Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on November 29, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears, came into Sunday afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, both teams harnessing three game win streaks.  In the end, the Bears charged to the forefront and were the better team beating the Eagles 31-26.  Chicago used all three phases of the game to near perfection to win this game and impressed with mistake free football.

There was hardly a person in the media that gave the Bears a chance of winning this game. After watching how well Chicago had played during the previous three games, it was hard to deny the fact that they should be able to beat the Eagles and continue on with their winning streak.  Chicago came out on top and proved to many that they are indeed the real deal.

We saw some things out of the Bears that we hadn’t seen much of before.  Long gains that were a result of big plays while the defense kept the usually elusive Eagles quarterback Michael Vick contained.  The Bears did exactly what they had to do to win.

So let’s take a look at the Bears game and review what went right for the Bears, what went wrong and what made them the better team on Sunday.

Scoring Summary

The Eagles got on the board first early in the first quarter after kicker David Akers booted a 45-yarder to put the Eagles up by three.  The Bears would go up by four after quarterback Jay Cutler hit wide receiver Earl Bennett on a 10-yard touchdown strike.  The Bears would make it 14-3 after Cutler hit wide receiver Johnny Knox for a 20 yard touchdown towards the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles would get a touchdown from Michael Vick to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to pull within four of the Bears.  The Eagles would draw within one after Akers kicked a 36-yard field goal.  

As the Eagles appeared to be heading into the end zone for the go ahead touchdown, Vick was intercepted by safety Chris Harris.  The turnover led to a six-yard touchdown pass from Cutler to Bennett to put the Bears up 21-13.

Following a nice kickoff return by Devin Hester, the Bears put another seven on the board (in the third quarter) after Cutler hit tight end Greg Olsen for a nine-yard touchdown pass.  That would make it 28-13.

The Bears would get one more score before the end of the third quarter after kicker Robbie Gould nailed a 23-yard field goal put the Bears up 31-13.

The Eagles would tack on three points following a 22-yard field goal by Akers to make it 31-16 in the fourth quarter.  The Eagles would get even closer after Akers kicked a 36-yard field goal to bring the Eagles to within 12 (31-19).

Philadelphia would get the final score of the game on a touchdown pass from Vick to tight end Brent Celek to draw the Eagles to within five, but the onsides kick following the score would fail and the Bears would win 31-26.  

Stud of the Game

There were a lot of guys that stepped up and played well but after spending most of the pre season in the doghouse, wide receiver Earl Bennett has really come through and had a very nice game this Sunday.  His two touchdown catches helped get the Bears the win and he will be relied upon much more as the season progresses.

Dud of the Game

There aren’t too many guys deserving of this honor but the offensive line did have some struggles at times and allowed Cutler to get sacked four times.  Hopefully they will be able to tighten things up in the future and keep Cutler protected.  

Analysis

The Bears came into this game with a plan and executed it to near perfection.  They knew that, on defense, they had to come in and stop Vick from making plays with his legs and with his arm.  Using their front four alone would be the key to this. 

Sure enough, it worked to near perfection.  The Bears were able to get a lot of pressure from just their front four (using a combination of different players) and that helped keep the screws turned on Vick.

The Bears did exactly what they did in their previous three games to win this game.  Control the ball and the clock, get pressure with just the front four and great special teams play.  This formula works with any team that they play when executed properly.

The defense was led, once again, by defensive end Julius Peppers who spent the day playing “all out” pressuring Vick and helping to keep the Eagles running game in check.  He and his line mates had a stellar game keeping Vick contained, and as a group managed to collect a total of four sacks.  The effort was one of the best efforts a Bears defensive line has performed during the Lovie Smith era.

The linebackers were right on target throughout the game and helped out greatly in both the running game and the passing game.  All three starters (Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Pisa Tinoisamoa) had nice games—contributing to the victory.

The secondary was tested and even though Vick was able to put up a lot of yards through the air in this game (due to the fact that the Eagles were virtually behind the whole time and had to pass to catch up) they did a pretty nice job.  The schemes that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli used for the secondary worked very well and those guys didn’t let Eagles receivers get behind them to make plays.

That was an important part of the Bears victory this Sunday.

The offense did what it had the past few games in being able to control the ball and the clock to keep it out of the hands of the Eagles offense (as well as allow their defense to rest).  One thing that was very nice about the Bears offense on this day was the yards that were gained after the ball was caught or the running play began.  Chicago got several “big plays” some after initial contact was made with the defender and their players played hard never giving up until there was nowhere else left to go.

What a remarkable effort by the offense.

The Bears now can be considered one of the best teams in the NFC and people can really start considering them playoff contenders.  This was a big test and they passed proving that they are team that needs to be reckoned with as well as respected.

Next Up

The Bears will take on division rival Detroit up at Ford Field next Sunday.  A full preview of this game will be coming towards the end of the week.

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