Chicago Bears Week 2

The Bears head to Carolina 1-0 which only about 0.0403% of sports writers predicted would happen when the NFL schedule was released this past spring.

Lovie Smith has said over and over again that the Bears are a rushing team first. That’s what they’ll have to do to keep the Panthers offense off the field. Matt Forte passed his first NFL test with flying colors and Kevin Jones showed promise as the change of pace back. Frankly I’m hoping that Forte and Jones remain the Bears one-two running attack this season to keep Adrian Petersen and Garret Wolfe on Special Teams where they have shown to have the biggest impact.

Offense: Jake Delhomme is healthy this year and when he is the Panthers are a dangerous team even without their star wide out Steve Smith. If Delhomme gets into a rhythm it’ll be a long day for the Bears secondary. The two headed running attack of the Panthers could wear out the Bears Defense if not careful.  The Bears need to build on their success from Week 1 and run the ball. Doing that will allow Kyle Orton to take deep drops and hopefully take shots down field. Kyle Orton, when asked, has said that he is not offended with being called a “game manager”, which means he’s comfortable with his role of limiting the potential for mistakes on offense while taking shots down the field when necessary. Against the Colts Orton led an offense that did exactly what it said it would do and that’s establish the run to setup the pass.  

Defense: I look for the Bears to put 8 men in the box and show different coverage packages to throw the Panthers off. Tommie Harris will most likely face double teams all game which means Dusty Dvoracek will need to get the initial push and stop the Panthers run game.

Special Teams: Predicting how teams will deal with Devin Hester is as about as easy as predicting the weather. Bottom line, if Hester gets the ball in space the Bears will get good borderline great field position.

Player to watch: Julius Peppers. The Pro Bowl Defensive End had a relatively down year in 2007 but remains amongst the elite pass rushes in the NFL. Containing him will be key for the Bears offense. A vote of confidence for the Bears Offensive Line is the way they handled another elite pass rusher in Indianapolis Colts Defensive End Dwight Freeney. The resigning of veteran Fred Miller was a smart move which allows for more of a rotation to keep the O-line fresh.

Sleeper: Rashied Davis. Davis was a favorite target for Kyle Orton during the pre-season so look for him to break out in this Sunday’s game. The Panthers secondary isn’t without it’s flaws and should allow the versatile Davis to find seams and routes underneath the safeties.

The Bears go into the game with a huge chip on their shoulder. Not only to make up for a lackluster 2007 but also to avenge a demoralizing loss the last time the Bears faced the Panthers in the 2006 playoffs. If the Bears play to their potential then theirs no reason they don’t walk away with a win.