Bears Wed Nov 17 2010

Footballic Ramblings: Climbing Dinosaurs, Beating Vikings

By Brian Lauvray

Okay, please, please, please, people a) from a public safety advocate standpoint, refrain from climbing the Field Museum's dinosaurs. Ever. b) please, if you know who this guy is, contact me. I'd love to interview him. Email: bl@gapersblock.com or Twitter: @GBTailgate

The Chicago Bears have not won pretty and they may be numerically tied with the Green Bay Packers, but thanks to that September victory over the green and gold nemesis; the Bears are alone in first in the NFC North. In November. Heading into a week that sees them playing a team down its top two quarterbacks and (potentially) all-Universe left tackle. Yes, thanks to Fortuna's Wheel or witchcraft or whatnot, the Ursa Chicagos are in first and looking to move their record to 7-3 against the desperate, battered and vulnerable Miami Dolphins in a Thursday night game.

In any case, I know it's a little late but let's breakdown the Bears-Vikings game. There'll be a full preview up tomorrow morning for the Chicago-'Phins game that night, spoiler alert: Bears should win, but Miami's defense is gonna sack Cutler. A LOT.

A Tale of Two QBs: Cutler vs Favre

First of all: Cutler had a great and very opportunistic game. Totally capitalized on Vikings turnovers and exceptional field position -particularly in the second half. Cutler was patient and downright elusive in the pocket at times, whilst checking down his receivers and finding the open man. Astonishingly, the open man on two of Cutler's touchdown passes was the tight end. Greg Olsen reeled one in on Cutler's most impressive pass of the day and often overlooked pine rider, Kellen Davis reeled in a fourth quarter "tuddie" to cinch the win. Cutler really got the entire receiving squad, distributing the pigskin to nine different Bears for 22 receptions on 35 attempts. What did Cutler do not so well? There was that terrible interception Cutler gift-wrapped to Hussain Abdullah in the Vikings endzone, which is a real "no-no." Other than that, not too much went bad for Cutler. The Vikings flaccid pass rush only got to him once and the Bears receivers were clicking.

Brett Favre? Oh, Brett Favre. How the mighty have aged, not matured and struggled. You're creaky, you're a relic, you're a pic message sending disaster of a womanizer and most gallingly, for Vikings fans, you're no longer a winner. Favre had one incredible, looks-oh-so-easy, 53-yard touchdown pass on the day. Beyond that? He looked like a haggard, down-on-his-luck quarterback who is a few seasons past when retirement seemed like a good idea. Three interceptions, one touchdown, 18 completions, on 31 attempts and a pathetic 170 yards of passing. Sheesh. Minnesota's offense at this point seems so lost and downright moribund that I feel very sorry for the freakish talents of Adrian Peterson being wasted in this lost season for the Norsemen.

The Vikings all season long have -with a depleted wide receiving corps- anticipated this magical continuation of Favre's amazing and age-defying 2009 season. It ain't happening. Hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart and soften up the defenses and let ol' number four pick and choose his passing moments. Of course, this is impossible with the late date and utter lack of control and/or accountability with Minnesota right now; but, y'know, that's what they should do. [Said the "football" "expert" -Ed.] In any case, the Bears won.

But There Were Still Issues ... Yes, Even in Victory

I'm only going to complain about the Bears lack of a running game/capable offensive line this week. The defense delivered many opportunities and Cutler did his job and well, whining about Mike Martz is just pointless at this point. Still:

Dear Bears Offensive Line,
The Vikings are terrible along the trenches this year. Yet, you still couldn't get a semblance of a marginally "good" running game going. Booo. Boo. BOOOOOO, on all of you. The longest run of the day? A 25-yard scamper from Cutler. The granite-footed trebuchet. The two still-very-in-their-prime running backs? A total of 102 yards on 32 carries for an average of a dumbfounding 3.2 yards per carry. This will not work. This will not work on days when Cutler struggles or the receivers have a case of the "dropsies" or if the Bears happen to face a murderous pass-rush in the playoffs, say, The New York Giants? No. Bears, I implore you, get a consistent running game.

Sincerely,
Footballic Ramblings

Preview coming tomorrow for Miami, folks. Thanks for reading.