Bye Week Assessment: Highlights

Which has been the most surprising?

After four weeks there have been quite a few pleasant surprises that helped the Bears win three straight when many thought they would be hard pressed to enter the bye week at 2-2.

During the offseason, many within the Bears organization claimed to have complete confidence in this receiving corp. I assumed their claims were just to boost the confidence of the inexperienced group of pass-catchers, but it appears I was mistaken. Earl Bennet leads the team with 15 catches for 200 yards. The stats of Johnny Knox and Devin Hester are almost exactly the same. Knox has 14 for 190 yards and 2 TDs; Hester has 14 for 189 yards and 2 TDs. I think it's safe to say they have exceeded the expectations of most. After the Green Bay debacle, the receivers have really impressed me.

Week 4 Preview

Cincinnati at Cleveland

Cleveland's D-line has actually looked decent at times this season. Derrick Anderson will be looking to spark this team and regain the 2007 magic. Unfortunately the upstart Bengals will outmatch the Browns in every phase of this game with Palmer back and Benson running well.

My pick: Cincinnati Bengals

Seattle at Indianapolis

Not only is Indy the better team, but the Seahawks are still beat up and on the road. Last week Seattle stayed in the game by bottling up the run and jumping to an early lead, I don't see that happening this week. Manning should be able to tear this defense up and the defense should be able to get pressure against a struggling line even if Freeney doesn't play.

My pick: Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants at Kansas City

Not much to write about this game. New york is thinking Superbowl while the Chiefs are thinking 1st round pick. By the way, the KC could be without its only offensive weapon for the second week.

My pick: New York Giants

Baltimore at New England

A Little Perspective

I have been noticing an interesting (though unsurprising) phenomena among NFL fans and experts. We tend to forget things...quickly. Many people aren't giving the Bears much credit for their road victory over the Seahawks. Forget that Quest Field widely considered to be one of the most difficult places to play with the vaunted '12th man'. What irks me is that everyone has already forgotten the Seahawks pre-2008. Last year was the first losing season in Seattle since 2002. It was a down year after winning the NFC West four years in a row. The 2008 season was the exception in Seattle.

It is a fair point that many of Seattle's best player were injured when they encountered the Bears, but their replacements proved to be more than capable. In place of Pro Bowl linebacker, Lofa Tatupu, David Hawthorne was impressive, to say the least. Hawthorne registered SIXTEEN tackles and an interception. If you watched the game, you know that Hawthorne's play was just as impressive as the box score suggests. Seneca Wallace is one of the better backup QBs in the league and he played well. Wallace brings a different dynamic than Matt Hasselbeck, the Pro Bowler he replaced. There were definitely a handful of passes where Hasselbeck's arm would have made a difference in the game, but the Bears would have registered in the neighborhood of 5-6 sacks against the veteran. While a healthy Matt Hasselbeck is obviously the better option, does anyone think he would have made this play? (starting at 2:40)

Moving on to next week, and our 'easy' matchup against the Lions. Yes, Detroit had a 19 game losing streak. Yes, their defense has looked awful. But they are still a division rival who has given us trouble in the past. It really wasn't that long ago that the Bears were swept by Detroit in 2007; even last year Chicago barely eked out a comeback victory. It is obviously a very different Detroit squad this year, with new scheme, personnel, and coaches. The biggest change to come to Detroit this season is that they have won a game. This is not a gimme game, this is a rivalry against a team that is only one game back in the division race. It's possible that after this week there will be a three way tie for second place in the division. Don't overlook Detroit.

Maiden Post - LBs after Week 3

This is my first ever post on my first ever blog and I'm just gonna get right into it. Here are my thoughts on the Chicago Bears linebacking corp after their come-back victory over the Seahawks in week 3:

The Bears are dealing with the loss of Brian Urlacher just fine. I can only think of about half a dozen plays since his season ending wrist injury where his presence was noticeably missed. Many were predicting that the Bears would miss him dearly a la the Steelers and Troy Polamalu. This LB corp has really stepped up to the occasion.

On a similar note, some have noted that the defense actually looked improved after Hunter Hillenmeyer went down with a rib injury. It's hard for me to argue against that stance despite my opinion of Hillenmeyer as one of the most underrated players on the team. Nick Roach played very well and was involved in many key plays including good coverage to clinch the game. As you can see in the plays starting at 2:20 and 4:10 in this video.

The question that now arises is, "who starts at middle linebacker next week against Detroit?" Assuming Hillenmeyer is ready to go (questionable) this will be a difficult decision for Head Coach, Lovie Smith. This is a wonderful 'problem' to have and, I believe, is a testament to both Bob Babich and the tremendous talent Chicago has boasted at the position for years in Urlacher and Lance Briggs; it goes to show what can happen when you learn from the best. In my opinion, even if Hillenmeyer is able to suit up, Roach should start at MLB under the pretense that they want to rest Hillenmeyers ribs heading into the bye week. This will give the coaching staff a chance to see what Roach can do as a starter without upsetting anyone and allow the coaches to make a decision in the off week. At this point it seems that the best possible scenario would be to have Briggs, Roach, and Pisa Tinoisamoa starting coming off the bye week; this group puts the most gifted, aggressive players on the field. We'll have to wait and see if the coaches agree.

Edit: Just read in Kevin Seifert's blog that the Bears signed LB Darrell McClover.

By the way I am (obviously) in no way affiliated with the NFL or the Chicago Bears.