Things to Look Forward to

The moves that the Bears made this offseason have been talked about plenty and the expectations for the Bears this year are staggering. The trade for Brandon Marshall was the headline, but other moves are also part of the reason why the Bears are being looked at as serious winners in the season to come. The drafting of Shea McClellin and Ashlon Jeffrey, the firing of Mike Martz, and the re-signing of Matt Forte.

It's not hard to see that the Bears struggled last year. They were a .500 team last year even though they were 7-3 after the first ten games of the season. That was when Jay Cutler got hurt. After Cutler's injury, the team failed and lost their next five games until the Bears were able to win the final game of the season. Before Cutler's injury, the team was hitting its stride and they were playing the best football they had in awhile. Yes, the injury did occur on Cutler trying to tackle after throwing an interception, but he was having a great game and played great before that. This is another reason why the Bears are optimistic about the coming season. The Bears are gearing their offense around Cutler being a franchise quarterback with Matt Forte, the franchise running back, as an asset. The offense looks a lot better going into this season compared to last season.

Now that the Bears have Cutler, Marshall, Forte, and others on the offense the Bears believe that they can finally have an offense to compete with the great offenses in Green Bay and Detroit. The chemistry between Marshall and Cutler shown in Denver is a great sign going into this season along with the chemistry they have shown in training camp. Forte has been one of the better backs in the league and was just signed to a contract that he really wanted. The combination of Forte, Bell, Bush, and possibly even Armando Allen will form a great running game. The Bears receivers are much better than they were last season. The addition of both Marshall and Jeffrey help make the Bears receiving corps more solid. Now Devin Hester can be the receiver that he is which is someone that will be able to succeed in certain sets but will never be the number one receiver. Earl Bennett will be able to succeed out of the slot position, and his chemistry with Cutler is also excellent. Knox won't be back this year, but right now the Bears aren't feeling too lost without him. There are only two big holes in the Bears 2012 offense. Those holes are the offensive line and tight ends. The offensive line has been known to be bad for the last three seasons that Cutler has been there, but they are hoping to be better this year. Gabe Carimi will be back and the Bears are confident in the other members of the line. The tight ends are not one of the bright spots of the Bears offense. After trading Greg Olsen last year, the tight ends on the Bears have not been satisfactory. Other than a few bad spots, the Bears offense will look to be one of the best out there in 2012.

The Bears defense will be as solid as it has been in the past years. It is not as good as it was in 2006, but it is  still solid. The big names are still there including Urlacher, Briggs, and Tillman. Peppers and the rest of the defensive line will continue to be one of the best in football. Even with Urlacher and Briggs, the linebackers seem to be a little shaky as the Bears are still uncertain if Roach can be a solid third linebacker. The safeties and cornerbacks are a bit of an issue for the Bears, but should be capable of being good enough to help the Bears win some games this year.

With the combination of the new offense and the solid as always defense, the Bears do seem like a team that can win quite a few games this year. They do have tough teams in their division like the Packers, but the Bears might even be good enough to beat the Packers. Even if the Bears don't win the division, they can make the playoffs by being the wild card team and still have a good chance at going far in the playoffs. The hype around the Bears is real. Fans shouldn't get too excited, but there is obviously some things to be excited about. This season for the Bears could be great.

Not Much Has Changed: Bears get new jerseys

All the excitement and buildup from Nike and this is the product. I have to admit that I was a little upset. I don't know what I was hoping for or expecting, but when I looked at this jersey the only thing that I could tell that changed was the collar. I do like that Nike didn't change too much of the Bears uniform and kept most of the teams with classic jerseys the same, but if nothing was going to change, why make a big deal out of it like they did? I'm not mad at Nike for trying to market their product, but everyone from writers and ESPN to fans made this a bigger deal than it was.

On the topic of gloves, I really like the logo made from the two hands design, because that's what it will look like as a receiver goes to catch a ball. There's arguments over whether or not this is cool or tacky, but I think it's cool and I don't really care because they are gloves.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Bears on the field with these jerseys. I would like to see Nike make some type of orange jersey for the Bears, because that's one of my favorites. I'm also a little bummed that I never got one of the "Monsters of the Midway" throwback jerseys that Reebook made. In conclusion, the Bears jerseys aren't much different but they look sharp and maybe they'll add up to some more wins this year.

Chicago Bears Year in Review

2011 was a good year for the Bears and was much better than 2010 was for the Bears. It started with some bad news, though.

In the NFC Championship game against their hated rivals, the Packers, the Bears lost the game and Jay Cutler. Cutler injured his knee in the first half and the Bears couldn't win the game with or without him. It brought up a lot of doubt, but also showed who the real fans were. It was a test to see if anyone would stay faithful.

Then there was the lockout, which seems small now that we have seen how long the NBA lockout went on. The truth is that many fans were worried if there would be a season. The offseason was rushed and most teams didn't get a chance to fully prepare. I think this is a big reason for the failure on the Bears this year. Cutler needed that time to get better. He also lost one of his favorite targets, Greg Olsen.

The Bears didn't make any big moves in the offseason like fans had hoped. Roy Williams, Marion Barber, and Kellen Davis were added to the team, but didn't have a big effect on the season.

The first few games of the season were shaky, but the Bears hit their stride after a loss to the Detroit Lions. Jay Cutler caught fire and played extremely well. His best game was the one when he finished his season by breaking his thumb. He broke his thumb because an interception was thrown because Johnny Knox couldn't run the right route.

The Bears haven't won a game since Cutler's injury and look hopeless without him. Losing him has exposed all of the Bears problems. They will need a good draft and offseason in order to get back in the race for the NFC North. 2011 wasn't bad for the Bears, but two injuries to the most important player on the team hurts. Here's to hoping that 2012 will be better than 2011.

Another loss, Bears officially out of the playoffs

The Bears lost yet another game, but this time it was different. In the last few games that the Bears have lost they were playing teams that aren't very good and losing badly. The Bears didn't lose terribly today. McCown was fantastic, running and throwing the ball wall. He exceeded all expectations I had for him. He did throw two interceptions, but neither was complete error like Caleb Hanie's interceptions have been. He led the team well and ran the offense that he probably barely knows. Both Bell and Allen were good today as the Bears rushed the ball almost ten times more than they did in the last game against the Packers. There was some positive that came out of this game, but the most negative thing was thinking about the future of the Bears and what will happen for them next year.

At first, I was positive about the future because Cutler is still young and has improved every year. The offensive line is getting better and we have seen that the Bears have a deep run game and could have a high powered offense. The only problem is that in order to have a successful season next year, they have to have a good draft and Jerry Angelo has shown that he is not capable of doing that.

What positives are there for the Bears right now? I can only think of one. The only positive that I can think of is that the Bears have a lot of good running backs in the system from the guy who just came off the practice squad to Matt Forte who had a fantastic season. The Bears need to change a lot of things if they want to be good next year and I don't see that happening.

Bears vs. Packers Preview

I'm not sure how much I can say about this game. The Packers are the best team in the NFC and probably in the NFL. The Bears have completely lost everything since Cutler got injured. It's obviously a lopsided game. The Bears can't compete with the Packers without Cutler, Forte, and two offensive linemen. With all those players, this game is probably the game of the year, but that's not how it is. Cutler isn't coming back and won't be back until next year. The man in charge this week against the Packers is Josh McCown. Caleb Hanie will no longer be the starter after not winning a single game and playing terrible football. This is not a surprise to me and probably not to any other Bears fan. I'm glad that the Bears get to see what McCown can do in order to figure out if they will resign Hanie or if they'll keep McCown instead. I'm not sure if McCown will be good, but it's nice to see the Bears give someone else a chance, but why not the new quarterback that they drafted this year? The season is basically over so why not see how he does in a real in-game situatiion? I know that he was drafted to be a quarterback that would be developed over many years by sitting on the bench, by why not give him a chance? I want to see what he can do in a real NFL game. He showed promise in the preseason and I think he should get a chance against the Vikings next week. Why turn to a quarterback that barely knows the system, when there is a guy who is capable of doing something that has been learning the system all year? I know that nothing is going to change this week's quarterback, but I think Enderle should get a chance next week against the Vikings.

So, do the Bears have a chance this week against the Packers? I don't think they do. Yes, the Packers just lost to the Chiefs, but they'll bounce back. The Packers defense is their one weak point and the Bears offense isn't strong enough to take advantage of that. I'm not saying it'll be a blowout, but the Packers will most definitely win this one.

Bears lose again

The Bears lost yet again without Cutler. The game wasn't all bad, though. The first half wasn't bad at all. In fact, the Bears looked pretty good in the first half. They gave up the first touchdown, but looked good after that. They got a touchdown by forcing a fumble in the end zone and then Caleb Hanie threw for a touchdown to Kahlil Bell. Hanie was fired up after the TD, but the momentum didn't carry into the second half. In the second half, the Bears gave up 31 unanswered points. Yes, you read that right. Nothing was good in the second half and it led to the 4th straight loss for the Bears. They have not won a game since Jay Cutler's injury. The Bears are mathematically still in the hunt for the playoffs, but is it worth it?

Even if the Bears win both of their remaining games and the Lions lose, the Bears are only the #6 seed. They will probably one and done and why risk trying to get Cutler ready in time for the playoffs if they don't have a real chance to win the Super Bowl? The Bears have so many injuries that making the playoffs would be useless. Just going to the playoffs means nothing.

The ideal thing for the Bears is losing out and getting a good first round draft pick. Use that pick to draft either an offensive lineman or a receiver and move from there. If the Bears remain healthy next year, they have a chance to do big things. Why waste the energy on this year?

Bears Playoff Picture

Cutler is healing well and should be back for the playoffs, if not earlier, but will the Bears even make the playoffs? When Cutler went out, the expectation was that Hanie would lead the Bears to at least a win or two in the weeks after the injury, but so far the Bears haven't won a single game. The Bears made a bad situation for themselves, but they still have a slight chance to make it into the playoffs.

Thanks to the ESPN NFL Playoff Machine, I have been able to figure how the Bears can make it into the playoffs without having to figure out the ins and outs of the tiebreaker system.

In every possible situation, the Bears have to win 2 out of the 3 games they play to finish out the season. This shouldn't be a problem because the Bears play the Seahawks, Packers, and Vikings in the final three weeks. The only team that shows a serious threat is the Packers and the Bears don't have to win that game. So, let's go through the scenarios.

If the Bears win two of the three games and the Lions lose all three of their games, the Bears would be in the playoffs as the number 6 seed.

If the Bears win out and the Lions and Falcons both lose two games, the Bears are in as the number 5 seed.

If the Bears beat the Seahawks and the Vikings, the Lions lose all three, and the Falcons lose their final two. The Bears are in as the number 5 seed.

If the Bears beat the Seahawks and the Vikings, the Lions lose all three of their games, and the Falcons lose against the Saints, but beat the Bucaneers, the Bears are in as the number 6 seed.

If the Bears win all three of their remaining games, the Lions lose two, and the Falcons lose one, the Bears are the number five seed.

Those are just a few of the possible scenarios, but as you can see, they aren't the most likely things to happen. The most likely situation is that the Bears win two out of three and the Lions lose all three of their remaining games. The most important part of this all working out is the Bears actually winning a football game, so they need to go out there today and win.