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Bears Sat Dec 04 2010

Footballic Ramblings: Bears Visit Motown

Footballic_Ramblings2.jpgLovie's boys head east to that forgotten metropolis of Detroit. Yes the home of RoboCop and Megatron hosts the Chicago Bears in a divisional match that the Bears need to win to keep the lurking Green Bay Packers at bay. So what can you expect? Will Megatron have his revenge? Will Jay Cutler be frowning? Will Mike Martz present another very balanced offensive game plan? Read on.

Megatron. Revenge of the Fallen

Why Calvin Johnson hasn't secured a cameo in any of Michael Bay's Transformer flicks is beyond me. Still, will the galaxy-destroying force of offensive fury get loose against the always hangin-on-by-a-thread Bears secondary? We all remember the Bears escape act in Week One but here's video of the catch from that fateful day.

So will Megatron go off? Alas, probably not. Drew Stanton (former Michigan State qb/third-stringer) is getting the start thanks to dinged-up Shaun Hill and broken down Matthew Stafford not being able to make the game. Stanton has seen limited action this season, but if there's any chance of him delivering the ball to Calvin Johnson, Johnson is likely to douse the Bears secondary with gas as he's lighting a match and catching the ball with one hand. The Motown Leos have an abysmal three-headed running attack that will be facing the downright vicious Bears rush defense. Do not expect the Bears defense to do anything fancy. They'll be pressuring the just average Lions o-line with four linemen and playing a soft "zone-ish" back seven (I'm saying Briggs or Urlacher or Harris will be dropping back into coverage as a cherry-picker) to account for Detroit's talented receivers.

On offense is where things could get sticky for the Ursa Chicagos. Detroit's defensive line is very good and could really start handling the Bears o-line if Chicago isn't careful. Detroit is ranked ninth in the league in sacks with 28 for the season and, as we all know, the Bears kryptonite has been Cutler getting pressured, harried and hit repeatedly. This could be one of those games. Five or six Cutler sacks isn't out of the question. The Bears (namely, Mike Martz) could assuage the threat of that potential cranial damage for Cutler by implementing a balanced game plan. Forte has been running the ball rather well as of late and Detroit's run defense is rather lackluster past the front four. Even setting up screens or short slants for Forte or Chester Taylor to get after would greatly reduce the threat of Cutler getting sacked too much.

The Bears Are On At Noon, Any Good Games on Afterwards?

You bet your sweet ass there are some great games on. The late afternoon game offers us the unfortunately underwhelming Dallas-Indianapolis match (why couldn't Tampa Bay-Atlanta get flexed into that spot? I don't know.) BUT the Sunday Night NBC game is Pittsburgh @ Baltimore. Which is, you know, divisional bloodfeud, quality quarterbacks versus quality defenses. Even ESPN's typically tepid Monday Night Game is awesome this week as it must be imaginary sweeps week or something for football schedulers: New York Jets @ New England Patriots. Exciting football watching. Get your holiday shopping done early, folks.

 
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