Chicago Sports View

Chicago is 3-1 and frontrunners in the NFC North, however the offense leads critics to doubt the Bears' Super Bowl aspirations. “The Monsters of the Midway” barely crack most people’s top 10 power rankings although the defense is playing impactful football.

The defense is ranked fifth in points-per-game with 17, third in sacks with 15 and first in takeaways with 14. It's still early but this Bears defense could be better than the 2005 Super Bowl team.

Typical Bears, the offense is unreliable and can’t take care of the ball. Jay "Condescending" Cutler was good in the Cowboys game with two TDs and no INTs, but the rest of the season he has been OK. The cocky QB reincarnated, Cutler can’t make mistakes like he used to.

He is running out of excuses: Mike Martz is gone, the Bears have receivers and Cutler can audible now. The glaring excuse Cutler still has in his pocket is the offensive line that is at best shaky. The o-line has given up 13 sacks, the fourth most in the NFL.
The line shouldn’t be an excuse for Cutler, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers never had great protection but still won Super Bowls. It is time for Cutler to put up or shut up.

This win in Dallas could be a turning for the offense. After limited playing time last week against the Cowboys expect superstar running back Matt Forte to improve this offense against the second worst rush defense in Jacksonville.

With an easy win against Jacksonville and a bye week coming up, the offense should be in good shape by the time Detroit comes to town on October 22. Weeks 7-11 the Bears face four playoff teams in five weeks but three of the four are in Chicago: vs. Detroit, vs. Carolina, vs. Houston and at San Francisco.

Chicago should be between 7-1 or 5-3 by the time they have to play the undefeated Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football on November 11.

1st Quarter Grades
Quarterback
Grade: CCutler just isn’t as productive as he should be.

Running Backs
Grade: B-The absence of Forte has really hurt the 1-2 punch of Michael Bush and Forte, but Bush does look to be a reliable backup.

Wide Receivers
Grade: B-The receivers were great against the Colts and Cowboys, but they disappeared against the Rams and Packers.

Tight Ends
Grade: C-
Kellen Davis has made some plays but his inconsistencies have made him a liability.

Offensive Line
Grade: DOnly two sacks against DeMarcus Ware, maybe the line is taking the next step after giving up 11 in three games.

Defensive Line
Grade: A+
The defense is on pace for 60 sacks and three double digit sackers: Julius Peppers, Israel Idonije and Henry Melton.

Linebackers
Grade: B+
The old backers played well despite Brian Urlacher playing into shape. Is Lance Briggs better than Urlacher?

Defensive Backs
Grade: A- Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Tim Jennings and Major Wright combine for nine of the Bears 14 takeaways. They still give up too many passing yards, but that is the product of Lovie Smith’s “bend, don’t break” defense.

Special Teams
Grade: C+The punt and kick coverage teams haven’t given up a TD and Robbie Gould hasn’t missed a field goal. The rest of the special teams are alright. Hester hasn’t scored a TD and the fake field goal in the Green Bay game killed us. The Bears also had to burn two timeouts in the St. Louis game due to special team problems.