In a game that we expected the offenses to shine and there was a feeling of an impending shoot-out, we got a somewhat sloppy defensive battle. The Bears took the loss, 23-10, and were flat out whipped on offense by the Green Bay defense. Jay Cutler was sacked seven times, and was running for his life most of the game from the very first play when he was sacked. Jay was pretty bad all night, going 11 completions on 27 attempts for 126 yards with one TD and four interceptions. A tendency is forming, though, for the Bears QB. He seems to get frustrated early, then look to make up for it later by taking chances with the ball. That led to him throwing four interceptions, including a couple horrible throws that had Bears fans thinking of Rex Grossman.
Here is what Jay Cutler had to say about being upset with his offensive line: “I care about this. This isn’t a hobby for me; I am not doing this for my health. I am trying to win football games and trying to get first downs. When we are not doing the little things, doing things the right way consistently, I am going to say something. If they want a quarterback that doesn’t care, they can find someone else.”
The team also lost star running back Matt Forte during the game with an apparent ankle injury. His status is unknown for next week. The Bears laid an egg on offense in general and it was not just limited to Cutler and the offensive line. Brandon Marshall had just two catches all night and had a huge drop in the endzone that could have swung the momentum.
Here is Brian Urlacher on if the Bears are who we thought they were (gotta love Dennis Green): “Maybe we’re not as good as we thought we were, we’ve got a long ways to go and that’s obvious. Maybe Green Bay’s just that good, I don’t know, but we didn’t play well and they played good enough to do what they did to us.”
The Bears offensive line has got to play better if this offense is going to live up to its full potential. They do not need to be the best line in the league, but they must give Cutler enough time to set and throw, getting the ball to the multiple weapons the team has acquired. In addition to the offensive line improvements, Offensive Coordinator Mike Tice, must do a better job with the gameplan. I don’t know if he was reading the press clippings about the Bears “high powered” attack or what, but the team came out throwing the ball WAY too much. The Packers had a horrible pass defense last year, but at home with the crowd behind them, coming out and handing the ball to your two good running backs might be a wise move.
The Bears are now 1-1 and will face the St. Louis Rams next week, in a game they should win on paper. As we know, games are not won on paper and the Bears need to take the few extra days they have to prepare and work out the kinks. The sky is not falling and the Bears have no need to panic, but the Rams will come out and compete hard under their new coach Jeff Fisher.
