Game 1 will tell us alot

[brian mclaren]

Bengals have a good team and i'm interested how we are going to try to contain aj green and if our line can hod up vs a very tough front line.

 

[RaptorII]

Generally I try not to respond to Brian's incoherent ramblings, but...
I think the biggest thing heading into the season is to see the O being able to pick up the blitz.
For all the good play and good blocking we saw from starters in pre-season, you have to temper that with the knowledge that we have seen a vanilla game-plan from opposing defenses.
They will now be looking to attack much more aggressively.
I have confidence that our coaches have planned well though, and we will be pleasantly surprised when we get our first looks at actual game situations.
Some hiccups will occur, of course, but I feel good about this new-look BEARS team.

 

[NCChiFan]

The our G's vs. their DT's will be worth watching. This is important because our Division is full of pretty good young and solid DT's.

 

[gmalis1]

Flashback to last season. Vaunted new Bears offense. Everyone hoping the offensive line holds up. Offense needs to carry their weight. Blah, blah, blah.

Bears blow out the Colts 41-21. All is right with the world. It's a dawning of a new age for the Bears. Hey, they can actually score points. It won't all be about defense and special teams.

Move forward from there. Bears score 34, 41 and 51 points in wins and start out 7-1. Super Bowl here we come.

Oops, Bears go 3-5 the rest of the season to close out 10-6. Cutler hurt for three games in the middle which dooms the team. Offense does nothing, basically, after game 8. Defense and special teams still making it all happen. Bears miss the playoffs.

Fast forward to this year. Will the offensive line, with two rookies starting, hold up, not get injured, and protect Jay allowing him to be the player the Bears want him to be? Will Jay play a complete season, because Josh McCown is just awful? Will the offense carry their weight and be able to score points as needed?

Hmmm, seems like it's a year later with different coaches...and yet the same old questions always persist. Maybe we see an answer to this...FINALLY. Would like to see some progression of the offense rather than the stagnation we have seen in the Lovie years.

And yes, the Bengals will be a formidable foe in the first game.

 

[63bears40]

I expect Green to make some plays. But worry about their TEs. They've got 3 decent 1s. And opposing TEs have hurt us in the past.

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

I'm more concerned about Brian posting sober. Is everything OK Brian?

 

[nebearsfan70]

I think the game will be close but the Bears will lose this one. It's not a bad omen, though... I think the Bears will improve/come together as the season progresses and by the end of the year they will be playoff bound. In fact, I think no one will want to play them in January. They are my sleeper pick to win the NFC.

 

[richig07]

Flashback to last season. Vaunted new Bears offense. Everyone hoping the offensive line holds up. Offense needs to carry their weight. Blah, blah, blah.

Bears blow out the Colts 41-21. All is right with the world. It's a dawning of a new age for the Bears. Hey, they can actually score points. It won't all be about defense and special teams.

Move forward from there. Bears score 34, 41 and 51 points in wins and start out 7-1. Super Bowl here we come.

Oops, Bears go 3-5 the rest of the season to close out 10-6. Cutler hurt for three games in the middle which dooms the team. Offense does nothing, basically, after game 8. Defense and special teams still making it all happen. Bears miss the playoffs.

Fast forward to this year. Will the offensive line, with two rookies starting, hold up, not get injured, and protect Jay allowing him to be the player the Bears want him to be? Will Jay play a complete season, because Josh McCown is just awful? Will the offense carry their weight and be able to score points as needed?

Hmmm, seems like it's a year later with different coaches...and yet the same old questions always persist. Maybe we see an answer to this...FINALLY. Would like to see some progression of the offense rather than the stagnation we have seen in the Lovie years.

And yes, the Bengals will be a formidable foe in the first game.

Of course the same questions will persist until the Bears show they have fixed them. I don't really see the point.

This off-season there is much more reason to suspect the line could improve. I also don't think anyone thought that the line was at any point decent last season. Not in week one, not after starting 7-1, and certainly not during the last half.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

I actually agree with Brian. No, week 1 doesn't tell you everything, but it says 10x more than the entire preseason put together. All the hot air nonsense can finally stop. Now we have real games, with real effort, and real strategy.

Does Long suck, or is he awesome? Will Cutler buy into the new system? How are the new blitz packages going to work? How does the D Line play in the 4th quarter?

These are questions we currently have NO FUCKING CLUE about. But we shall soon see.

 

[noonthirtyjoe]

These are questions we currently have NO FUCKING CLUE about. But we shall soon see.

We have a clue. 32 coaching staffs just put teams together based on preseason games, they have a clue too. Long has kicked everyone's but including our def in practice. Preseason does not tell all but it does give clues.

 

[gmalis1]

Even first games are misleading. See last season's opener against the Colts for example.

Football is talent mixed with attrition. There are so many significant injuries that things change dramatically from week to week.

 

[running bear828]

The season opener last year the Colts isn't even in the same league as the season opener for the Bengals this year. Heck, the Colts were a completely different team at the end of the season last year than when they started. Bengals D will be a very good test for our O-line. The Bears season will depend on the O-line, same story as last year. I expect a very rocky start but also a brilliant finish this year. I am very nervous and very excited about this game. Cant wait! GO BEARS!