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That was satisfying. After a slow start and despite a game marred by flags a-plenty, the Bears got their act together in a very hostile environment. I will admit I was trying to install a new printer while watching so I was plenty distracted. That being said....

Pros :

Cutler : he had everything working against him - a Denver crowd out for blood and an amped up defense looking for payback for making them have Orton as their QB - and wasn't rattled a bit. Moved around in the pocket, showed he can take a hit, and knows how to thread the needle and put the ball where the receiver can catch it in stride. Did I mention a 98-yard drive to end the half? Just missed on a long bomb but was effective in finding the TEs and looking for his 2nd and 3rd options. Remind me how Denver could trade a franchise-caliber QB again? WHO DOES THAT ??

Tight ends: Clark and Olsen played a huge role in the win and were tough to take down after getting the ball.

Adrian Peterson - did what he had to do in order to make the final cut down a tough decision. If you're not starting for Lovie, you need to make special teams contributions and he came through on special teams coverage then ran all over the 2nd/3rd string defense in the second half.

Ogunleye: Looked active against the run and bloodied Orton. Good enough for me.

Hester : sweet punt return inside the 5. I remember that Devin Hester.

Rashied Davis : Was all over the place on special teams. Again, if you're not going to start, you'd better make an impact on ST. Non-factor in passing game.

Orton : Dink, dunk, repeat. 3rd and long? No chance. Thank you, Jerry Angelo. THANK YOU.

Cons :

Tommie Harris: I know he's coming off a spring surgery but is this as good as it's going to get for him? Noticeably limping when he had to follow a play. Color me worried.

Orlando Pace : Looked pretty darn old trying to block Dumervil. Someone remind Orlando he's 33, not 43. Should've been called for holding (and a resulting safety) in the end zone. Missed his man on the one running play I was focusing on him.

Urlacher: I'm not used to seeing people run by him on the sideline. When I saw Scheffler outrun Urlacher I was just shaking my head. Is the added weight slowing him down or is this age creeping up?

Hester: Yeah, I'm putting him on the con list, too. As I noted in the game thread, he should've fair caught the first punt to him and he just got out of the way and let it roll and roll then he goes and fair catches the second punt at around the 5 yard line. Just dumb.

McBride : I want this guy gone. Just a terrible tackler. He needed to shine in this game after getting the starting nod and it just made his flaws stand out.

NBC's HD : Serious question here - did anyone else with HD reception have issues with NBC's broadcast? I have DirecTV for my plasma and I noticed blurry picture issues off and on throughout the game. Everything was just fine the first two games. Just askin'.

Final note: I'll bet these two felt pretty effing stupid walking back to the parking lot after the first half :

Chewie wrote:NBC's HD : Serious question here - did anyone else with HD reception have issues with NBC's broadcast? I have DirecTV for my plasma and I noticed blurry picture issues off and on throughout the game. Everything was just fine the first two games. Just askin'.

Al Michaels said that the reason the camera was shaking was because of all the people in the stadium pounding their feet. They also discussed how the old stadium and new stadium were built and that it both allow for feeling those reverberations from stomping or even cheering.

Add Forte and his 2 touchdowns to the pro list.

NZB2323 wrote:Add Forte and his 2 touchdowns to the pro list.

9 carries for 21 yards and his running TD was a 1 yarder. He made a few nice catches but other than that I can see why he wasn't added to the Pro column.

I also agree on McBride. He looked HORRIBLE. He's the one that stood out the most to me on the CON column while watching the game.

I also didn't notice who we had playing FS.

The run blocking for Forte was not effective. Forte needs more help up front. He rarely had any running lanes and attempted to manufacture yardage on his own a lot.

Actually, It was reminiscent of last year's sub-par run blocking. The Broncos put on a run blocking clinic during their touchdown series. We need to improve in that area.

Overall, I thought we played a pretty good game. Cutler looked good. The receiver situation still looks iffy. The defense needs to shore up a few holes, but played still played fairly well.

In terms of final roster spots.... I am not impressed with Kevin Jones at all. Peterson and Wolfe have outperformed him.

Jones has been unable to recapture his rookie form (1,133 yards with five touchdowns and averaged 4.7 yards per carry in 2004) , due to injuries, although he is deemed healthy now.

I would prefer to check the wire for a more effective bruising short yard back being released. Maybe the staff believes he will regain his form in a matter of time, and is willing to wait.

Final cuts should be interesting.

2nd and 6 at CHI 16 (12:29) M.Forte up the middle to CHI 20 for 4 yards

1st and 10 at CHI 3 (10:00) M.Forte up the middle to CHI 6 for 3 yards

2nd and 5 at CHI 25 (5:00) M.Forte right guard to CHI 31 for 6 yards
1st and 10 at CHI 42 (3:39) M.Forte up the middle to CHI 42 for no gain
2nd and 10 at DEN 24 (1:37) M.Forte left guard to DEN 23 for 1 yard

1st and 4 at DEN 4 (8:52) M.Forte left end to DEN 1 for 3 yards
2nd and 1 at DEN 1 (8:16) M.Forte up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN

1st and 10 at CHI 2 (5:20) M.Forte up the middle to CHI 4 for 2 yards
1st and 10 at CHI 20 (3:58) M.Forte up the middle to CHI 25 for 5 yards Illegal Shift Called Back
1st and 10 at CHI 36 (2:53) M.Forte right end to CHI 37 for 1 yard

He didn't do that bad he had 4 runs in likely run situations like when they were by both endzones so they brings down the average per carry. The run game didn't really get a chance to get going cause of the field position, I think given a full game we would've worked it more.

ChronicKerr wrote:

NZB2323 wrote:Add Forte and his 2 touchdowns to the pro list.

9 carries for 21 yards and his running TD was a 1 yarder. He made a few nice catches but other than that I can see why he wasn't added to the Pro column.

I also agree on McBride. He looked HORRIBLE. He's the one that stood out the most to me on the CON column while watching the game.

I also didn't notice who we had playing FS.

The Bears in the 1st half were playing with garbage field position over half the time. The pacing of the game, didn't call for us setting up the run like we are able to.

I also don't blame Hester for the 2nd punt, but it's something that he'll have to break himself of that habit. You look up in the air, and begin backpeddling and pretty soon you lose track of where you are. It happens on occasion. He probably had the previous punt in his mind, so he wanted to actually fair catch it, but he ended up making a mistake. Doubt it's a huge problem throughout the season.


Jay Cutler's out of the pocket scrambling laser throws were epic btw.

Cutler Highlights (NBC):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9qPUR-8unE

Game Highlights (Bears and Broncos Radio):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbPXTJoIl-o

Cliff Levingston wrote:

Chewie wrote:NBC's HD : Serious question here - did anyone else with HD reception have issues with NBC's broadcast? I have DirecTV for my plasma and I noticed blurry picture issues off and on throughout the game. Everything was just fine the first two games. Just askin'.

Al Michaels said that the reason the camera was shaking was because of all the people in the stadium pounding their feet. They also discussed how the old stadium and new stadium were built and that it both allow for feeling those reverberations from stomping or even cheering.

THAT I noticed but this is different - I still had a clear picture during that period (albeit one that was shaking up and down). I'm talking about 2-3 seconds of a blurry picture. Crap - now I'm worried it's my plasma and not NBC.

I think the first punt was so bad that Hester was no where near it, thus let it bounce and unfortunately rolled about 35 yards. The second one was just don't let it drop, this guy is right here mode and the third was finally Hester going UP field and attacking the return team.

I think McBride was god awful and the two wiff tackles he had were almost embarrassing to watch. If he is your 4th corner then eh, whatever. But if the Bears plan to let hims see the field purposely, they are in trouble.

Every WR had at best an average game in receiving ability only. No one got that open and no one (besides the long pass to Knox) really did anything that great. It's a bad receiving corp and the fact that there are discussions with Davis/Rideau/Aromashodu about who should be #3 is telling in itself.

Orlando Pace really struggled with the smaller Elvis Dumervil. It would concern me more if he were bigger, because all Dumervil did was get lower then Pace. Its something to look and see if bigger ends start doing.

Was really impressed with the play of Pisa Tinoisamoa. Every time I looked up he was chasing someone down and was active. I think he is the best third LB the Bears have ever had.

Greg Olsen is dynamite and I would assume he leads the Bears receivers in targets and catches when it's all said and done. He does so many things well and is such a nightmare match-up that the Bears HAVE to take advantage of in the passing game.

DanTown8587 wrote:I think the first punt was so bad that Hester was no where near it, thus let it bounce and unfortunately rolled about 35 yards. The second one was just don't let it drop, this guy is right here mode and the third was finally Hester going UP field and attacking the return team.

I think McBride was god awful and the two wiff tackles he had were almost embarrassing to watch. If he is your 4th corner then eh, whatever. But if the Bears plan to let hims see the field purposely, they are in trouble.

Orlando Pace really struggled with the smaller Elvis Dumervil. It would concern me more if he were bigger, because all Dumervil did was get lower then Pace. Its something to look and see if bigger ends start doing.

1) Yup. Correct on the punt assessments.

2) McBride is awful. He was trying to impress the coach's and I don't think he did a good job at all. He is your typical 4th corner. Zack Bowman and Charles Tillman are the starters. Vasher will be the Nickel Back.

3) I really think they should consider moving Chris Williams to left. Maybe not now, but at some point. Pace admits that his age is getting to him when it comes to guarding smaller Defensive Ends, and he got fooled and blown by badly a few times on Dumervil's unconventional swim moves. I don't think that would happen to Williams as easily. Overall we need to continue to get younger in the O-line. I'm tired of picking up the trash that other team's didn't want. While I'm at it, we also need to shore up our Corners. Our corners stink in coverage. Tillman's saving grace last year was that he's a beast at forcing turnover

There was plenty to like in this game. Desmond Clark may just be the forgotten man in this offense since defenses will be keying on Olsen so much. This team runs a lot of two tight end sets, predominantly two tight end sets. I could see Clark having a productive year.

That being said, aside from the 98-yard drive the offense was far from impressive. Denver runs the 3-4 which creates gaps up the middle. The offensive line couldn't keep them open very long and Forte couldn't find them much at all. Not a good precursor for the 13th in Green Bay where the Packers have been running that scheme far better this preseason than the Broncos have. And Orlando Pace may get bowled over by Aaron Kampman if he couldn't handle Dumervil.

And yes, Trumaine Mcbride should be, at best, 5th on the depth chart behind Tillman, Bowman, Vasher and Graham. He was terrible.

One thing I've noticed this whole preseason and was accentuated last night when seeing Orton again, Cutler's ability to roll out of the pocket, particularly to his right, is terrific, something we haven't seen from a quarterback in...well, maybe ever.

I'm going to give the Bears O the benefit of the doubt.

3 of the 7 drives that the Bears starting offense had, we started within our own 5 yard line. Another was fair caught in the end zone, and the other must have been unremarkable enough for me not to remember.

The only other one I didn't mention was Hester's return.

You can only do so much when you were playing on your heels like we were. One bad mistake down where we were, and that gives Denver great field position. If not a pick 6 from where we were. They almost scored a safety

That 1 field goal that the Denver first team scored was because they started on the Chicago 47 yard line. We were getting owned in the field position battle.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that had we been starting consistently at least around the 20+ yard line like we were supposed to, the Offense looks much better in establishing the run.

Dumervil was playing OLB in the 3-4 scheme last night if I remember correctly. That may be why Pace was having some issues as he would get sort of a running start against him from the outside versus lining up right in front of him.

Special shot out's to:

Jay Cutler's Dad - For raising the boy right to be a Chicago Bears fan

Pat Bowlen - For your neanderthal approach to management. Let's see how your need to be in "control", "command respect" and have your new coaches back pan out for you, shall we?

Bill Belichick - Oh hoodie. Thanks for sending another one of your clones out into the world raised in your image without the luck or talent you have. I thought the other incarnation's were bad. But this one might just take the cake.

God - Big props to God on this one. I just hope having a legitimate QB in Chicago isn't the first step of ushering in the apocalypse. That Mayan calendar is starting to worry me a bit.

CjayC wrote:Special shot out's to:



God - Big props to God on this one. I just hope having a legitimate QB in Chicago isn't the first step of ushering in the apocalypse. That Mayan calendar is starting to worry me a bit.

Thats how out of sorts this whole situation feels. I'm actually worried about the end of the world now that the Bears have a real QB. Its just not right. If the Cubs won the world series next season, I'm going back to church.