Three ways the Bears beat the Redskins

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Chicago Bears (5-7) will host the Washington Redskins (5-7) this Sunday in Soldier Field, where the home team has struggled. Both teams will be looking to stay relevant in the playoff hunt in this match up between NFC opponents.

Here are three ways the Bears come out with their sixth win of the season.

    1.  End drives with touchdowns: In last week’s loss to the 49ers the Bears only scored two rushing touchdowns and the rest field goals. The Bears need to capitalize on good starting field position and put the ball in the end zone. This is something that this Bears offense has struggled to do all season. Offensive coordinator Adam Gase needs to start the game out aggressive and get this offense in a good rhythm. Throughout the entire season this offense has stalled when reaching the red zone and with only four games left in the season the offense has to show it can get touchdowns and not settle for field goals.

     2. Utilize the Passing Game: It’s time to start passing the ball. The Bears did a great job last week running the ball, but never established any kind of passing game. Jay Cutler and his receivers need to get in sync early. If Cutler gets wide receiver Eddie Royal back this will help in third down situations and provide a weapon that can attack the middle of the field. The Redskins will try and stack the box when the Bears run so the receivers and Cutler need to be ready to make some plays. Play action should be a big part of the game for the Bears and could be a good opportunity to throw the deep ball to Alshon Jeffrey.

     3. Finish game strong defensively: The Bears defense in last week’s loss to the 49ers played well for three quarters, but had huge breakdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Bears defensive allowed two long touchdowns in critical moments to the 49ers. When the game is close which it most likely will, the Bears need to stay disciplined and stay on their assignments. Especially with a play maker like Desean Jackson, who can score at any time when he has the ball in his hands.

Credit to: Zimbio.com

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Bears lose must win game to 49ers

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Bears playoff chances are slim to none with today’s disappointing 26-20 overtime loss to the 49ers.

At the end of regulation Robbie Gould missed a game winning 35-yard field goal. If Gould would have made the chip shot, the Bears would be sitting at 6-6 and in great position for a wildcard spot. Instead the Bears are now 5-7 and questions remain on all sides of the ball.

What happened? – The Bears offense came out flat against a 49ers defense that was ranked in the lower part of the league in all defensive categories.

It seemed today that Jay Cutler wasn’t prepared for the 49ers defense. Multiple times throughout the game Cutler waited for the play clock to wind down before audibling the play, putting the offense in bad situations. Usually Cutler gets his offensive to the line of scrimmage, reads the defense and gives the team plenty of time to adjust to an audible.

That didn’t happen today.

When Cutler threw the pick six, he audibled the original play and gave the 49ers an easy six points.

Cutler also had plenty of overthrown and inaccurate balls, and never established any kind of rhythm with any of his receivers. A reason for lack of rhythm on the offense could be the questionable play calling by Adam Gase. The offense didn't use a lot of play action despite committing to the run early on in the game.

Gase loves to call screen plays and throw towards the sidelines, but wont attack the middle of the field with a slant, in, or post route. The offensive at times becomes repetitive and predictable.

The Bears didn’t lose the game solely because of their offense, their defense collapsed at the end of the game as well.

The defense did a great job of forcing three-and-outs against the 49ers offense the whole game, but when it came to crunch time, the Bears couldn't make enough plays to win.

The Bears gave up a 44-yard touchdown run to Blaine Gabbert to tie the game at 20 in the fourth quarter. Then gave up a 71-yard touchdown bomb to Torrey Smith in overtime.

Special Teams had a disappointing day too, with Gould missing two field goals.

Now What: The Bears lost another game they should have won, failed to make it to .500 and will most likely miss the playoffs again.

The Bears host the Washington Redskins next week in Soldier Field.

Wounded Bears Play Broncos Competitive To The End

WAUKEGAN, Illinois -- The Bears missed opportunities in the red zone, left Broncos players wide open, but still played competitive for all four quarters.

John Fox’s old team came into Soldier Field with the number one ranked defense in the NFL and with the Bears missing three of their starters on offense, the home team only got in the end zone once.  

The competitive Bears scored a touchdown on the last drive of the game and were a two-point conversion away from sending the game into overtime, but were stopped short of the end zone.

Despite questionable play calling, like going for it on fourth down instead of taking a field goal, a bad interception by Jay Cutler, or blowing assignments in pass coverage; the Bears had the game in their hands.

For you Bears fans who gave up on the season after seeing the Bears lose another close game, don’t give up so soon. The Bears still competed with the number one ranked defense without three starters on offense, running back Matt Forte, and receivers Alshon Jeffrey and Eddie Royal.

The Bears have shown each week that they are one tough team to take down. Who knows how the game would have turned out having Forte, Jeffrey, or Royal. 

Even with a lack of weapons the Bears still got in the red zone five times, settling for three field goals and the one touchdown.

There are some positives that came out of the loss today. The main one being that the Bears didn’t commit a penalty. All the credit goes to the coaches on that one. How many times have Bears drives come to a stop for an unnecessary penalty? The answer to that question is too many. To see the Bears not commit a holding penalty or have a false start against the best defense is the NFL is definitely a bright spot.

Another positive was that the Bears sacked Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler five times. The Bears were able to get in the young quarterbacks face and force him to make inaccurate throws.

So before you hang up the towel, lets see what the Bears can do, when healthy, against the Packers on Thanksgiving night.

It should be another close game. 

 (credit to gettyimages.com)

Week 9 - Bears vs Chargers game breakdown

Bears vs Chargers, keys to the game

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Bears (2-5) will hit the road to play their first game under the lights on Monday Night Football against the Chargers (2-6). Both teams are struggling right now and will both come out desperate to get their third victory. Here are the keys to the game.

Offense: This week the Bears need to come out hot. That means coming out to start the game passing and not being afraid to take a shot down field. Last week against the Vikings, the Bears wasted almost an entire half of football by being tentative and settling for the short passing again, when they should have thrown the intermediate to long balls. So offensive coordinator Adam Gase has to call an aggressive game, to help keep up with the Chargers high powered offense.

This means that Gase will have to get rookie running back Jeremy Langford involved early in the game. This will be Langford’s first start and with any rookie the first thing you want to do is instill some confidence in him.

Langford is capable of carrying the load in the running game with starting running back Matt Forte being sidelined with an MCL sprain. But it will be interesting to see how Langford responds in the passing game, after last week’s critical drop in the fourth quarter against the Vikings.

The next step in coming out aggressive against the Chargers is getting tight end Martellus Bennett and wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey a hefty amount of plays. Both are huge play makers for the Bears and will be critical if the Bears want to get their third victory.

Bennett has been pretty quite in terms of catches the past few weeks, but the Chargers give up big plays tight ends and Bennett should have a big day.

With Jeffrey back in the starting offense, the Bears have looked his way to make big time plays. Jeffrey will be going against the Chargers corners, who’s heights are 5ft 9’’ in Brandon Flowers and 5ft 10’’ in Jason Verrett, so look for quarterback Jay Cutler to utilize all of Jeffrey’s 6ft 3’’ frame against the smaller corners.

Defense: The Bears defense will have a big challenge on their hands with trying to stop the leagues leading passer in Philip Rivers. Rivers though will be without his leading receiver, Kennan Allen who suffered a kidney injury in last weeks’ loss to the Ravens.

The defense will have to apply pressure throughout the entire game. The Chargers have had injuries on the offensive line and without Allen, this is a perfect opportunity for the Bears defense to get in Rivers’ face and disrupt his rhythm with his receivers. Rivers also has a tendency to hold the ball for a longer time for routes to develop downfield and because of this he has been sacked 19 times on the season. So if the Bears secondary can hold up, this should give the pass rushers some opportunities to sack Rivers and hopefully create turnovers.

Cornerback Kyle Fuller got his first interception of the season last week against the Vikings. Hopefully this gave the former first round pick some confidence and something he can build off for the rest of the season. If the Bears can create a turnover on the Chargers high powered offense, that has a -6 turnover ratio, this will be a huge positive for the Bears defense.

Another thing to watch for is how the Bears safeties play. Rookie free safety Adrian Amos is emerging as a consistent player for the Bears but it’s the strong safety position that has been struggling. In both loses to the Vikings and the Lions, the strong safety has given up a big play late in the fourth quarter or overtime, that eventually lead to the gaming winning score. So watch to see how veteran Antrel Rolle or rookie Harold Jones-Quartey, play their strong safety position.

Special Teams: After yet another disappointing outing from the special teams unit, with giving up a punt return for a touchdown and missing a field goal against the Vikings, the special teams unit needs to stay disciplined.

The Chargers are ranked dead last in the NFL with only one return yard on punts. So the Bears can’t let their guard down eventhough the Chargers haven’t had much success and with the Bears unit struggling all season, the Chargers could be looking to finally have some positives in the return game.

Final Thoughts: If the game is close like it has been the past two week, lets see if the Bears can finish strong and get the win. The Bears have showed competitiveness all season but now its time to see if the Bears have that killer instinct. If the Bears can show that killer instinct hopefully it can carry over throughout the season.

Bears get the win 31-28.

 (http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/1069741/san-diego-chargers-vs-chicago-bears-device-restrictions-apply)

Week 8 - Vikings vs Bears, game breakdown

Vikings vs Bears, Bears look to rebound

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Bears will host the Viking this Sunday at Soldier Field after coming off their bye week. The Bears lost a heartbreaker in Detroit two weeks ago and will have to put that loss behind them as they face another division opponent.

Here are the keys to the game for the Bears to be successful.

Offensive: First thing the Bears need to do is get running back Matt Forte involved early and often against the Vikings. When the Bears played the Lions, Forte only had 64 rushing yards on the day.

The Vikings have the number six ranked rushing defense in the league but the Bears need to somehow find a way to run the ball effectively against the Vikings. Offensive coordinator Adam Gase is going to have to come up with a game plan that has a good ratio of run and pass plays.

If Forte can’t get it going on the ground, then the Bears need to utilize his pass catching abilities on the Vikings linebackers.

Quarterback Jay Cutler needs to also play big against the Vikings if the Bears want any chance of winning this Sunday. According to ESPN.com, Cutler has 2,606 yards, 23 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 91.5 quarterback rating in 11 games against the Vikings.

So Cutler needs to keep up his consistent play against the Vikings. With all of Cutler’s receivers being healthy this week, Cutler should have a big day. Cutler and wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey will have a complete week to get in sync and the duo should put up good numbers against the Vikings defense.

Defense: Any time the Bears play the Vikings, the number one goal is try and contain running back Adrian Peterson. This could prove to be difficult with linebacker Shea McClellin most likely missing his second straight game.

Peterson is the number four leading rusher in the league and he will be going against a Bears defense that is ranked number 20 in the league in rushing defense. According to ESPN.com, the Bears defense gives up 124.8 yards a game. With injuries on the defensive side of the ball and veteran defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff no longer on the team, the Bears could have a tough task on their hands with Peterson.

The Bears defensive will also have to account for rookie wide receiver Stefon Diggs. He has come out hot the past two weeks and with the Bears’ struggling secondary, Diggs could have a big game.

Special Teams: For the Bears’ special teams unit, they need to limit their penalties. Throughout the season the Bears have had costly mistakes, resulting in bad field position. So look for special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers to prepare his unit this week against the Vikings.

Final score Vikings 20 – Bears 24.