It became official last night around 7 o'clock the Chicago Bears would get a shot at righting a wrong by taking on the Seattle Seahawks Sunday - this writer's birthday - at noon at Soldier Field where the early forecast has temperatures set to be around 15 degrees on the Lakefront.
The loss the Seahawks dealt the Bears back on Oct. 17 was one that stung for Bears players in hearing their talk in the locker room today at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. The vow things will change and I'm right there with them. Here are 10 reasons why this one will be very different, counting down to the most important). I have to give some credit to former Bears star Jerry Azumah for giving me the idea for this piece.
10. The Seahawks were coming off a bye and had two weeks to gameplan for the Bears. Their gameplan was on point using a hurry up offense and muddle offense to keep the Bears defense off balance. They could go that route a again, but the Bears will be ready for it this time.
9. The Bears are 10-point favorites. I know New Orleans was also 10.5 point favorites, but they were on the road. This is the NFL, people, and the teams are so close. The home team automatically gets 3 points in Vegas because of it. The Bears are the home team this week and you can expect them to have an advantage when they take the field.
8. Johnny Knox had five catches for 120 yards in the first meeting and will get Earl Bennett back from injury this week. Expect the two of them to play a role in this one in the intermediate passing game.
7. The Bears turned their touchdowns per game average around after the first meeting. The Bears entered the first meeting with 1.8 touchdowns per game, but have averaged 3 TDs per game since.
6. Devin Hester had kickoff returns of 93 yards and another for a touchdown in the first meeting. Expect he and Leon Washington to do battle Sunday in the kicking game. Hester has shown he can go the distance against this coverage unit.
--- They get MUCH bigger as we enter the Top 5. These will be vital in the game Sunday. --
5. Lance Briggs did not play Oct. 17. Yes Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers are the co-MVPs of this defense, but take one of the Pro Bowl players out of the puzzle and things change. Briggs will be on the field Sunday and promises to be a difference maker.
4. The Bears had no turnovers in the 23-20 loss at Soldier Field that day. For a team that had just three games where they did not commit a turnover, I'm not even talking about being on the plus-side of the turnover margin, just forcing a turnover, and went 1-2 in those games. The other loss was to the Patriots. The only win was the narrow win at Ford Field over the Lions.
3. The Bears are the only team to rush the ball more than they threw it since Week 9 (their first game since the Bye). This is a different team since the bye week with Mike Martz moving towards the run and calling 238 runs to 231 passes. That was not the case in the first meeting when the Bears ran the Ball for just 91 yards on just 14 carries (the fewest this season). Chester Taylor ran the ball four times for 31 yards and Matt Forte had eight for 11 yards. Again, that has not been the formula for the Bears success during the second half of the season. It works two ways, really, in keeping Jay Cutler grounded.
2. Speaking of Cutler, he completed just 17 of 39 passes for 242 yards without a TD or an INT in the first meeting with a passer rating of 69.4. He was also sacked five times. If the running game can get going like it has for much of the second half of the season, Cutler relaxes (this will be his first playoff game) and is more composed in the pocket. It also allows the offensive line to impose their will on the Seahawks.
1. The biggest key to success for the Bears Sunday is converting on third down. The Bears were an awful 0 for 12 back in October during a stretch where they converted just 17.9 percent of third downs. Since the bye, however, the Bears have converted on 44.1 percent of their third downs, good enough for ninth in the NFL over that span.
Things will be vastly different than in the first meeting. I also feel the Seahawks caught lighting in a bottle last week and will run into a team that will not overlook them as they look to erase October's defeat.
James Starks and the Packers made the game with the Seahawks possible with their strong showing at Philly Sunday night. I went 2 for 4 with my Wild Card Weekend picks, getting both games Sunday right.
I like the matchup with the Packers and the Falcons, as it should be a tight one in the Georgia Dome Saturday night.
In the AFC, the Ravens get the Steelers and the Jets (Boo!) get the Patriots for the third time this season. Both should be great games between teams that know each other very well. I'll have a full breakdown later in the week, but it promises to be another great week of football.
Now it's time for the Nussie Hunter portion of today's episode and I'm not sure how many of you checked out the new show on NBC called "The Cape" but it was great. A stellar action super hero show. One of the great parts of the show is female star Summer Glau. She doesn't wear a cape, but is the tech and brains behind a lot of what goes on in the show. Plus, she can probably kick my ass. So, I have to put her here! Enjoy and watch the show on Hulu before next Monday's episode.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment