Bears Drop Home Opener

The Bears fall short again in a game they had control of before a defensive collapse. Brian Griese, a journeyman quarterback, lit up the Bears' D with two drives at the end of regulation to tie the game. A series of unfortunate mishaps later, the Bears are left sulking over another one that got away.

This game reminded me of the Bears' defense last year. It was a defense that led the league in forcing three-and-outs but also gave up a ton of points in the clutch, often costing the Bears the game.

This night-and-day defense needs to be ironed out, and in a hurry. The NFC looks stronger than it has in years and the Bears' schedule doesn’t get any easier, with Philly coming up next week in prime time.

The sad part is that the Bears actually looked good for most of the second half. The offense was clicking and the defense had shut down the Bucs' run game

The Good

After getting booed by the Soldier Field crowd Kyle Orton turned it up in the second half, stretching the Bears' offense down the field. He still needs to work on his accuracy—Brandon Lloyd had to make some adjustments just to make the catch—but all in all it was an impressive performance.

If he can learn to lead his receivers to give them an advantage after they catch the ball, the Bears will really start scoring points.

The Bad

On top of the ease with which the Bears' defense gave up the game, I saw at least four key Bears players either hobble off the field or be tended to during an injury timeout.

Tillman, Ogunleye, Vasher, and Harris all had moments where they were grimacing more than usual. They all played the duration of the game, but I worry about the health of the Bears' defense, among other things.

The Ugly

Rashied Davis dropping another important pass. Davis was a favorite target for Orton in the preseason, but now he looks to be on the verge of falling through the bottom of the depth chart.  

The Difference

Brian Griese was the difference this week. The middle of the Bears' defense was picked apart and the no-huddle tired the front-four to a point where they were barely getting any jump off the snap. Griese was cool under pressure and didn’t wallow after the Bears went up by 10 points with a little over three minutes to go in the game.

An interesting note is that even without Devin Hester in the lineup, the Bears still won the battle of field position. Special teams coach Dave Toub deserves a lot of credit for running a tight ship and keeping his unit tops in the league for the past two years.

I have to mention Matt Forte. What a performer this young man is turning out to be. While he didn’t gain 100 yards on the ground, he did have a touchdown and 150 all-purpose yards.

Forte could turn out to be a matchup nightmare for the Bears' opponents. He worked hard for his rushing yards all day and gave Orton a good option for the check down pass. I’m really excited about this rookie, as he can bring the stability to the backfield that the Bears missed since letting go of Thomas Jones.