Bears defeat Rams 23-6

Good to get out of Dodge with a win.

That's how I felt after today's game.  That game today is kind of how I would imagine the game would look if it were played in St. Louis.  The defense played very well but the offense just looked off, as if seriously affected by crowd noise in a dome.

In any case, we ran the ball pretty well today (you wouldn't know it looking at the box score, but it was a definite improvement).  Other than the win itself, that's the best news from the game.  Chilo Rachal needs to clean some things up (those penalties are unacceptable), but he did have a few impressive blocks today in the running game.  Hopefully, we'll have Matt Forte back for next Monday's game in Dallas. If not, though, I think that Michael Bush showed enough burst and power in the running game that Dallas would likely still key on stopping the run first and foremost and that should open up some opportunities in the passing game.

As always, we will have more analysis (including our personnel breakdown) as the week progresses.

2-1.  Bear Down!!!

Random Thoughts/Quick Hits

I've been away for a bit, so I thought I'd post some random thoughts before tonight's game at New York.  First, let me copy and paste some notes I had taken while watching the last preseason game against the Redskins:

This Cutler to Marshall could be a serious hook-up for us for 10 years.
WOW Jay has a cannon.
That first drive was unlike any I can recall from recent memory.
I have NOT been impressed with Gabe Carimi.
Henry Melton could soon be thought of as one of Chicago's great defensive players.
Chris Spencer sucks.
I still sometimes root for the Bears to give Forte chances near the goal line.  Michael Bush might be changing that.
I'm not happy with our special teams coverage units.
I love McClellin's motor, but he REALLY needs to get stronger.
This looks like a top 5 offense in the NFL.
Alshon Jeffery looks better and better and better.  REALLY impressed.
Did I just see Lovie Smith smiling?
I repeat, I'm not happy with our special teams coverage units.
I hope Podlesh is ok.  I like him.
Scary injury to Brandon Hardin.  Thank God he's ok.
I wish we'd see more of Evan Rodriguez with the 1's, but he just showed why we don't.
Good job by our LT's today.
Most years we'd be SCREAMING to make Chris Summers our starting split end.  Now he's a practice squad guy.  What a difference a year makes.
As I typed that, Summers dropped what should've been a TD.
Jay Cutler was just asked who called the pass to Marshall on the first play, him or Tice.  Jay smiled and said "well, Mike (Tice) gives us some flexibility.  When we get single coverage out there, we're going to attack it."  LOVE that!!
Evan Rodriguez again flashing his potential.  I hope we see continued development from him.
Robbie Gould is great.

Some of this is what I'll be looking for tonight.  I'll be looking for more good play from our LT's (isn't that the first thing we all think of before each preseason game?).  I'm also hoping to see better play from our special teams.  We can't be giving up that kind of field position constantly (while I'm sure that Robbie has intentionally not kicked some balls through the end zone during the preseason, that's not the point).  I continue to enjoy watching the rookies McClellin, Jeffery and Rodriguez and hope to continue to see development from them.

Being the third preseason game, I will also be tracking our personnel groupings and what plays we run out of each one.  I'll be doing that all year and reporting on it right here every week, but I'll do that tonight also since the Bears will have gameplanned (to some extent) for this game.  I'm very interested to see how well Tice can maintain a healthy run/pass split out of each personnel grouping.  Ironically, our O-line issues might help in that regard.  Because of the need to help our line protect, we'll often have two tight-ends in the game (12 and 22 personnel).  That type of personnel on the field would usually key the defense to a running play, but we will be passing out of that grouping almost more out of necessity than design.  This will help keep a defense guessing and should help Tice as he gets accustomed to his new role of offensive playcaller.

Bears Sign RB Michael Bush

The Bears have signed free agent RB Michael Bush to a 4 year, $14 million deal.  This is a good value for the Bears.  Bush was widely considered the top free agent RB available and will provide not only an excellent 1-2 punch with Matt Forte, but will also provide insurance in case Forte and the Bears can’t come to terms on a long-term deal and Matt holds out.

It’s this issue with Forte’s contract, however, that adds a level of uneasiness to this signing.  For the third year in a row, the Bears have given significant money to a backup running back while refusing to lock up their premier ball carrier long-term.  This fact has clearly not been lost on Matt Forte who tweeted the following after hearing about the Bush signing:  “There’s only so many times a man that has done everything he’s been asked to do can be disrespected!  Guess the GOOD GUYS do finish last.”  There’s no denying the accuracy of Forte’s comments.  He truly has done everything asked of him.  Despite a failure to extend him last year, Forte still showed up to camp on time and in the best shape of his career.  Remember, he played last season for $600,000 while Marion Barber came in and signed a 2 year, $4.6 million deal.  By comparison, Forte was playing under the last year of his rookie deal; a 4 year contract worth a total of $3.8 million.  So it’s understandable that Forte is frustrated.  Without knowing the intent of GM Phil Emery, though, we can’t know if Forte is justified in being frustrated with this signing itself.

Let’s go over the possible motivations for making this deal.  As I said at the top, this signing is a good value for the Bears.  Bush is a productive running back who is good both out of the backfield and as a physical runner between the tackles.  If this signing was made simply as a business decision, a good price for a quality backup with full intention on signing Forte long-term, then Forte should welcome the move.  Having a teammate like Bush will allow Forte to get off the field a little more often, keeping him fresher for the duration of the season.  It is entirely possible, though, that this signing was inspired by a need to protect the Bears from a possible Forte holdout.  If that’s the case, that would mean that the Bears don’t plan on coming to an agreement with Forte and every bit of Matt’s anger over this signing would be justified.

It’s hard to know what the holdup is over an agreement between the Bears and Forte on a long-term deal.  After all, the Arian Foster deal should’ve set the market for this deal.  Forte should sign a very comparable deal to that 5 year, $43.5 million deal with $21 million guaranteed.  If either side is proposing a number that is significantly off of that amount, then this standoff could last for quite a while and it may get very ugly.  It is entirely possible, though, that new GM Phil Emery (who appears to be very structured in his approach) believes that now is the time to sign free agents and hammering out an extension for Forte will be done in its proper time.  The optimist in me is hoping that this is the case.  Thus far, in his short time as GM, Emery has done an excellent job in doing what’s best for the Chicago Bears.  Paying Matt forte is definitely in Chicago’s best interest and I have faith that a deal will get done and we can all (Forte included) continue to be thankful that Phil Emery is our new GM.