Heading into Philadelphia this week Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, and after winning three of their last four games the Chicago Bears offense is riding high as of now. However, offensively the Bears are not as equipped to do any damage as last weeks opponent.
Quarterback: Jay Cutler
Jay Cutler is very inconsistent, but he has his moments of brilliance then he can have his moments of pure disappointment. This season he has 1702 yards passing, 9 touchdown passes, but his inconsistency shows in throwing 6 interceptions. He is also completing fewer than 60% of his passes, which should call for putting pressure on him causing him to make quick decisions.
Cutler isn’t very mobile, so when pressure comes, you can basically count on a sack or a mistake on his part. With the great pass rush that the Eagles have you can bet Trent Cole and Jason Babin will be licking their chops to rush Cutler. Not only should they try to get to him, but once they get there, getting the ball out is just as important.
Cutler is a mistake ready to happen, if the Eagles defense plays up to its potential.
Running Backs: Matt Forte and Marion Barber
The Bears have a predominantly one running back system with Matt Forte getting most of the carries; however, Marion Barber is the short down and goal line back accounting for 3 touchdowns on 23 carries. Forte is having a great year so far. It’s similar to the achievement he had 
his outstanding rookie season. He’s already gained 672 yards rushing on 124 carries. He’s a big back who is very strong and deceptively quick with big play speed.
Forte is as good of a receiver as he is a rusher. The running back breaks a lot of tackles and it won’t be an easy job to get him on the ground in the open field. He is the key to the Bears offensive attack. Forte is a workhorse who gives teams a handful on a weekly basis. With the Eagles poor rushing defense you could see Forte running a lot in this game.
The key to stopping the Bears is stopping Forte.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Roy Williams, Dane Sanzenbacher, and Kellen Davis
The phrase that describes the receiving core for the Bears is Non-Existent. They are barely noticeable when stepping on the field. The Eagles secondary should not have any problems containing them; however, the linebackers will have a workout though. Running Back Matt Forte is also leading the team in receptions and reception yards. Devin Hester and Johnny Knox are down field threats, but with three all pro corners they should be able to hold them under wraps pretty easily.
Overall the Bears offense is an up and down group with many challenges. I envision the Eagles being able to shut them down pretty easily because there is only one true weapon on the team and that is Matt Forte. You lock him down you kock down the entire offense.
No doubt, I love when we kock down opposing offenses!
I agree with your Analysis on this Bears offense, Stop Forte and stop the Bears, but remember in last year’s contest many of us said the same thing and the Eagles Defense made Cutler look like Joe Montana as he threw for 4 TD’s
This Bears OL is about the weakest Pass-Blocking OL the Eagles will face and they really need to get to Cutler early and often and hit him around and he will fold like a cheap “Men’s Warehouse Suit”..
The best way to stop Forte is for the offense to put up points against the Bears defense and make Cutler beat us. For my money Forte is the best all around back in the NFL hes that good. To think our defense can shut him down is highly unlikely. I would put my high paid CBs on an island and really focus all my resources on Forte and take my chances. I trust my pass rush and DBs for Cutler not to have a repeat performance from last year. This Chicago team IMO is the toughest matchup for us the rest of the year. Some may say NE but atleast their defense stinks.
One peice I think people are ignoring is that Jay Cutler will look to throw at our weaknesses so we’ll see if these safties are ready for real.
I think the Bears game plan will be to run and screen with Forte with clock controlled possessions and utilize roy Williams by putting him in the slot to challenge our Safeties.
While I think we can win it, this game might not be a gimme.
If the Bears can get a lead and control the clock while exploiting the safeties, we can be in for a long night.
But, this is prime time and this can be the statement game that will put the league on notice if The Eagles can put together another big win.
Mike Martz against Juan Castillo.
We’ll see.
Well Songs – a good effort there – I think any QB will look at our weakness – I think if Williams goes into the slot he will meet #24 and they will be good friends for most of the night – Asante and DRC will take the outsides – who is the Bears TE this year – Olsen always had good games against us –
I think you are correct tha the Bears will try to use Forte as a rcvr and hope he can break a tackle or two and turn a short pass into something big – I think a key stat will be how many missed tackles the eagles have –
Eagles always seem to dial up a clunker against the Bears – we used to make Grossman look like he belonged in the NFL (totally acceptable to dog a rivals players) when he was with Bears –
@Songs, that’s what I’d love to see Cutler do…he will be under consistent pressure from the D Line, he’ll make mistakes…The constant we’ve seen from the defense all season is the front four…I expect the Cutler will see a lot of Babin, Cole, and Jenkins…only concern I have for Monday, is the match up with Forte coming out of the backfield.
Can we give the LBs some help with Forte? Since the Bears WRs are not that great, then DRC and Assante should be able to man up against them. Nnamdi can spy the RB. Wherever Forte goes, he goes.
Bugs – the one simple thing is that Martz rarely uses the tightend. So I don’t know that you really need a CB to spy a RB… I think we should see what Chaney and Rolle can do on their own before we assume they need help. The DL has the first resonsibility when it comes to forte. I do think we should keep a safety in the box – preferably Coleman But selfishly I’d love to see Jarrett used for that… (long shot).
one thing to remember about the Bears and last year’s game against them is that we didnt have any of best corners in that game… No Asante, we didnt have Nnamdi or Cromartie… We also arent playing in that swamp of a stadium this year either..
they play a cover 2 just like the Cowboys did the past game, but the Bears have better linebackers patrolling the middle of the field……
we should be able to score… They need to focus on Forte and make sure he does nothing or that run game will lead to other problems for us….
Eagles should win if they maintain the focus they had last sunday night
Sounds good to me Schill, but I just loved the idea of Nnamdi completely taking Forte outta the game. I did like what I saw from the LBs last week. Very concerned about screens with the aggressive push of the DL. Forte is nasty on screens. Dude only needs a tiny bit of space.
Nnamdi is not a sure enough tackler to be on Forte….
I would have a DCR or LB Rolle follow Forte everywhere he goes, He will be in motion, or even lined up as a WR in many formations,, SOmeone who can tackle needs to stay with him all over the field.. Maybe ASMO can and let DCR play the WR since the Bears WR’s are not all that threatening though R Williams and J Knox have had good games in the past versus the Eagles.. A under the radar WR in Dane Sanzebacher who at 5-11 180 lbs is their poor mans version of a Wes Welker, lines up in the slot, runs a lot of slants,bubble routes and is utilized mostly on 3rd Downs .. Of his 19 Receptions, 10 have gone for 1st Downs and he has 3 TD’s..
I would line up in a nickel package to start with Asnate and DCR as the CB – #24 is going to be the old fashioned ‘Rover’ like Woodsen – if the Bears have 3 WRs set go dime – have Hansen cover the slot – ASMO job will be to try and remove Forte as an option on pass- this means one of the safteies (Coleman I think) will have to be up to be the #8 in the box – pressure Cutler – take away Forte – 8 men in the box to protect against the run………. means the CBs will be man coverage –
the 8 up against the run would be 4 DL, 2 LBs, ASMO and the safety if that wasn’t clear)
one thing to keep in mind is that Forte moves in motion and even lines up wide in the slot quite a bit and when he does, obviously the Bears are not going to run the ball.. Also remember that the Bears OC Mike Martz like Coach AR is
also a “passaholic”, So don’t expect the Bears t line up with a traditional 2 back set and hand the ball to Forte 25-30 times (Which would probably be the smart thing to do, but Martz has an ego too and will want to show a NAtional TV audience how smart he is to devise a great game plan to beat the Eagles Secondary.. Martz wants another shot at HC and has too much self-pride to worry about having a Game plan simply to grind it out and win.. He likes to win while looking good and smart… (sounds like Coach AR doesn’t it)
For the Record,
When checking on the Bears Stats so far this Season, which may surprise some of you.. I also forgot to mention that MArion Barber is Forte’s back-up and sometimes you will even see both of them out there at the same time where Forte lines up wide (as a decoy) and they hand the ball off to Barber
424 Total Offensive Plays
168 Rushes (40% of plays called)
253 Pass Attempts with 21 Sacks allowed (60% of plays called)
This is why I like ASMO moving with Forte – once he goes in motion – the BEars are going to pass – if they use two backs – and leave Barber in the backfield and forte out wide – Coleman moves up –
should be a nice chess match
Eagles just need to protect the ball and they win.. This Bear Defense is not as strong as previous seasons
Bears are randked 20th Overall and allowing 21.5 pts per game
109 Yards Rushing per game and 272 Yards thru the air… Their Safety play is very suspect and their LB’s have lost a 1/2 step
In Comparison , the EAgles Defense is ranked 10th Overall allowing 21 points per game but only 212 yards thru the air and 118 yards Rushing
The Key is Turnovers
Bears have 12 Takeaways and only 8 Turnovers for a + 4 Turnover
Eagles have 10 Takeaways but 17 Turnovers for a – 7 Turnover
Bears have 15 Sacks (all from DL and don’t blitz often)
Eagles have 22 Sacks (from DL and don’t blitz often any longer)
If we can stop the run, & protect the ball, I see no reason, we don’t win this by at least 3 TD’s. Run Shady, screen pass, play action Vick. 7 sacks for D-line. 2 picks, 1 for Asomugha, 1 for TD, by DRC.
37-14 Birds.