The Bears have lost three games in a row with Caleb Hanie at QB and they have only scored 33 combined points in those games.  But, they are 5-2 at home, so maybe the fans at Soldier Field will inspire the troops this Sunday.  The Seahawks are red hot right now as they have won four of their last five games.  But, they are only 2-4 on the road this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears don’t trust Caleb Hanie, so look for them to be very run heavy in this game.  Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell are going to have a hard time finding a lot of running room against a Seahawks’ D that is allowing 104.3 yards rushing per game this year but only 3.7 yards per carry.  The Seahawks only have 25 sacks, so Hanie should have time to throw the ball, but the Seahawks also have 17 interceptions this year as they have ballhawks in the secondary.  Hanie will have to be careful this weekend for the Bears as they can’t afford him to make too many mistakes.

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Bears are going to have to stop RB Marshawn Lynch this Sunday and it isn’t going to be easy as he is on a roll right now.  If the Seahawks are running the ball well, it sets up QB Tarvaris Jackson to make some throws down the field to WRs Doug Baldwin and Golden Tate.  Jackson has been hot lately, so the Bears are going to have to get after him with the pass rush.  If Jackson has time to throw the ball, he’s going to have some success against the Bears as they are giving up 256.5 yards passing per game so far this year.

PREDICTION:  SEAHAWKS 17, BEARS 13

The Chicago Bears should have either signed Donovan McNabb or coached up rookie Nathan Enderle or Josh McCown to start at QB.  But instead, they seem more than happy to go down with the ship with 26-year old QB Caleb Hanie.  Hanie has played in 5 games for the Bears so far this year and he has completed 41 of 79 passes (51.9%) for 502 yards with 2 TD passes and 6 INTs (48.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 8 times for 64 yards (8.0 ypc) so far this year.  The Bears have only scored 33 points in Hanie’s three starts so far this year and that just won’t cut it.  The Bears need to make a change at QB, or their season will be over for sure in three weeks.

The Chicago Bears really blew this game yesterday as they were winning 10-0 with only 4:34 left in the game.  That’s when they couldn’t run out the clock or stop Tim Tebow and his boys, after shutting them out for most of the game!  Caleb Hanie was a game manager yesterday as he completed 12 of 19 passes for 115 yards without a TD pass or INT.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 11 yards (5.5 ypc).  Marion Barber led the way on the ground for the Bears yesterday with 27 carries for 108 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 32 yards (16.0 avg).  But, he fumbled in O.T. which led to the Broncos’ winning drive.  Kahlil Bell pitched in with 40 yards rushing on 9 carries (4.4 ypc) and 5 catches for 24 yards (4.8 avg).  WR Johnny Knox led the way in the passing game with 3 grabs for 37 yards (12.3 avg).

The defense was outstanding until the last 4:34 in this football game.  LBs Brian Urlacher (11 tackles) and Lance Briggs (9 tackles) led the way for the Bears in this game.  CB Charles Tillman (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception), DT Stephen Paea (3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and 2 QB hits) and DE Israel Idonije (fumble recovery) also helped out on D for the Bears in this game.  The Broncos finished up with 124 yards rushing on 34 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 40 passes (52.5%) for 221 yards in this game.  The Bears are now 7-6 on the season.

The Chicago Bears are now 0-2 with Caleb Hanie at QB and they only have scored 23 points in those games.  The Denver Broncos have won five games in a row and Tim Tebow is 6-1 as the starting QB this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears would like to run the ball more this week against a Broncos’ D that is giving up 121.3 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell will likely split the workload this week and they could be effective.  Caleb Hanie has been sacked 11 times already, so he’s going to have to get rid of the ball quickly this weekend.  The Broncos are giving up 245.2 yards passing per game so far this year, so Hanie should be able to make some throws down the field but he has to be more careful with the ball.

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are a run first team with Tim Tebow at QB.  The Broncos are going to run the ball with Willis McGahee (886 rushing yards) and Tim Tebow (468 rushing yards), so the defense is going to get challenged.  LBs Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher tend to like games like this one.  The Bears’ DEs will have to get a good pass rush on Tebow, while at the same time keeping him in the pocket….and that is easier said than done.  Tebow is getting a little better throwing the ball, so the secondary will have to keep close to WRs Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas.

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 17, BEARS 16

31-year old LB Lance Briggs continues to play at a high level for the Chicago Bears.  Briggs has played in 12 games for the Bears so far this year and he has 84 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 4 passes defensed.  He has now played in 136 games in his first 9 years with the Bears and he has 948 tackles, 71 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, 14 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries, 64 passes defensed and 13 interceptions (3 returned for TDs).  The Bears need him to keep up the good work the rest of the season, because the team is going to have to lean on the defense if they want to get back to the playoffs.

I know, 26-year old Caleb Hanie has only started two games and it’s a small sample size, but the Bears are in the playoff hunt and they can’t afford to carry him at QB…especially due to Matt Forte’s injury yesterday.  Hanie has played in 4 games (2 starts) for the Bears so far this year and he has completed 29 of 60 passes (48.3%) for 387 yards with 2 TD passes and 6 interceptions (40.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 6 times for 53 yards (8.8 ypc) so far this year.  The Bears should look to sign Donovan McNabb or Brett Favre, if they are serious about making the playoffs this year because Caleb Hanie isn’t going to get them there.

The Bears have lost 25-year old RB Matt Forte for the next 2-4 weeks due to a Grade 2 MCL sprain.  Forte has played in 12 games for the Bears this year and he has carried the ball 203 times for 997 yards (4.9 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 52 passes for 490 yards (9.4 avg) with 1 TD grab for the Bears this year.  The Bears won’t likely be able to replace all of the 123.9 yards from scrimmage that Forte is averaging so far this season.  28-year old Marion Barber will be the main RB for the Bears until Forte is ready to return to action.  Barber has played in 9 games for the Bears so far this year and he has carried the ball 76 times for 281 yards (3.7 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He has also caught 3 passes for 18 yards (6.0 avg) so far for the Bears this year.  Barber is a power runner, so the offense will likely have to be streamlined a little bit with him as the main man.  24-year old Kahlil Bell will replace Barber as the backup RB until Forte is ready to return to action.  Bell has played in 9 games for the Bears so far this year and he has carried the ball 15 times for 57 yards (3.8 ypc).  He has also caught 1 pass for 4 yards so far this year.  Losing Forte is almost as big of a blow as losing Jay Cutler.  The difference is that Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell are legit NFL RBs, while Caleb Hanie is not much of a QB.

UPDATE:  (12/27/2011) – The Bears have officially put Matt Forte on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Bears wasted a great defensive effort by playing very lousy on offense today.  Caleb Hanie was absolutely brutal in this game as he completed 11 of 24 passes for 133 yards without a TD pass and 3 INTs.  Marion Barber led the way on the ground for the Bears in this game with 44 yards rushing on 14 carries (3.1 ypc).  Kahlil Bell had a pretty solid game with 4 carries for 34 yards in this game (8.5 ypc).  Matt Forte carried the ball 5 times for 12 yards (2.4 ypc) before injuring his knee.  He did not return to the game.  WR Johnny Knox (5 rec, 53 yards), TE Kellen Davis (2 rec, 40 yards) and WR Devin Hester (3 rec, 35 yards) led the way for the Bears in the passing game today.  The Bears finished up with 93 yards rushing on 24 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 11 of 24 passes (45.8%) for 88 yards as they had possession of the ball for 27:18.

The Bears defense was solid in this game, but it was wasted.  Safety Craig Steltz (10 tackles) and CB Charles Tillman (9 tackles and 1 pass defensed) led the way for the Bears on D in this game.  DE Israel Idonije (6 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 2 QB hits) also had a very solid game for the Bears.  CB Zach Bowman pitched in with a fumble recovery.  The Chiefs finished up with 113 yards rushing on 37 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 31 passes (54.8%) for 139 yards in this game.  The Bears are now 7-5 on the season.

The Bears lost a tough one last weekend in Oakland, but they are returning home where they are 5-1 on the season.  The Chiefs have lost four games in a row in which they have been outscored 95-25!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears will likely come out running the ball with Matt Forte and Marion Barber against a Chiefs’ D that is allowing 133.7 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry.  After the Bears establish the running game, I look for Caleb Hanie to get his shot to throw the ball around a bit.  He should have a lot more time to throw the ball this weekend as the Chiefs only have 13 sacks this year.  But, he will still have to be careful with the ball as the Chiefs do have 14 interceptions so far this year.  That being said, Johnny Knox has been a beast the last two weeks, so I look for Hanie to target him with some deep throws.

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs are planning on starting Tyler Palko at QB.  I look for that to last one quarter or less, with Kyle Orton replacing him.  Palko doesn’t have the arm to get the ball to his WRs in the NFL as he has 0 TD passes and 6 interceptions so far this year.  But, if and when Kyle Orton gets into the game, it opens up the whole playbook for the Chiefs.  The Chiefs have a nice set of WRs in Dwayne Bowe, Steve Breaston and Jonathan Baldwin….so the Bears’ secondary will be challenged when Orton comes into the game.  The Chiefs will likely come out running the ball in this game though, splitting the carries between Jackie Battle, Dexter McCluster and Thomas Jones.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 23, CHIEFS 17