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.

The Bears seem to always be changing game plans as they never seem to have a true #1 WR.  25-year old Johnny Knox has been playing like a #1 WR the last two weeks for the Bears.  In his last two games, Knox has caught 7 passes for 242 yards (34.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs for the Bears.  He has now played in 11 games for the Bears this year and he has caught 28 passes for 622 yards (22.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Knox has now played in 42 games in his first three years with the Bears and he has caught the ball 124 times for 2,109 yards (17.0 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  The Bears need to keep throwing the ball to Johnny Knox as he is the best WR on the team.

53-year old head coach Lovie Smith has made some big changes in season so far this year, which have helped the Bears.  The offense has played much better as of late, and it’s because  they are using max protection to give Jay Cutler time to throw the ball.  The results have been solid as the Bears are averaging 220.9 yards passing per game this year and Cutler isn’t looking like a pinata.  The defense has been pretty bad for the Bears so far this year, but Smith and Mike Martz have been devising good game plans to overcome that lately.  The Bears are 5-3 on the season and they are now 68-52 (56.7%) under Lovie Smith in his first 8 years with the team.

Devin Hester has been electrifying once again this year for the Bears in the return game.  He has returned 15 kickoffs for 402 yards (26.8 avg) with 1 TD return.  Hester has also returned 11 punts for 161 yards (14.6 avg) with 1 TD return so far this year!  He has been dominating.  WR Johnny Knox has also been good when called upon.  He has returned 5 kickoffs for 131 yards (26.2 avg) and he has returned 1 punt for 9 yards.  Knox is more than capable of giving the Bears plenty of juice in the return game, if needed.  Sam Hurd (1 return, 24 yards), Kahlil Bell (1 return, 20 yards) and Kyle Adams (1 return, 0 yards) also have got in on the action as far as kickoff returns go, as opposing teams try to kick away from Devin Hester.  The Bears have returned 23 kickoffs for 577 yards (25.1 avg) with 1 TD return.  They have also returned 12 punts for 170 yards (14.2 avg) with 1 TD return.  The special teams are a pretty impressive weapon for the Bears as they usually give the offense good starting position.

The Chicago Bears need the running game to be a little more consistent.  They are averaging 104.3 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry, which are good numbers overall.  25-year old Matt Forte has been excellent this year for the Bears.  He has played in six games for the Bears so far this year and he has carried the ball 99 times for 527 yards (5.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Forte has also caught 36 passes for 381 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab so far in his career.  Marion Barber is finally starting to contribute the last couple of weeks.  He has played in 3 games for the Bears this year and he has carried the ball 17 times for 52 yards (3.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Barber has also caught 2 passes for 10 yards (5.0 avg) so far this year.  Kahlil Bell has played in 5 games for the Bears already this year and he has carried the ball 11 times for only 23 yards (2.1 ypc).  The Bears need more consistency out of the running game going forward to keep defenses honest.

25-year old RB Matt Forte has been amazing so far this year for the Chicago Bears.  He has played in all four games for the Bears so far this year and he has carried the ball 60 times for 324 yards (5.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Forte has also caught 26 passes for 310 yards (11.8 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  Forte has now touched the ball 86 times for the Bears so far this year offensively and he has 634 yards (7.4 yards per touch).  His 158.5 yards per game rushing and receiving is more than half of what the Bears are averaging in total offense (307.8 yards per game).  The Bears need Forte to keep up the good work.

22-year old undrafted WR Dane Sanzenbacher out of Ohio State has beaten the odds.  He not only made the team out of training camp, but he is starting to really help the offense with his willingness to go over the middle and pay the price to make a catch.  Sanzenbacher has played in all 3 games for the Bears so far this year and he has caught 9 passes for 66 yards (7.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  4 of his 9 receptions have went for first downs.  He reminds me of a poor man’s Wes Welker.  Jay Cutler has been under duress the whole year and he will be looking to dump the ball off on short passes over the middle, which is Sanzenbacher’s specialty so far.  Look for his role to possibly expand in the passing game in the near future.

24-year old DT Henry Melton was a solid backup as a rookie in 2010.  He played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he had 16 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  But, against the Falcons last Sunday, Melton had 5 tackles and 2 sacks.  If the Bears can get production like this out of Melton in addition to another great year from Julius Peppers, opposing QBs are in trouble this year.

24-year old WR Johnny Knox has been outstanding for the Bears since arriving in Chicago last season.  Knox has played in 15 games for the Bears so far this year and he has caught 51 passes for 960 yards (18.8 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Knox has now played in 30 games in his first two years with the Bears and he has caught 96 passes for 1,487 yards (15.5 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  He has also returned 40 kickoffs for 1,109 yards (27.7 avg) with 1 TD return.  Knox was a fifth round pick in 2009 out of Abilene Christian and he has been quite a find for the Bears.

The Bears have really started to pick it up on offense the last couple of weeks in which they have scored a combined 55 points.  Cutler is a big reason for that.  Cutler completed 35 of 47 passes (74.5%) for 481 yards with 5 TD passes and 0 INTs in the last two games.  He also carried the ball 12 times for 29 yards (2.4 ypc) in this last two games.  Overall, Cutler has played in 11 games for the Bears this year and he has completed 201 of 318 passes (63.2%) for 2,545 yards with 17 TD passes and 8  INTs (92.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 41 times for 201 yards (4.9 ypc) so far this year.  The Bears already have one of the best defenses in the NFL so when Jay Cutler is hot, they are very, very hard to beat.