What Bears fans are thinking

[Illini_Falcon59]

What I have noticed so far this week from listening to my friends, and the chicago radio stations is this; For the most part, they think they SHOULD have won the game last year. It's somewhat frustrating since I think we dominated the first half of that game (we were held to 3 field goals in the redzone). I have argued with my friends that if the game is similar to last years game at all it will not even be close. The Bears are now without Urlacher completely (an injured Urlacher is better than no Urlacher) what I put in parenthesis there has been argued agaisnt me a couple times already this week. I actually had people tell me that Tinoisamoa (sp?) and Hillenmayer are better than an injured Urlacher. Moving on, we have added Tony Gonzalez who is a great redzone target, and Matt Ryan has developed into a more complete quarterback since that game. Some fans think that Matt Ryan is going to choke in his "first primetime game" ... it's also been posted on the boards here.

Bears fans from my experience this season have resorted to ignorance (for the most part). Cutler is their savior, their defense is still tops in the league, Tillman can hold Roddy White man-up...etc. They ragged on the Packer fans for losing to the Bengals and basked in the glory of their win against the "defending champs", ignoring the fact that the Steelers lost to the Bengals a week later and their key victory at the time was against an all-defeated team in the Titans (who still haven't won a game). Since then the Steelers beat an up and down Charger team that seems to be struggling to find it's identity as they always do early on in the regular season.

All this to say most Bear fans think they are going to win, some think they are going to win big. In general, they are thinking the same way we are at this point, but I think they are over-estimating the abilities of the team they root for. And I believe we are more realistic with our goals. I, for one, think it's going to be a very good game. I think Cutler might be able to expose our secondary, I hope Houston and maybe Hill can stick with the speed of Knox/Hester because Cutler throws a great deep ball. I think Ryan on the other side of the ball will have a very good match-up as well, the Bears will almost certainly double White leaving Jenks and Gonzo single covered. This game will come down to whoever PASSES the ball with more efficiency.

Also, if John Abe can get some pressure on Cutler we WILL get INTs. I've watched my fair share of Bears games and Cutler has struggled somewhat when teams are able to get pressure on him. I hope we stick with Abe, Babs, JA98, and Biermann as we did last week cuz I think that gives us the best chance to get pressure.

I think the Falcons win in an offensive battle. 34-27.

Edited October 14, 2009 by Illini_Falcon59

[MR Falcon]

bump , good read.

[RednBlackGlory]

Good thoughts. I agree with your thinking. We need the run defense from this past Sunday to show up, not the one from the first three weeks, of Forte could break us. On the whole, I think big passing plays will determine the game.

[Vicious]

I may be mistaken, but I swear the Carolina game at the dome last year was moved to primetime. Wasn't it flexed? I was there and I remember it starting at 8pm

[Yep]

Gonna be a good game! I go to college in Chicago and I'm going to watch it Sunday with all my friends who love the Bears. I'm probably the only Falcons fan in school! And you're right - they thought last year was a fluke!

Edited October 14, 2009 by funkytowncut

[Illini_Falcon59]

Gonna be a good game! I go to college in Chicago and I'm going to watch it Sunday with all my friends who love the Bears. I'm probably the only Falcons fan in school! And you're right - they thought last year was a fluke!

I am doing the same, having a bunch of friends over for the game. Should be fun...we BETTER win. :P

Also, I don't remember if the game was flexed or not, you may be right. If so they are even more wrong.

[faninwpg]

I may be mistaken, but I swear the Carolina game at the dome last year was moved to primetime. Wasn't it flexed? I was there and I remember it starting at 8pm

I believe the Carolina game last year was flexed but just to 4:15. i think the NFC east were once again given primetime

[coryb78]

I may be mistaken, but I swear the Carolina game at the dome last year was moved to primetime. Wasn't it flexed? I was there and I remember it starting at 8pm

The game last season started at 4:15. I was there.

[Tandy]

This differs how from last year?

It was the exact same story last year. Their defense is better, Orton was kicking a.. and they couldn't be beat. We were expected to fold up and wither away.

Instead, we came out and played for 60 minutes and we beat them - absolutely beat them.

Our little rookie QB in his 6th game ever put up some impressive numbers against the mighty Bears defense last year. He had a 73.3% completion rate, threw for 301 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and no sacks. He had a QB rating of 116.1

Prior to the game last year - he had played 5 games (only played 4 this year) and had only thrown for 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He hadn't rushed for any. We had problems last year converting in the red zone and of the percentages of our total points in those 5 games went like this:

77 points from offensive td 65.8%

7 points from defensive td 6.0%

33 points from field goals 28.2%

This year, we've only played 4 games - against much better teams, I might add, and he has thrown for 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He's rushed for 1 TD as well. If they hadn't called Jenks for the OPI - he would have 8 passing TD's so far - but it is what it is. If Elam hadn't missed 2 chip shot FG's and an XP in the first game plus that bad call - we'd have 14 more points this year - but oh well. This year, we've figured out how to convert into TD's when we get to the red zone.

In one less game:

90 points from offensive td 88.3%

12 points from field goals 11.7%

So, you can see our young QB is maturing and learning how to finish the job. He will do much, much better against that powerful defense than he did last year. With a true TE now - he'll finish the job.

[phattywankenobi]

Bears fans whine about they should have won the game if not for the last 7 sec but they forget the Falcons lead the game for 59:49 of the game.

[Vicious]

Oh, ok. I remember it was dark whenever we left the dome. I had only gone to the 1pm games prior to that one. I was sitting right were HD did his leap into the stands after his punt return td. That was an awesome game.

[Illini_Falcon59]

This differs how from last year?

It was the exact same story last year. Their defense is better, Orton was kicking a.. and they couldn't be beat. We were expected to fold up and wither away.

Instead, we came out and played for 60 minutes and we beat them - absolutely beat them.

Our little rookie QB in his 6th game ever put up some impressive numbers against the mighty Bears defense last year. He had a 73.3% completion rate, threw for 301 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and no sacks. He had a QB rating of 116.1

Prior to the game last year - he had played 5 games (only played 4 this year) and had only thrown for 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He hadn't rushed for any. We had problems last year converting in the red zone and of the percentages of our total points in those 5 games went like this:

77 points from offensive td 65.8%

7 points from defensive td 6.0%

33 points from field goals 28.2%

This year, we've only played 4 games - against much better teams, I might add, and he has thrown for 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He's rushed for 1 TD as well. If they hadn't called Jenks for the OPI - he would have 8 passing TD's so far - but it is what it is. If Elam hadn't missed 2 chip shot FG's and an XP in the first game plus that bad call - we'd have 14 more points this year - but oh well. This year, we've figured out how to convert into TD's when we get to the red zone.

In one less game:

90 points from offensive td 88.3%

12 points from field goals 11.7%

So, you can see our young QB is maturing and learning how to finish the job. He will do much, much better against that powerful defense than he did last year. With a true TE now - he'll finish the job.

This is a lot of what I have been trying to argue all week. Really great post. Thanks, Tandy!

Bears fans whine about they should have won the game if not for the last 7 sec but they forget the Falcons lead the game for 59:49 of the game.

Exactly.

[Tandy]

This is a lot of what I have been trying to argue all week. Really great post. Thanks, Tandy!

It won't matter what you argue. The only thing that matters is what the final score is on Sunday night when the clock strikes zero. I'll be there and I'll be loud - I can hardly wait.

This is one of the 2 games I circled immediately when I saw the schedule come out (with the other being the 49ers of course) as an "unless I am dead or dying - I will be there" game.

I love it when we play the Bears. I'm going to love this game and can't wait until Sunday!

[fontjones]

You have watched NO Bears games, just admit it. Stop trying to tell others what you think Bears fan's are thinking...why not just ask them?

Cutler is good. Real good. He had a horrible first half in Green Bay but has been great since. Not good, but great. He is the only thing the Bears have on offense. The only thing. There is no real running game to speak of.

The team is all about Jay Cutler now. Is it enough to win? Could be, might not be.

As a Bear fan, I look to the Ryan to Gonzales connection on blitzes as something to worry about, as well as Turner on the outside. I am looking forward to seeing Cutler playing with very speedy receivers indoors, that should be fun.

The Falcons and the Bears are similar teams. Both are ok, can win some games or can lose some games. But let's be real, neither the Falcons or the Bears are even in the same league as the Giants. Neither is what you would call an elite team.

I expect this game to be like every other game played between two good teams. Close, then a few big play moments in the second half and then the last 5 minuts in the 4th quarter. Flip a coin on this game.

[nobkowski]

You have watched NO Bears games, just admit it. Stop trying to tell others what you think Bears fan's are thinking...why not just ask them?

Cutler is good. Real good. He had a horrible first half in Green Bay but has been great since. Not good, but great. He is the only thing the Bears have on offense. The only thing. There is no real running game to speak of.

The team is all about Jay Cutler now. Is it enough to win? Could be, might not be.

As a Bear fan, I look to the Ryan to Gonzales connection on blitzes as something to worry about, as well as Turner on the outside. I am looking forward to seeing Cutler playing with very speedy receivers indoors, that should be fun.

The Falcons and the Bears are similar teams. Both are ok, can win some games or can lose some games. But let's be real, neither the Falcons or the Bears are even in the same league as the Giants. Neither is what you would call an elite team.

I expect this game to be like every other game played between two good teams. Close, then a few big play moments in the second half and then the last 5 minuts in the 4th quarter. Flip a coin on this game.

thanx for your reply. sounds like you know what you are talking about.

[Joremarid]

bears fans who think they should have won that game forget about the fluke jason elam miss that preceded their "game winning" drive.

I don't see the bears putting up 27 on our defense. The defense, believe it or not, has actually been decent against the pass. They have allowed only 3 TDs, and have the 7th best defensive passer rating and 7th best completion pct in the league. In other words, they are holding their opponents to those numbers. Matt Forte has not been himself this year. Knox has shown some promise this year and could potentially give us trouble. They also have great TEs. Their pass blocking is atrocious.

I don't think the Bears are significantly better then they were this time last year, especially with the loss of Urlacher. On the other hand the Falcons are in fact ALOT better then they were in the 6th game of the season last year. Ryan carved them up last year in his 6th game. He has made vast improvements in his game since then. Plus this is Ryan's first chance at primetime. They are going to want to show the entire country what we all know to be true.

Falcons 34-17

[Tandy]

You have watched NO Bears games, just admit it. Stop trying to tell others what you think Bears fan's are thinking...why not just ask them?

Cutler is good. Real good. He had a horrible first half in Green Bay but has been great since. Not good, but great. He is the only thing the Bears have on offense. The only thing. There is no real running game to speak of.

The team is all about Jay Cutler now. Is it enough to win? Could be, might not be.

As a Bear fan, I look to the Ryan to Gonzales connection on blitzes as something to worry about, as well as Turner on the outside. I am looking forward to seeing Cutler playing with very speedy receivers indoors, that should be fun.

The Falcons and the Bears are similar teams. Both are ok, can win some games or can lose some games. But let's be real, neither the Falcons or the Bears are even in the same league as the Giants. Neither is what you would call an elite team.

I expect this game to be like every other game played between two good teams. Close, then a few big play moments in the second half and then the last 5 minuts in the 4th quarter. Flip a coin on this game.

I've watched them all actually. I love blue collar football. I love good defense. I am a Falcon fan through and through until the day I die - but I enjoy watching Bears, Steelers and Ravens play.

I don't know how you feel about your team - but I feel my team can hang with the Giants anyday. That's the truth.

Are they young? Yes. Will they have some good and bad games? Yes. Are they elite? Not yet. But, they can hang with any team in the league when they're playing football. Any team.

[chifalc]

Matt Forte wasn't himself LAST year. At least not the puffed up self everyone makes him out to be.

[achilles return]

You have watched NO Bears games, just admit it. Stop trying to tell others what you think Bears fan's are thinking...why not just ask them?

Cutler is good. Real good. He had a horrible first half in Green Bay but has been great since. Not good, but great. He is the only thing the Bears have on offense. The only thing. There is no real running game to speak of.

The team is all about Jay Cutler now. Is it enough to win? Could be, might not be.

As a Bear fan, I look to the Ryan to Gonzales connection on blitzes as something to worry about, as well as Turner on the outside. I am looking forward to seeing Cutler playing with very speedy receivers indoors, that should be fun.

The Falcons and the Bears are similar teams. Both are ok, can win some games or can lose some games. But let's be real, neither the Falcons or the Bears are even in the same league as the Giants. Neither is what you would call an elite team.

I expect this game to be like every other game played between two good teams. Close, then a few big play moments in the second half and then the last 5 minuts in the 4th quarter. Flip a coin on this game.

The giants aren't that amazing. Certainly beatable.

[RoastBeeph]

I have been reading the Bears message board this evening and the thing that sticks out to me the most is that they actually believe Cutler is a better QB than Ryan is.

That is so ridiculous.

[ki46dinah]

We dominated last year's game for the vast majority of it...they tried to steal a win out of it, and we simply made sure that wasnt going to happen.

And this year we will work over double chin like its no ones business.

[FalconMama]

The first bears game shouldn't have been close. We dominate that game and because of the missed redzone opportunities us kicking field goals kept the game closer than what it should of been.. But it's a new year and both teams are improved. Falcons have to be just as physical as they were on Sunday. Do the basics, run the ball, stop the run, convert 3rd downs and make the most of redzone opportunities.

I think the Falcons win in a close one.