bears Power Rankings (after Week 3): ESPN - 1. IND 2. CIN 3. SEA 4. BEARS (+2) 5. SD CNNSI - 1. CIN 2. SEA 3. IND 4. BAL 5. BEARS (+1) FOX Sports - 1. IND 2. CIN 3. SEA 4. BEARS (+1) 5. BAL CBS Sportsline - 1. IND 2. SEA 3. CIN 4. SD 5. BEARS (+3) Yahoo Sports - 1. SEA 2. IND 3. CIN 4. BAL 5. BEARS (+2) Average - 4.6 Links: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9686723 http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Anz6...o&type=lgns http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/powerranking...2006&week=4 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...nks1/index.html http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/powerRankings

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2605084

I don't mind Greenie and Golic, for the most part they are pretty fair. There is no way you can replace an MVP caliber RB with a guy like Morris. Most of the time, you can't even have a MVP caliber player go from one team to another and continue to put up numbers (E. James). The Bears have enough speed in their front 6/7 to contain a guy like Morris. I don't think the running game is going to be a big issue. No one on the Seahawks has done anything on the ground this year due to their O-Line. If the Bears can contain Jackson and take away the big play, Seattle will have a really hard time moving the ball.

Double post.

I truly believe the loss of Hutchinson on the O-Line has been huge loss for Seattle. Now without Alexander, they are really going to have to rely more on the passing game. Also, it looked like Alexander has been hurt all year. He was only averaging 2.9 yds/carry, with a long of only 14 yds and 2 fumbles. That is horrible. Morris is only averaging 3.0yds /carry. If the Bears can shut down Jackson, they should have a great chance.

I am glad I am not the only one with this mindset. Benson did not even get one carry, even after Jones struggled in the first half. I would like to see both of them in the backfield a few times a game as well. Did anyone else notice the wide open cutback lanes the entire game? Jones used them a few times, and that is when he had his best gains. It seemed like Minnesota was overpursuing everytime.

Where's he at? I didn't see him on the injury report. Is he in Lovie's doghouse? I thought there were times in the game that they could have used him to pound the ball more.

What's nice to see is players living up to their potential. It seems like we have been waiting for Rex to break out for a few years, and it is amazing what good health can do for a player.

Yeah, I had all the text saved from last week, but I never got around to posting it, and that slipped thru. I think he will have a good chance on the turf, especially without James on the edge for the Vikings. Here is Peter King's prediction:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/preview;_ylt=A...gid=20060924016 TEAM STATS Bears Offense (30pts/g, 372 Total yds, 273 Pass yds, 99 Rush yds) vs Minnesota Defense (14.5pts/g, 268.5 Total yds, 163.5 Pass yds, 105 Rush yds) Minnesota Offense (17.5pts/g, 337 Total yds, 224 Pass yds, 113 Rush yds) vs Bears Defense (3.5pts/g, 256 Total yds, 181.5 Pass yds, 74.5 Rush yds) Things to look for: Minnesota will continue to use their ball control offense featuring C. Taylor who is averaging 100 yds per game, but only 3.7 per rush. Minnesota's main receiving threat has been T. Williamson with 179 receiving yards and 10 receptions, but look for Minnesota to spread the ball around. J. Wiggins is a sleeper here. The Bears will look to establish the run early, especially with the loss of E. James at DE for Minnesota. D. Clark has emerged as the leading receiver from the TE position, and expect more of the same this week. Muhammad leads all WRs with 10 receptions and 161 yds, but without a TD. Berrian will continue to stretch the Secondary, so expect a few more looks underneath the coverage this week as Minnesota defends against the long ball. It will interesting to see how the dome and turf will affect the Bears gameplan.

Manning is a playmaker. This immediately improves the Pass Defense. I like the move.

Bears Power Rankings (after Week 2): ESPN: 6th Fox Sports: 5th CBS: 8th CNNSI: 6th Yahoo: 7th Average: 6.4 Links: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/powerranking...2006&week=3 http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/powerRankings http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9671089 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...art1/index.html http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ai4d...o&type=lgns

The early season rankings are always pretty funny. Seattle barely beat Detroit and the Bears crushed Detroit. I don't think they are as good as last year. Atlanta beat Carolina and Tampa Bay. Their schedule will keep them up here with New Orleans and Arizona next.

Heres my Top 5: #1 Bears vs Ravens (Two Best Defenses) #2 Bears vs New England (85 Rematch) #3 Bears vs Pittsburgh (Blue Collar Matchup) #4 Bears vs Indy (I-65 Matchup) #5 Bears vs San Diego (Grossman vs Rivers)

Don't forget the Special Teams. Maynard - 7 punts, 46.0 AVG, 4 Inside 20. Gould 6 for 6 in FGs and 6 for 6 in PAT. Hester - 1 Punt Return TD Also, another stat about the Defense. The opponents are only 2 of 20 on 3rd Downs. Good points about the running game. The new life in the passing game should start to open up some more lanes for Jones and Benson. Next week is a pretty big game. Possibly 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the Division, which will be huge for the Division title race.