Bears scouting report

JBlood

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
3,159
Reaction score
467
Looks to be the usual tough, close game:

I'm going with Packers 17 Bears 13

Chicago Bears' Jay Cutler picks up game to complement stout defense

By Pete Dougherty[email protected] • September 21, 2010




Following is a scouting report on the Chicago Bears based on interviews with several NFL scouts who have seen them play live or on videotape this season:





Additional information
(Links will open in a new window)
This week's featured player photo gallery: Donald Driver.
Sign up for Green Bay Packers text alerts.
♦ Passing offense: New offensive coordinator Mike Martz is the toast of Chicago after the Bears improved to 2-0 with a 27-20 win at Dallas last week. It’s early, but Martz seems to be meshing well with Jay Cutler, who played like a franchise quarterback against the Cowboys and after two games has the NFL’s top passer rating (121.2 points). After throwing an NFL-high 26 interceptions last season, Cutler has taken much better care of the ball so far this year (five touchdown passes, one interception), which was Martz’s mission No. 1. “It seems like a pretty good fit because Cutler likes to throw the football,” one scout said. “The Cowboys were banking on that if you pressure him like the Lions did (in the opener) he’s going to throw it to you. The Cowboys put pressure on him and he didn’t make any mistakes.” The Bears don’t have marquee playmakers, but they have the speed at receiver that Martz covets for his downfield routes and a complete halfback in Matt Forte. Forte has a team-high 12 catches, including an 89-yard touchdown on a screen against Detroit in the opener. Johnny Knox (seven catches, 19.7-yard average) and Devin Hester (five catches, 18.8-yard average) are deep threats. Earl Bennett, a possession receiver who played with Cutler in college at Vanderbilt, was the No. 3 receiver against Dallas, ahead of Devin Aromashodu. “Those guys have speed,” a scout said. “The Cowboys made them look much better than they are, but those guys made plays down the field. And you have to deal with the runner, you have to deal with Matt Forte coming out of the backfield catching balls, catching screens.”

♦ Running offense: The Bears are average at best on the offensive line, though they made a key move last week when left tackle Chris Williams, their best lineman, went down because of a hamstring injury in the first quarter. They replaced him with Kevin Shaffer, but Shaffer played right tackle and Frank Omiyale moved from right tackle to the left side. The line held up surprisingly well. “Omiyale was terrible against the Lions (in the opener),” another scout said. “I thought he was their worst player (in the opener), but he battled his (butt) off on the left side and was actually better.” Forte was a major disappointment last year when he got out of shape in the offseason and then sustained a hamstring injury that never healed. But he’s playing even better now than in his rookie season in ‘08, when he rushed for 1,238 yards and caught 63 passes. Chester Taylor, the former Vikings third-down back, also is a complete player, and both backs are good at making dump-off passes an extension of the run game. “When those routes are going down the field, all of a sudden (Cutler) is throwing the ball to Forte in the flat or throwing a screen, and the next thing you know it’s a 15-, 16-yard gain,” a scout said.

Running defense: At least through two weeks, the Bears look more like the defense that was one of the league’s best in the middle 2000s, as opposed to last year, when Chicago finished No. 17 in yards allowed and tied for No. 21 in points allowed. Last week, Dallas halfbacks Marion Barber and Felix Jones combined for only 38 yards rushing on 18 carries. The biggest reason the run defense is better is the return of middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, who is playing at a high level after he missed basically all of last season because of a broken wrist sustained in the opener. Urlacher and Lance Briggs are two of the best linebackers in the league. “Where (Briggs) has been real effective is blitzing, not so much pressure on the quarterback but run blitzing,” one scout said. “Against the Lions he had a tackle for a loss on a run blitz, same against the Cowboys.” Defensive tackle Tommie Harris is active though at age 27 and with a history of knee problems he’s no longer the playmaker he was early in his career.

♦ Passing defense: The Bears paid a fortune ($42 million guaranteed on a six-year contract) in free agency for Julius Peppers, and he’s been the same player he was in Carolina. When he gets after it, he can be a dominating pass rusher, though he tends to take plays off also. He knocked Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford out of the opener with a hard sack, and had a hit on Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo last week. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli usually lines up Peppers on the weak side, opposite the tight end. He’s a player offenses have to account for, so even when he’s not getting sacks he’s helping teammates. Mark Anderson, who had 12 sacks as a rookie in 2006 but only 9 ½ in the three seasons thereafter, plays opposite Peppers and is a smaller end (6-4, 225). “That front seven is pretty darn good,” a scout said. “They’re not a big group, but they’re active. They gave the Cowboys a lot of problems.” The Bears still play the Tampa Cover 2 defense, though like most teams in that scheme they mix in plenty of one-deep safety looks on early downs. Their secondary is the weak link in the defense. Safety Daniel Manning probably is their best defensive back. Cornerback Charles Tillman specializes in stripping the ball from receivers after the catch, and nickel back D.J. Moore, a second-year pro, had two interceptions against the Cowboys.

♦ Special teams: Robbie Gould is one of the best kickers in the NFL – he’s made 86.2 percent of his field goals in four-plus NFL seasons and is 4-for-4 this year. Brad Maynard, 36 and a 10-year pro, is an excellent placement punter with a career gross average of 42.0 yards and net of 36.6 yards. Hester still returns punts, but he hasn’t been nearly as dangerous since becoming a starting receiver in 2008. After taking back seven punts for touchdowns in 2006 and ’07 combined, he has none since and is averaging 2.0 yards on six returns this season.
 

Mack_20

Cheesehead
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
366
Reaction score
7
Location
Menomonie, WI
The Bears look to have figured it out finally. Hopefully Cutler plays like he did against the 49ers last year and throws a bunch of stupid balls, but they look pretty tough. I think we will win, but I agree it will be close. Hopefully our O-Line can hold off Peppers and the crew.
 

Packy

Cheesehead
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
78
Reaction score
6
Location
Madison, WI
This game is going to be fun. Chicago Vs Green Bay. The team that makes the fewest mistakes wins this one. I say Packers have more weapons and are less mistake prone so they win.

28-19
 

dansz15

Cheesehead
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
600
Reaction score
14
Location
Hershey, PA
The Bears look to have figured it out finally. Hopefully Cutler plays like he did against the 49ers last year and throws a bunch of stupid balls, but they look pretty tough. I think we will win, but I agree it will be close. Hopefully our O-Line can hold off Peppers and the crew.

Cutler plays awful under pressure. Packers and their all over the field blitzing will not let Cutler get comfortable. When he opened up the game against Dallas, Ware stopped blitzing.

Pepper got his big contract, I think he has a ton of talent but got the money he wants so he is content playing like any other DE (see Haynesworth).

Bears played Detroit who has gotten better but still not elite, and Dallas, a team which I personally think is one of the bottom 10 teams in the league after watching them play. They get lucky being America's team, much more hype than they'd ever deserve. I wouldn't be surprised if GB put up 35 points against the Bears and won by a margin of 14-21 points.
 

cantstop12to85

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
142
Reaction score
2
Location
Virginia
Cutler plays awful under pressure. Packers and their all over the field blitzing will not let Cutler get comfortable. When he opened up the game against Dallas, Ware stopped blitzing.

Pepper got his big contract, I think he has a ton of talent but got the money he wants so he is content playing like any other DE (see Haynesworth).

Bears played Detroit who has gotten better but still not elite, and Dallas, a team which I personally think is one of the bottom 10 teams in the league after watching them play. They get lucky being America's team, much more hype than they'd ever deserve. I wouldn't be surprised if GB put up 35 points against the Bears and won by a margin of 14-21 points.

I agree the Bears have had two easy victories, one that should not have counted. I think we can take them easily but that it will be close because of the rivalry settings of the game. Hopefully we can hurt Urlacher's wrist again that would reaaaly throw them out of contention. We're also battling for a division lead in this game so hopefully we bring everything that we have to the field. Which i feel like has yet to happen in both games, but on monday night i feel like the engine that is the Packers may be firing on all cylinders (even our run game that has a lot of weight on its shoulders).
 

ivo610

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
16,588
Reaction score
2,250
Location
Madison
Its going to all come together finally for the Pack. Rodgers has a huge night.
 
OP
OP
JBlood

JBlood

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
3,159
Reaction score
467
Its going to all come together finally for the Pack. Rodgers has a huge night.

A lot depends on how Clifton/Bulaga do against Peppers. If Rogers has time, he'll destroy the Bears secondary.
 

turbo69

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 22, 2010
Messages
702
Reaction score
39
Location
Texas
What is there to scout?

Cutler cant throw to a bear
Hester cant return Kick Offs or catches
Dont worry

WE GOT THIS

3-0 BABY!

Its not like we just got done spanking any elite teams. We just beat the Bills and Philly. I am worried about this game a little bit. Although its only the 3rd game alot is on the line and its on the big stage too. All of the pressure is on the Pack because we are suppose to win this game. Like someone mentioned already. The team that takes care of the ball is going to win it. Hopefully we will take care of the ball. The keys for us to win this game are.

+ 1 on the turnovers
Jordy Nelson gets the ball out past the 30 consistantly.
Our running game improves.
Rodgers has no interceptions.
Matthews shoves Cutlers face into the turf at least twice. (preferably 4 times)
 

John

Cheesehead
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
68
Reaction score
3
Location
Gainesville, Georgia
Personally I think baby Jay is a choke artist and a mental midget. We just have to get into his head and he'll go all "gunslinger" and starting slinging the ball to green and gold jerseys.
 

dansz15

Cheesehead
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
600
Reaction score
14
Location
Hershey, PA
Haha mental midget... Couldn't agree more. Gotta love how people jump on his banwagon when he plays two bottom 10 defenses weeks 1 and 2. If he tears it up this week, maybe we'll listen. Unitl then he is still unproven.
 

packerbob

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 28, 2009
Messages
130
Reaction score
10
I could come up with the company line and say the Packers will win because the Bears SUCK. But looking at this game objectively it will come down to the quarterback with the hot hand. A lot of that will be determined by who is applying the most pass rush. I think both teams run games will be nuetralized. I'm concerned that the Packers have only Mathews who can get to the quarterback while the Bears have Peppers, Harris and Urlacker(blitzing). It seems like we're outnumbered there. So the key is for Rodgers to get rid of the ball quickly and to avoid turnovers(not just interceptions but fumbles) In order for the Packers to get the victory I think Cutler has to throw 2 or more picks. If Cutler is hot the Bears win. I'm predicting a Packer win because I think Woodson and Collins will each get a pick and Rodgers will avoid the big mistake.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top