Chicago Bears Insider: Divisional Championship Game-Day Primer
Published by Bryan Dietzler on January 16, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Well, after all of the talk and all of the hype, game day has finally arrived. The Chicago Bears are set to take on the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
These two teams did meet back in Week 6 and that ended up being a 23-20 loss for the Bears. At that point in the season, Chicago hadn’t been doing as well as they have been since the bye week. They didn’t do well on both sides of the ball but have made great strides to improve themselves, and it’s been those improvements that have led the Bears to where they are at heading into Sunday.
There has been a lot of talk about just how “easy” a game this should be for the Bears. After all, the Seahawks have had the worst record of any team in the playoffs, and they are at or near the bottom in many offensive and defensive categories. But you can throw all of that out the window, especially after watching them beat the Saints last week. This team doesn’t look like a loser or a bottom dweller.
This could very easily be a trap game for the Bears. They have to take the Seahawks seriously and not listen to all the media hype stating that they will easily beat the Seahawks. Remember what happened to the Saints?
Momentum is also a big factor and the Seahawks have the momentum coming into this game. The Bears need to steal that away from them and keep them from gaining it back, because momentum is huge in a football game. The team that has it for most of the game will generally win, so the Bears will want to get it early and keep it.
The Bears need to eliminate mistakes as well, because mistakes can easily swing the game one way or another. Chicago has had problems, at times, making mistakes, whether it’s a penalty, a turnover or blown pass coverage. They will need to play mistake free in order to win this game. The Seahawks can take full advantage of mistakes and make it difficult on the Bears.
The key performer on offense will be quarterback Jay Cutler. If he has to run, he needs to run. If the throw isn’t there, then he needs to look for another option or take off running with the ball rather than throwing an interception or taking a sack (or fumbling the ball). Smart play from Cutler will help give the Bears a win.
The key performer on defense in this game will be Julius Peppers. Peppers didn’t have a good game the first time these two teams met, and he will have to step up and perform in this game. He was shut down by rookie offensive tackle Russell Okung in that last game, so look for Peppers to move around a lot, create mismatches and confuse the offense so they don’t know where he is coming from.
If Devin Hester has a big game, the Bears will win. Special teams, as we have seen, plays such an important role in teams winning games. Whether it’s a return for a touchdown or a return for good field position, the Bears can really take advantage of special teams play.
So now, after all of the talk and all of the hype leading up to this game, it’s finally time to see if the Bears can do what everyone expects them to do and beat the Seahawks. It should be a good game, and hopefully Bears fans will have something to be happy about after the game is done.
And if the Bears end up winning this game, they will host the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. That would be one of the most exciting games in NFL history!
Enjoy the game!
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