2010 Week 1 Preview: Detroit @ Chicago
By: BryanJayyy
Chicago, IL - Over the past two seasons, the Detroit Lions (0-0) have gone an alarming 2-30. Poor coaching, drafting and playing have made the Lions the laughing stock of the NFL. Detroit will now head to Chicago to play the Bears (0-0) in the opening game of the 2010 NFL season and are hoping to break their losing habits. The Bears, however, are ready to show the league that they aren't messing around anymore and plan to start off on the right foot this year with a win.
After finishing the preseason at 2-2, the Bears are feeling confident enough to pull out a win over their NFC North rivals, the Detroit Lions. QB Jay Cutler needs to connect with his receivers and exploit Detroit's weak defense that finished last in yards allowed and points in 2009. The Lions have made some moves this off-season to help rejuvenate this lack-luster defense, including ex-Bear CB Nathan Vasher, but they still have a lot of question marks that the Bears must take full advantage of in order to come away with the victory.
Establishing a run game has been a problem for the Bears throughout the preseason and now, more than ever, HB Matt Forte and Chester Taylor need to attack the holes, providing the o-line makes them, and make plays on the offensive side of the ball. Forte finished the preseason with 200 rushing yards and only one touchdown. Bears' fans know that he has the ability to make great plays and be a huge impact on the ground, but he needs to perform on a higher lever in Sunday's game against the Lions to help the offense get moving.
The Bears will be with out DE Mark Anderson after he dislocated his hip in the preseason finale. Anderson has consistently put up solid numbers, but has fell off the map after his impressive rookie season. In said season, Anderson sacked the quarterback a remarkable 12 times, but has failed to reach past 5 since then. Always a tough competitor, Anderson will be missed this Sunday.
The Detroit Lions' receivers will prove a tough test for the Bears' secondary. WR Nate Burleson, Calvin Johnson and Bryant Johnson all have the ability to make big catches and turn little plays into scoring ones. Keeping these receivers on lock down is all in the hands of CB Tim Jennings and S Major Wright and Chris Harris. Both Jennings and Wright had great preseasons and the coaching staff is hoping that their play transfers over into the regular season. If the defense line can get to Lions' QB Matthew Stafford, it will make the secondary's job much easier.
Sunday's game is not a guaranteed victory for the Bears and they should not take their opponents lightly. Starting the season off with a divisional win would be the perfect way to enter the 2010 season. The Bears must play with intensity and make sure they stick to their coaches game plan if they want to prevail. The Lions will come out playing tough, but the Bears can play tougher.
Player to Watch
QB Jay Cutler
Entering his sophomore season with the Bears, Cutler has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He has to take control of this offense and make the plays need to win the game. His confidence is high right now as he is looking to not let down his team or his fans. Look for Cutler to make a big splash on opening day.
Prediction
The Bears come away with the opening day win, 24-10.
Injury Report
DET - T Jeff Backus CHI - DE Mark Anderson, LB Nick Roach
Cutler's Two Touchdowns Hold Up Against Lions
Bears hold on to slim lead, beat Detroit 20-17
By: BryanJayyy
Chicago, IL - QB Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears (1-0) took the field Sunday morning ready to play and show their town that the Bears are back in town. They did that with a 20-17 win over divisional rivals, the Detroit Lions (0-1). Thanks to a spectacular outing by the defense, the Bears held onto the lead throughout the second half of the game for the victory.
Cutler, although his completion percentage was low, had a great game completing 12 of 31 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. On the first drive of the game, Cutler marched down the field 78 yards and capped it of with an 18 yard touchdown pass to WR Johnny Knox. Jay seemed to fall off after his stellar opening drive, but he did not manage to turn the ball over which seemed to be a reoccurring problem last season.
One problem the offense faced in Sunday's game was converting third downs. Not once was the offense able to convert a third down and ended the day 0-12. This issue caught the eye of Head Coach Lovie Smith, who was not pleased to say the least. "I don't know what went on out there," said Smith. "Not converting a single third down throughout the game is unheard of and I have no idea how we pulled this one out. We barely got away with the win today, but if we try to pull this again next week at Dallas, we have something coming."
LB Brian Urlacher was welcomed back with a huge day tackling seven Lions and intercepting a crucial QB Matthew Stafford pass while the Lions were driving late in the fourth quarter. Urlacher wasn't the only linebacker that had a good day. LB Lance Briggs and Pisa Tinoisamoa each were in the top four tacklers for Sunday's game as they, and the rest of the defense, held the Lion to 88 rushing yards.
Most of the game, the Bears' secondary played tough and didn't allow much, but they did make a few mistakes along the way. The biggest mistake was in the form of a 58 yard touchdown pass from Stafford to FB Jerome Felton in the fourth quarter to narrow the Bears lead, 20-17. The secondary gave up 6 passes that were over 25 yards and that is something they must keep under control if they stand a chance this season.
Establishing the run seem not to be on the Bears' game plan on Sunday as HB Matt Forte rushed for 63 yards on 25 attempts. The o-line was not doing a well enough job to hold their blocks and let Matt do his thing. Also, after a few failed running plays, the Bears' seemed to abandon the rushing attack altogether. Coach Martz must not know that old saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." The Bears' must keep attacking on the ground and get something rolling.
"I still haven't felt as if were playing to our potential on the ground," stated Forte. "We just haven't had that spark or jump start. This win was a good win for us, but I know we need to be better on the ground. We had a couple good runs and now we just need to keep building upon this game. We need to start running the ball better."
A win is a win and the Bears' will take this one as they head out on the road to play the Dallas Cowboys (0-1) next week. The Bears' still need to start establishing a running game, as well as, keep the big plays to the minimum while on the defensive side of the ball. With the first week of the season over, it's good to have started off on the right foot with a win, but the season is long and there is much in store for the Bears.
NFL Scoreboard - Detroit Lions (0-1) at Chicago Bears (1-0)
September 12, 2010
1
2
3
4
F
Detroit Lions
0
7
3
7
17
Chicago Bears
7
6
7
0
20
Top Performers
Detroit Lions - Stats
Bryant Johnson - 6rec 64yds 0td
Kevin Smith - 20att 74yds 0td
Chicago Bears - Stats
Devin Hester - 6rec 96yds 1td
Jay Cutler - 12/31 181yds 2td
Team Stats Comparison
DET
CHI
First Downs
13
12
3rd Down Efficiency
5-17
0-12
4th Down Efficiency
2-3
2-2
Total Yards
370
244
Passing Yards
282
181
Rushing Yards
88
63
Penalties-Penalty Yards
4-35
2-10
Turnovers
1
0
Time of Possession
27:17
20:43
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
DET
CHI
CHI
8:43
J. Knox 18 Yd pass from J. Cutler (R. Gould kick)
0
7
Second Quarter
DET
CHI
DET
2:52
J. Best, 1 Yd run (J. Hanson kick)
7
7
CHI
1:12
R. Gould, 47 Yd FG
7
10
CHI
0:23
R. Gould, 41 Yd FG
7
13
Third Quarter
DET
CHI
CHI
6:14
D. Hester 9 Yd pass from J. Cutler (R. Gould kick)
7
20
DET
2:44
J. Hanson, 42 Yd FG
10
20
Fourth Quarter
DET
CHI
DET
9:12
J. Felton 58 Yd pass from M. Stafford (J. Hanson kick)
Clutch victory! Do you plan to use Aromashodu a lot? Also Greg Olsen is went to high school in the next town over, you better use him to the best of his abilities! haha
Clutch victory! Do you plan to use Aromashodu a lot? Also Greg Olsen is went to high school in the next town over, you better use him to the best of his abilities! haha
Aromashodu will see some playing time and it all depends on how the season pans out. I'm pretty confident right now with Knox, Hester and Bennett as my three primary receivers. But yeah I'm a huge Olsen fan. He too big of a threat to not use as a receiver. The last game he only had 2 catches for about 25 yards, but I do plan on using him a lot more as the season progresses.
09-29-2010, 06:14 PM
