Not only will Devin Hester be the #1 WR for the Bears this season but he will continue to return punts and some kickoffs.  Hester caught 4 passes for 90 yards (22.5 avg) with 1 TD grab against the Packers last Sunday Night.  He also returned 2 punts for 15 yards (7.5 avg) and 1 kickoff for 26 yards.  The Bears would like to limit Hester to playing WR and returning punts so that they down wear him down.

32-year old TE Desmond Clark cracked a rib against the Packers and he could miss a few weeks.  Clark caught 1 pass for 23 yards against the Packers before hurting himself.  Clark played in all 16 games for the Bears last season and he caught 41 passes for 367 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Kellen Davis will replace Clark and that’s quite a drop especially in the passing game.  Davis played in all 16 games for the Bears as a rookie last season but he didn’t catch any passes.  He returned 1 kickoff for 13 yards and he made 4 tackles on special teams.  The Bears need Davis to step up and catch some passes while Clark is out of action.

The Bears have signed 25-year old linebacker Tim Shaw.  Shaw played in 3 games last season with the Jaguars and he made a whopping 3 tackles.  Shaw has now played in 17 games in his NFL career and he has 17 tackles.  This was nothing more than a depth signing for the Bears.  Hopefully Shaw will be able to help them out on special teams this season.

The Bears have lost outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa for the next few weeks due to a sprained PCL in his right knee.  Tinoisamoa didn’t make any tackles before he was injured.  Last season for the Rams he played in all 16 games making 104 tackles, defensing 2 passes, forcing 2 fumbles and he had 3 sacks.  Nick Roach will replace Tinoisamoa while he is out.  He made 1 tackle in the season opener against the Packers.  He has now played in 18 games in his NFL career and he has 41 tackles and he has defensed 2 passes.  The Bears really need Roach to step up.

The Bears have decided to replace Brian Urlacher in house with 28-year old Hunter Hillenmeyer.  Hillenmeyer made 2 tackles against the Packers after Urlacher was injured.  He has played in 87 games in his NFL career and he has made 294 tackles, has defensed 8 passes, has 4.5 sacks and he has forced 3 fumbles and picked off a pass.  The Bears don’t expect Hillenmeyer to be the impact player that Urlacher is but they just want him to be a dependable tackler and he can definately handle that job.

The Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had season ending surgery today on his dislocated wrist.  Urlacher dislocated his wrist when he made a tackle on the Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant during the first quarter of the Bears Sunday night loss in Green Bay.  At the time it didn’t seem serious at all, as Urlacher just shook it off and played the rest of the half.  He played one series in the second half and was done after that.  This is a huge blow for the Bears, as Urlacher came into the season healthier and in better shape than he has been in years.  Hunter Hillenmeyer will probably fill the void left by Urlacher but there are also rumors that the Bears are interested in signing Derrick Brooks, who was the NFL defensive player of the year in 2002.

The Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler looked less like the Pro Bowler from 2008 and more like former Bears quarterback Rex Grossman Sunday night at Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field.  Cutler ended up throwing four picks and looked rattled and pissed off most of the first half, forcing throws all over the place.  He threw three interceptions in the first half (could have been five or six) and the only offense for the Bears in that half was it’s defense.  That came when Bears’ safety Danieal Manning sacked Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Packers end zone for a safety late in the first half.  The Packers went into halftime with a 10-2 lead.

After seeing Cutler excel in a hostile environment in their preseason game in Denver, I thought he would be able to keep his cool in the hectic Lambeau Field environment.  Wow was I wrong, as he was visibly frustrated throughout most of the game.  Cutler let that frustration affect his play, as he forced throws all over the field and was jawing with Packers defenders throughout, and even shoving a Packers defender after one of his picks.

Cutler did seem like he settled down a little in the second half as the Bears offense was starting to click.  Cutler looked his best when he hooked up with Devin Hester on a 36-yard touchdown early in the second half.  He also drove them down the field for a Robbie Gould field goal to put the Bears up 12-10 after three quarters.  The Bears looked like they brushed that bad first half off after a solid third quarter.  Then came the ridiculously dumb fake punt call while still deep in their own territory.  This was early in the fourth quarter and it gave the lead right back to the Packers since it was in perfect field goal range for Packers kicker Mason Crosby.  Crosby converted on a 39-yard field goal soon after the failed fake from the Bears and put the Packers up 13-10.  Cutler was able to lead a come-back drive all the way to the Packers 3-yard-line, but failed to get into the end zone.  The Bears settled for a Robbie Gould field goal and took the lead 15-13 with only 2:35 to play.

Aaron Rodgers got the ball back with 2:28 and things did not look too promising for the Packers.  After a few short gains, Rodgers hooked up with Greg Jennings who burned by Nathan Vasher for a 50-yard touchdown.  Both teams had some big plays down field, but none were bigger than Rodgers 50-yard touchdown pass to Jennings as it put the Packers up 20-15 with only 1:18 left to play.  That is how the score would stay, as Cutler’s fourth and most devastating interception came quickly thereafter.  Al Harris picked him on the Bears first play and with only 1:11 left in the game it put a quick end to any thought of a comeback for the Bears

More bad news for the Bears as they lost a few key players to injuries.  The most notable was their star linebacker Brian Urlacher who left the game with a wrist injury.  Turns out Urlacher dislocated his wrist and will be getting surgery on it this week, so who knows how long he will be out.  Tight end Desmond Clark left the game with a back injury and linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa left with a leg injury.  The Packers take on the Cincinnati Bengals at home next Sunday and the Bears will look to rebound at home Sunday against the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Bears better hope that Cutler keeps his arm (and head) in check as the Steelers potent defense will be pressuring him all game.

The Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler wont have to wait long to get his first taste of the Bears-Packers rivalry.  The Green Bay Packers will be looking to give Cutler a bad taste of that rivalry, as I am expecting them to blitz Cutler heavy and often.  The Packers run a 3-4 front, with defensive coordinator Dom Capers calling the shots.  Capers is well aware of Cutler’s big arm, so he will be looking to pressure the Bear’s new talented QB and try to force him into some mistakes.

Cutler’s primary wide receiver will be the super athletic Devin Hester, but I’m looking for Cutler and TE Greg Olsen to hook up early and often.  I think Olsen has the ability to be a Pro Bowler, as he has great hands and can move very well for a TE.  Bear’s running back Matt Forte will also probably get a lot of touches through the air, as he was the Bears leading receiver last year.  Although the Bears have a much more talented QB than they have had in years (probably decades), I would still like to see the Bears offense revolve around a strong running attack.  Matt Forte proved he is a top tier running back in this league, as he rushed for 1,238 yards last year as a rookie and led all rookie running backs in total yards and receptions.

The Bears defense will have their hands full, as the Packer’s QB Aaron Rodgers proved last year that he has what it takes to be successful in this league.  In his first year as a starter, Rogers threw for 4,038 yards with 28 TD’s and only 13 INT’s.  He had a 63.6 completion percentage and finished the year with a 93.8 passer rating.  He has a very talented Greg Jennings to throw to, as well as the proven veteran Donald Driver.  The Bears were not very good at pass rushing last year and hopefully the Bears’ defensive end Mark Anderson can look more like the Mark Anderson of three years ago when he had 12 sacks.  Lovie Smith has taken over the play calling on defense, and improving the defensive line play has been an emphasis during the offseason, but I think Rodgers will not have too many problems with the Bears’ rush as the Packers offensive line has improved.

With the Bears offense greatly improved from last year, mainly because of the Jay Cutler acquisition, and the proven Aaron Rodgers on the Packers’ side, I think this could be a high scoring affair.  I think both defenses will struggle to contain the talented QB’s and each will have his way with the oppositions defense.  The Bears have the edge at running back and even though the Packers’ Ryan Grant rushed for nearly the same amount of yards as Forte last year, Forte proved he is not a one dimensional player as he led the team in receptions.

The X-factor, as it often has been in the past for the Bears, will be Devin Hester and the special teams.  Hester struggled last year returning punts and kicks, especially on kickoff returns.  Hester was moved to just a punt-returner but I would like to see Hester back returning kicks again, as he is still a huge threat for big returns.  His problem seemed to be that he would try to do too much last year, but it could take only one good return for Hester to get that confidence back.  So, overall I think this will be a battle of the QB’s with the Bears edging out the Packers 31-28.

The final game of the pre-season is usually meaningless with regards to the first unit. The starters normally play a few series and the players who are on the bubble usually play a majority of this game to show that they belong on the team. As expected, Cutler only had six snaps, which were all handoffs and the Bears managed to come back against the Browns in a 26-23 victory to close out their pre-season with a 3-1 record. The bad news is that Kevin Jones, the person who was going to help spell Forte this season, suffered a season-ending ankle injury as he landed on it awkardly while jumping out of the bounds and x-rays revealed torn ligaments. While everyone is rightfully excited about the QB position, the offensive line with have to give Cutler time to get rid of the ball and the receving corps will definitely have to step up because these are not the same group of wideouts he had in Denver. The secondary is still a question mark as well due to injuries but here’s to hoping that the group will be stabilized in time for the season opener a week from now. Let’s see if the Bears can kick off the season on a good note by beating the Packers in Green Bay next week.

The Bears didn’t even need Jay Cutler to beat the Browns.  Caleb Hanie got the start and he completed 9 of 13 passes for 119 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Brett Basanez finished up the game by completing 10 of 13 passes for 144 yards with 1 TD pass.  Adrian Peterson led the Bears in rushing in this game with 39 yards on 12 carries (3.3 ypc).  Rookie WR Juaquin Iglesias had a good game for the Bears with 5 catches for 72 yards (14.4 avg).  The Bears finished up with 338 total yards in this game (99 rushing, 239 passing).

CB Roderick Hood (7 tackles) and DE Ervin Baldwin (7 tackles, 2 sacks) led the way for the Bears on D.  The Browns finished up with 282 total yards on offense (103 rushing, 179 passing).  The Bears finished up with a 3-1 record in the pre-season.