Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on January 31, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

No one expected the Bears season to end the way it did after watching them through training camp and the preseason.  The thought was that they could easily beat the Detroit Lions, struggle with the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers and most likely end up being the third ranked team in the NFC North.

Little did anyone know, not only would the Bears be able to win the NFC North, but they would also go on to manhandle the Minnesota Vikings and beat the Packers once (during the regular season) to end up pushing themselves into the playoffs as the NFC’s second seed and coming just one game away from going to the Super Bowl.

The Bears started things out well, reeling off three straight wins before being exposed big time by the New York Giants and their fearsome pass rush.  During that Sunday night game, the Bears saw quarterback Jay Cutler sacked nine times en route to knocking him out of the game (for the second half and for the next week against the Panthers).  

It looked as if the Bears had several problems that they needed to address on offense after that game and it appeared that they wouldn’t win too many games as a result.  

The Panthers were no match for the Bears (or any team for that matter) and Chicago won that game. 

Following that win, they dropped two games in a row with two home losses to the Seahawks and the Redskins.  They went into their bye week hurting and looking for answers.

Something had to have happened during that bye week because when the Bears came out of it (and played the Buffalo Bills) they were a much better team than the one that was playing in prior weeks.  All of the sudden they had balance on offense.  Instead of throwing the ball in an attempt to win the game (much more than they ran it), the Bears used both the running game and the passing game to try to win games and they won games.

With that formula, Chicago reeled off five straight victories before hitting a brick wall at home against the New England Patriots.  The Bears offense limited its mistakes, controlled the ball and the clock in order to win games and position the Bears for the playoffs.

Chicago recovered from its loss to the Patriots and went on to win the NFC North with a win over the Minnesota Vikings at a cold TCF Bank Stadium Field.  They played the New York Jets and won in a shootout, but lost to the Green Bay Packers in their final game of the regular season.  The loss to the Packers wasn’t a bad loss at the time, but in the end, it would come back to haunt the Bears.

The Bears met the Seattle Seahawks in their first playoff game in four years and defeated them soundly advancing to the NFC Championship game and to a date with division rival Green Bay, a team that they had faced only once in the playoffs during their long history of playing against one another.

Chicago had a chance to get to the Super Bowl for the first time in four years and win one for the first time in 25 years, but it just wasn’t meant to be.  The Bears ended up losing to the Packers and went home with a lot questions.

These questions and much more will be answered in the coming weeks as the Bears prepare to move into the offseason.

Chicago’s season was one of surprise, some disappointment and a lot of learning.  You can bet that this team will return in 2011 much better than they were in 2010 and ready to come back and win the NFC North and get yet another shot at earning a Super Bowl berth.

Next Up: We will take a look at the quarterbacks and see how well they fared in 2010.  

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