The Chicago Bears (2-1) took down the Seattle Seahawks (1-2) today 25-19 at the Seahawks’ Qwest Field.  The Bears had little production throughout most of the first half, before they were finally able to get on the board with a 1-yard 4th down touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to TE Greg Olsen.  It was a good and gutsy call by head coach Lovie Smith, as it really put the momentum in the Bears’ hands heading into the half only down 13-7.  Two plays before the Cutler-Olsen touchdown, it looked like the Bears would be going into the half down 13-0. Running back Matt Forte had fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line, but Lovie Smith challenged the call for the Bears and it was overturned.

The Bears were going up against a depleted Seahawks squad, as seven starters did not play for them.  Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was one of those players out today, but the athletic Seneca Wallace filled in for Hasselbeck.  Wallace did a decent job filling in today, and was able to escape the Bears’ rush plenty of times to make some plays down field.  Wallace and the Seahawks made some costly mistakes today though, as they had two missed field goals along with an interception and a fumble both deep inside their own zone.

Early in the 3rd quarter Danieal Manning forced Seahawks’ receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh into a fumble, and Adewale Ogunleye recovered it for the Bears.  Later in the 3rd quarter, Bears’ linebacker Lance Briggs made a great diving interception on Seattle’s 14 yard line as Wallace forced a pass out of the end-zone.  The Bears really capitalized on the Seahawks’ mistakes, as both of the Seahawks’ turnovers turned into easy points for the Bears’ offense.

Jay Cutler had another solid game for the Bears, as he threw for 247 yards with three touchdowns and one interception on 21/27 (78%) pass attempts.  Cutler also lost a fumble, which was costly for the Bears.  They were up 17-16 with eight minutes to go, when Cutler coughed up the ball and the Seahawks recovered it on the Bears 39-yard-line.  The Seahawks were able to claw their way into field goal range, as Olindo Mare connected on a 46-yard field goal to put the Seahawks up 19-17.  Cutler redeemed that fumble in a big way though, as the first play after the two-minute warning sealed it for the Bears.  Cutler fired a bullet to Hester on a slant and as two of Seattle’s defenders ran into each other Hester was gone down field for a 36-yard touchdown.  Cutler followed that up with a successful two-point conversion pass to Earl Bennett and the Bears held off the Seahawks to get the win.

The Bears have now won two in a row and Jay Cutler has performed very well since his terrible debut against the Packers.  The running game for the Bears was more effective today, but Matt Forte has still not performed like he did all year last year.  He finished the game with 66 yards on 21 carries (3.1 avg).  Forte also did not finish the last few minutes of the game after getting his leg bent back.  It doesn’t seem to be serious at all but there has been no word yet on his status.  The Bears are taking on the Detroit Lions at home next week.

The Chicago Bears (1-1) are heading up to the Seattle Seahawks’ (1-1) Qwest field Sunday and are going for their second win in a row.  Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler had a very strong game last week against the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, as he lead them to a 17-14 win at home.  Cutler bounced back very well after throwing a career high four interceptions in the Bears’ opener at the Green Bay Packers.

The Bears’ running game has not gotten going yet, and Matt Forte has been very ineffective so far.  He is only getting 2.2 yards per carry and has a fumble through two games.  The 49ers’ Frank Gore was able to run all over the Seahawks’ defense last week though, so I think Forte will be much more effective this week.  The Bears passing game is looking good now that Cutler seems to have settled in.  He found a new talented receiver to go to as well, in the speedy rookie Johnny Knox.

The Seahawks’ quarterback situation, on the other hand, is not very good.  Their starter Matt Hasselbeck left in the Seahawks loss last week to the San Francisco 49ers with a broken a rib.  The cracked rib will probably keep him out of this game as well, so look for Seneca Wallace to start at quarterback for the Seahawks.  Wallace has been in the league for seven years now and this will be only his 13th start.  Wallace is a very athletic quarterback though, and is capable of making some big plays with his legs.

I think the Bears defense has been looking very good in the first two games though, even without their leader Brian Urlacher, and I think they will force the inexperienced Wallace into a lot of mistakes.  The Seahawks are tough at home but I think the Bears are the better team and are going to win this won pretty easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Bears  27, Seahawks 17

DE Alex Brown has really stepped up this season as he is living in the opposing backfield so far this year.  Brown has made 9 tackles, has 2 sacks and he has 3 tackles for a loss already this season.  He looks to have another big game Sunday against a Seahawks team that is having huge problems with injuries on the O-Line.

When the Bears selected Johnny Knox in the 5th round out of Abilene Christian they weren’t expecting much.  But he is proving to be a steal as he is turning into Jay Cutler’s favorite WR.  Knox has caught 8 passes for 152 yards (19.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  If Knox continues to play well he could establish himself as a legit #1 WR because the Bears don’t have one right now.

Last season Matt Forte bursted onto the scene as one of the better running backs in the NFL as a rookie.  But he’s off to a very, very slow start to the season.  The Bears are only averaging 64.5 yards rushing per game this season and that’s putting a lot of extra pressure on Jay Cutler.  Forte has carried the ball 38 times for only 84 yards (2.2 ypc) so far this season.  He has also caught 5 passes for 33 yards (6.6 avg) this year.  The Bears are even starting to use Adrian Peterson more in the offense so Forte better gets things turned around soon if he wants to continue being the Bears’ featured back.

The Chicago Bears (1-1) were able to pull out a late victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) at Soldier Field today.   A 44-yard Robbie Gould field goal with 15 seconds left put the Bears ahead for good, winning 17-14.  The Bears probably would not have won if not for the Steelers kicker Jeff Reed missing on two costly field goal attempts in the 4th quarter.  Jay Cutler looked like a different quarterback today, and nothing like the Jay Cutler who threw a career high four interceptions against the Green Bay Packers last week.  Cutler has obviously settled in as the Bears quarterback, as he hit seven different receivers for 236 yards and two touchdowns today against the defending champs.

Cutler completed a ridiculous 71% of his pass attempts (27/38), using a lot of screen and dump passes to slowly eat through the dynamic Steelers’ defense.  That completion percentage is very impressive, especially since it was raining and a lot of receivers were dropping passes early in the game.  The speedy Johny Knox was Cutler’s favorite target today, as he had six receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown.  The Bears running game has still not gotten going yet, as they only racked up 43 yards on 18 carries (2.4 avg).  Running back Matt Forte, who was a top 10 pick in most fantasy drafts, has not been producing like he did in his outstanding rookie campaign last year.  He only had 29 yards on 13 carries today and Forte has only racked up 84 yards on 38 carries through the first two games (2.2 avg).

The defenses played well on both sides today, despite both teams missing their star defenders.  Brian Urlacher is out for the year with a dislocated wrist and Troy Polamalu is out six weeks with an MCL injury.  This was a big win for Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears, as they have now established themselves as a top team in the NFC after beating the defending Super Bowl champions.

FINAL SCORE:  Bears 17, Steelers 14

With the loss of Urlacher and the offensive looking lost last week, it doesn’t get any easier for Chicago going up against the Steelers. Pittsburgh offense is much more efficient than what the team saw against Green Bay and their defense speaks for itself although they will be missing a key starter in Troy Polamalu. While I think the Bears’ offense will play better than they did against Green Bay, I think the Steelers will emerge victorious in this as they are a more physical team than the Packers. I hope that the Bears will prove me wrong but I’m not sure at this point. Pick: Steelers 20 Bears 17

The Chicago Bears are taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field in their week two match-up and both teams will be without their star defenders.  The Bears lost linebacker Brian Urlacher for the year when he dislocated his wrist last week in the Bears 21-15 loss to the Green Bay Packers.  The Steelers are without safety Troy Polamalu, who injured his MCL in the Steelers week one 13-10 win against the Tennessee Titans.  The Bears are really looking to rebound after their debacle in week one, when Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw a career high four interceptions.

Hunter Hillenmeyer will be the man trying to fill Urlacher’s shoes, as he will be starting in Urlacher’s middle linebacker position.  Hillenmeyer usually plays outside linebacker, and is an effective player at that position as he has made 49 starts there for the Bears.  Middle linebacker is a different story though, as he has made only seven starts at that position, with all of those starts coming in 2004 (once again replacing an injured Urlacher).  So, look for the Steelers to attack the middle of the Bear’s defense with their tandem of running backs, Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall.  The Steelers relied heavily on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s arm in their win over Tennessee, as he threw the ball 43 times.  The Steelers know that they wont win most of their games if they have to rely on Roethlisberger throwing the ball that many times, so I’m expecting a lot more carries for Parker and Mendenhall against the Bears than they had against the Titans (17 combined).

Tyrone Carter will be filling in at safety for the injured Polamalu and although Carter has been in the league for 10 years now, he only has 10 starts.  It would be smart for the Jay Cutler and the Bears to attack Carter early and often, as he looks to be a chink in the armor for the Steelers stellar defense.  Possibly another deep touchdown to a streaking Devin Hester?  Just like the 36-yard touchdown he and Cutler connected on against the Packers in week one, one of the few bright spots for the Bears offense last game.

I’m expecting a much different Jay Cutler than what you saw in week one, as he looked more like Rex Grossman in that game.  Hopefully Chicago can establish the run a little better than in week one, where Matt Forte only had 55 yards on 25 carries (2.2 avg).  I really think not having Polamalu is a big difference maker in this game, more so than Urlacher, as I foresee Carter struggling.  Cutler will have a much easier time without the blitz of Polamalu or the athleticism he brings to the secondary, and I think he will take advantage of that.

Even though the Steelers defense is still very strong, and still better than what the Bears saw against the Packers, I think the offense will be much sharper.  That first half against the Packers was a wake-up call for Jay Cutler and the Bears offense, as they looked much better in the second half.  This will be a close one against the Steelers and I think the Bears will edge out the defending champions with a late Robbie Gould field goal to win it.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Bears 27, Steelers 24

When the Bears traded for Jay Cutler in the off-season, it was thought that he would be the stability that the team had been lacking at the position for quite some time. Although he was unable to lead the Broncos to the playoffs last year, he threw for over 4,500 yards and earned himself a pro-bowl selection in the process. The Bears drew big crowds during all of their training camps as the expectations were as high as they had ever been in
Chicago. Many were prematurely picking the Bears as the team that would possibly represent the NFC in the Superbowl this year before the team even played its first down of the season.

Well in the season opener, Cutler looked horrible to say the least and the offense looked out of sorts for a good majority of the game. Only the Packers inability to generate offense made the final score a lot closer than it actually was. Needless to say, the offensive has to improve immensely if the Chicago Bears are going to be the improved team that everyone expected them to be. In addition to that it seems that the defensive unit will now have its work cut out as well as the team learned that the wrist injury Urlacher suffered during the first half will require season-ending surgery. This is a huge loss for a team that was looking to recapture the form from the 2006 season. While Urlacher has been criticized as being overrated in some circles, his impact with the Bears’ defense cannot be overlooked or measured. The last time Urlacher missed an extended amount of time due to an injury was 2004 and the bears went 0-7 with Urlacher on the sidelines.

While it may be too early to panic as the season is only a week old, there definitely has to be a sense of urgency not only going into the next game against the Steelers but for the remainder of the season as well. While there are capable bodies to play Urlacher’ position, not too many players on the team can defend against the run the way he does. The Packers had more success running the ball up the middle once Urlacher was out of the game and I would imagine that other teams will try to do so as well. The defense has been a staple of this team for many years and without once of its premier players in the fold, It’s to hard to see this team going very far. However, we have to take it one game at a time and for now, the Steelers are next up so let’s see how they match up against them.

Much has been made of Cutler’s demeanor as he responded to questions following the Bears’ 21-13 loss to the Packers. Former Colts’ coach Tony Dungy questioned his maturity level and Jim Mora chimed in saying that Cutler looked immature and that he didn’t seem to care. First of all, I think anyone would be frustrated with the game as well as the outcome. Secondly, If Cutler had reacted the way everyone though he should in the post-game conference, would that fact have taken away from the fact that he threw 4 picks and the offense struggled for most of the game. The answer is a resounding NO.

The attribute that makes the greatest athletes who they are is the fact they hate to lose. Perhaps Cutler was short in some of his responses but it’s difficult to imagine being able to put a smile on your face following a defeat especially with the expecations that have been placed on both him and the offensive unit coming into the season. You look at Lebron James in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. He didn’t shake hands with the opposing team after the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs. It wasn’t a show of disrepect but more that he was upset with losing. I think the same principle applies here with Cutler. When you win, everything is great but when you lose, every move is magnified and I think that is the case here as well.

While the loss was obviously a disappointing one, there are 15 games remaining in the season meaning that it’s too early to panic. I think the focus should now shift to how can the team improve in the areas they were lacking in against Green Bay and how will the defense make up for the loss of Urlacher. I am not saying that athletes should be rude or anything like that but what I am saying is that Cutler is being paid to play the position of the quarterback for a team that has been starving for one for decades. With that being said, any remarks should be limited to how he plays on the field rather than his various facial expressions during post-game interviews.