Chicago Bears Week Whatever: Who Cares What We Learned?
Published by Christopher Murphy on December 9, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears should be proud. The Bears brought an end to their four-game losing streak…beating one of the worst teams in football…barely. The Bears have taught us that even in winning you can look awful.
It was a battle of garbage versus overrated. Not a good mix.
Let’s go to the headlines.
Jay Cutler Is Kind of Our Quarterback
Cutler was 4-for-7 with 131 yards in the first quarter, but after that he was just 4-for-10 for 12 yards as the Bears focused on the run game. Lord knows the Bears needed to run out the clock after, for just the third time this season, they scored first.
Three of those yards after the first quarter, however, were on a touchdown bullet to Earl Bennett in the end zone to give the Bears a 17-6 lead.
Another side of the story was that Cutler sustained a minor injury to his hand in the first quarter, but either way, the Bears were simply trying to escape with a win over the awful St. Louis Rams any way they could.
Oh yeah, he didn’t throw an interception either, but no one cares about interceptions, do they?
Even the Bears’ Receivers Look Good Against the Rams
Well, at least we know the Bears receivers can look good against someone. Each receiver—except, of course, tight end Greg Olsen, who I started on my fantasy team—seemed to have a big play.
On the Bears’ five-play, 85-yard touchdown drive, Devin Hester and Johnny Knox had their big plays. Hester had a 48-yard catch where he actually out-leaped a safety, and Knox drew a 35-yard pass interference call. For the Bears, a pass interference call is as big of an offensive play they will get.
Bennett, however, was the star of the game with only two catches. He made the best of those two catches, extending one catch from about a 10-yard gain to a 71-yard gain as he burst through the secondary and scoring a three-yard touchdown on his second catch.
Even the Bears’ Running Game Looks Good Against the Rams
Where Orlando Pace goes, so goes the Bears’ run game…kind of. In this case, Pace goes to the bench and the Bears’ run game goes forward.
The Bears moved Chris Williams to his more natural position at right tackle, and Kevin Schafer played at left tackle due in part to the Pace injury.
The Bears’ offensive line didn’t look too horrible, but you have to take it with a grain of salt, as it is hard for anyone to look horrible against the Rams.
Matt Forte rushed for 91 yards on 24 carries, while the second part of the two-headed monster, Khalil Bell, ran for 35 yards on 11 carries. (I actually heard a Bears fan on the radio refer to Forte and Bell as a two-headed monster. Please, 670 The Score workers, stop trying to make your radio personalities sound intelligent by screening for stupid fans.)
The offensive line did allow two sacks on Cutler, which is still very irritating, but you take what you can get from this group. At least Cutler is still alive…to go against Green Bay and Baltimore in back-to-back weeks.
The Cutler family may want to give him his Christmas presents ASAP because he may not be alive by then.
Even the Lance Briggs-less Defense Looks Good Against the Rams
Defensively, the Bears forced three sacks and had two takeaways, but more importantly they held the Rams to 2-of-14 on third down and only one red zone appearance in 13 possessions with no first-class trips to the end zone.
There really isn’t much you can say about stopping the Rams’ offense. If you are a truly good defense, then you stop Steven Jackson, whereas the Bears let him run for 112 yards on 28 carries.
The Bears add this win to a couple lucky ones and three against awful teams.
As I’ve said before, the Bears beat a Steelers team due to missed field goals before Rashard Mendenhall was named the starting running back, a Seahawks team due to missed field goals with Seneca Wallace at the helm, and three awful teams in the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and now the St. Louis Rams.
There really is no way to win this season for the Bears. If they lose (5-11), they don’t get a higher draft pick—the Broncos do. If they win (9-7), they get a schedule they can’t handle next year.
Bears fans almost have to root to lose so next season can be bearable (pun intended) to watch.
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