Bears Buzz is the new segment which provides insight, analysis and below-the-belt shots at Chicago's opponents throughout the year. Come on a journey, won't you...
After being spotted with a 13-0 lead, the Seattle Seahawks were reminiscent of the staggering drunk girl at last call. Their jerseys made them unwatchable, but you couldn't help but to keep your eyes on them as you awaited their next ill-fated step toward failure. LOL at Seneca Wallance for thinking he was back at Iowa State during the first half. LOL louder at T.J. Houshmandzadeh who talked like Chad Ochocinco on Wednesday and played like he was worth ochenta y cinco centavos on Sunday. (That's 85 cents for those of you who are not Spanish speaking members of the TBDS community.) Houshletdadogsout showed why Jerry Angelo he did not want to sign a No. 2 receiver to a contract worthy of a No. 1 guy. That's what he wanted to do all along, right?
Where are the Jay Cutler jersey burners now? Oh, right. Still in Denver. Gotcha. I didn't want to give you an "I told you so" speech, but whenever someone starts a sentence like that you know you're going to get one anyway. It doesn't take a Harvard Law degree to figure out that Cutler was going to be more like the guy who helped win the Bears' Week 2 match-up against the Steelers than the guy who played like he and Rex Grossman played life swap.
My only mistake might have been trusting numbers too much not to start Cutler on my fantasy team. The Seahawks defense looked like a statistical inpenetrable wall against the pass. A closer look would have revealed that the QBs they faced were St. Louis' Marc Bulger and San Francisco's Shawn Hill. It's not like they went up against Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. If anything, Cutler's Week 3 performance might serve as a boost to quarterbacks of the NFC West. I'm sure Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin are licking their chops awaiting their shot at Seattle's shoddy secondary.
And to think Cutler has yet to be spectacular in Chicago. This week he threw for 247 yards, which ranked 13th among starting quarterbacks and has yet to throw for 300 yards. But what he has lacked in eye-popping numbers, Cutler made up in accuracy, perserverence and a will to win. Something that hasn't been found in a Chicago quarterback since
Oh, and if you're looking ahead in the schedule, Cutler and the Bears' next five opponents rank in the bottom half of the league's defensive standings in regard to passing yards per game allowed and total passing yards. Arizona, Detroit and Cleveland rank 19th, 28th and 31st in points per game allowed.
There's no way Cutler finds his way on my fantasy team's bench during that stretch.
Matt Forte picked up 106 yards of total offense Sunday as he produced his first double-digit fantasy week of the season.
It's still not good enough. Especially for a guy who was a consensus top-5 fantasy pick.
The Bears are no longer the team that comes running off the bus. With Cutler under center, the Bears have an added dimension to an offense that has been quite offensive to the eyes in recent years. Having Cutler on the team is a gift and a curse of sorts to Forte.
No longer does the second-year back out of Tulane have to carry the bulk of the offense as he is no longer the focal point of the team's offense. However, team's are still treating him that way -- and that is one of the reasons Cutler can spread the ball around to Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, Greg Olson and others.
But could Forte be fighting through a sophomore slump?
Sure. It's possible. But the reason could be that teams are so focused on stopping him, they passing offense is getting away by sneaking past a bunch of drawn-in defenders. Forte should bounce back against the Detroit Lions next week, a team that won its first game since December 2007 and allowed Forte to rush for 126 yards and a touchdown in the last match-up between the two bitter NFC North rivals.
In the end, the Bears and their fans don't care about putting up numbers as the team is more concerned with putting up letters. Preferably, 'W's.
0 comments:
Post a Comment