adam

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.

5 turnovers and 9 sacks is pretty good for two games. Add that to only 7 points allowed and the Defense is looking really solid. The last couple years the Bears had to rely on the big Defensive play to win games. That is obviously not the case this year, which is great.

The completion percentage is a great sign, and only one sack allowed is great for two full games.

After two games he leads the league with a QB rating of 128.7, 2nd in Comp% at 71.7, 1st in Yds/ATT at 10.4, and is tied for the league w/ 5 TDs. It has been a long time since a Bears QB has had these type of numbers. I know it is only two games but it is refreshing to see. Great job Rex, keep it up!!!