Tank Johnson Returning to the Bears?

Is it possible that Tank Johnson could play for the Chicago Bears again?

I don't know.

It's defiantly a long shot.

The Bears drafted Johnson in the 2nd round of the 2004 NFL Draft.

In three years (2004-2006) with the Bears, Tank Johnson played in 46 games, recorded 63 tackles and nine sacks.

The Bears released him after he found himself in trouble with the law too often.

In two years (2007-2008) with the Cowboys, Tank played in only 24 games and recorded 33 tackles and 3 sacks.

The Bears could make this move, just because defensive tackles Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek have been disappointing the last couple of seasons.

The other defensive tackles on the Bears' roster are Anthony Adams, Marcus Harrison and Matt Toeaina.

This probably won't happen, but it's a possibility.

The Bears could probably get him cheap.

The teams that I see signing Tank Johnson would be the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, or the St. Louis Rams.

Bears win 23-10 against struggling Jags

The Bears made sure they won this game, by coming out early and setting the tempo.

Kyle Orton looked solid with a 85.3 passer rating, 219 yards and two touchdown passes to Dez Clark and Greg Olsen.

His one mistake came when he under threw Devin Hester, who finished the game with five catches and 80 yards.

Danieal Manning, who moved to nickel back this season, picked off David Garrard on the Jag's first drive.

Manning returned it to the five where he fumbled out of bounds.

It was initially called a touch back, but Lovie Smith threw the challenge flag and the Bears scored on a Dez Clark catch.

They looked solid in the first half, but they were very conservative in the second half.

They knew they had it in the bag.

They allowed only 159 yards threw the air and the defensive line helped out with three sacks.

The defense had about 11 tipped passes in this game and it seemed like they were going to pick off Garrard more than just once.


The defensive stars:

Anthony Adams, Israel Idonije, and Daniel Manning led the defense for most of the day.

Adams, who is filling in for the injured Dusty Dvoraceck had eight tackles and really looked good.

Israel Idonije, had 1.5 sacks and a couple of deflected passes on some big plays.

Danieal Manning looked like a first round pick.

Manning not only had an interception, three tackles and two deflected passes, but he also had some decent kick returns.


The offensive stars:

Kyle Orton looked good with his 2 touchdowns and 85.3 passer rating.

Devin Hester had a big day receiving, but he also seems to know what he is doing returning punts now.

Hester was close to taking a punt to the house in the second half, this made the Jaguars punt out of bounds multiple times.

The tight ends looked really good, with Greg Olsen's 52 yards and a score and Dez Clark's touchdown catch.

Matt Forte, who is a rookie, but plays like a veteran, finished with 69 yards rushing and 37 yards receiving.


Notes from the game:

Garrett Wolfe left the game on the opening kickoff with a hamstring injury.

Mark Anderson recorded on his first sack of the season, when he beat tackle Tony Pashos with a spin move.

Adewale Ogunleye, who was on the injury report, helped Israel Idonije bring down David Garrard late in the game.

This victory gives the Bears 700 wins, an NFL record.

Adrian Peterson, finished the game with 19 yards on three carries, but he really looked like a solid backup running back.


Disappointments from the game:

Besides Devin Hester the wide receivers looked pathetic.

Marty Booker, Rashied Davis, and Brandon Lloyd combined for 5 catches.

Lloyd didn't catch a ball and looks almost invisible lately.

Booker was banged up late in the game and Rashied Davis just has no hands.

None of these guys should be starters in the NFL.

I don't understand why Earl Bennett and Brandon Rideau don't get any playing time.

Lance Briggs missed a tackle on the little, but powerful Maurice Jones-Drew four yard touchdown.


What's Next?

The Bears face the 7-6 New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.

Both teams need this win.

The Lions played the Vikings tough, but the Vikings came away with the victory to stay one game ahead of the Bears.

The Packers lost their eighth game of the season and are eliminated from the playoffs.

Injury Report for Sunday's Game

Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye's sprained right shoulder and nose tackle Anthony Adams' sore right toe didn't keep them from practicing Friday, and both are expected to play.

Hopefully Adams will play like he did last season, where he was pretty solid at nose tackle.

Also, Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (Achilles') is probable.

Once again, Jason Davis will fill in for the injured Jason McKie, who will likely miss Thursday's game against the Saints too.

Davis on the FB dive on Sunday night against the Vikings:

"Last Sunday's not the first time we've run a dive and gotten stopped," Davis said. "You're talking about running against arguably the two best defensive tackles in our conference [in Pat and Kevin Williams].

"Yes, too much was made about that play. It didn't come down to one play."

Wednesday's injury update

Fullback Jason McKie (quad), nose tackle Anthony Adams (foot), linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (Achilles') and defensive end Adewale Ogunleye (shoulder) were held out of Wednesday's practice.

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris, safety Mike Brown, and center Olin Kreutz rested.

Dusty's ruptured biceps forces him to end his season

Nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek will miss the final four games after rupturing his right biceps during
a loss at Minnesota on Sunday night, his third season-ending injury in his time in the NFL.

Dvoracek was injured on the opening drive and headed straight to the locker room.

"It's very hard for a guy like Dusty," coach Lovie Smith said Monday. "No one works harder than him. He's a tough guy. It's just unfortunate. If you look at how he injured his arm, it's a typical play that he's made plenty of times. It happens."

"It's disheartening knowing the adversity he's been through in the past," defensive tackle Tommie Harris said. "To keep continuing to go through this each year is very disheartening, especially having the season that he was having."

Defensive tackles Marcus Harrison and Anthony Adams will fill in for the injured Dvoracek

Look for Israel Idonije to get big money some time soon

Israel Idonije started again in Tommie Harris' place this Sunday at Detroit and recorded three solo tackles and a pass deflection.

Idonije recorded a sack the week before against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Although Idonije is only signed through next season, don't be shocked if he makes the list of players whose contract the Bears want to extend.

Idonije turns 28 next month and seems to improve with more responsibility.

He has gone from a part-time end and special-teams player to having a defined role at tackle.

He moved from defensive end to defensive tackle and gained about 35 pounds this offseason.

Both head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo have said a team never can have enough quality defensive tackles.

Lovie on Israel Idonije's play this season:

''Israel has taken advantage of every opportunity we've given him since he's been here."

''He played very well [Sunday], like he has the last couple weeks, and he hasn't peaked yet. He has a lot of ability, and I only see him getting better. ''But that's what we would like for all of our players, to take advantage of opportunities when we give it to them.''

The Bears defensive tackle rotation is much better than last seasons and i think even better than the Super Bowl season.

With Tommie Harris, Dusty Dvoraceck, Israel Idonije, Anthony Adams, and Marcus Harrison they look really solid.

Bears Win a Big One Sunday Night

I'm starting to get the feeling that the Chicago Bears should play all there games on Sunday night.

They looked great on offense in the first half and then great on defense in the second half.

What I liked the most, was that the Bears came away with seven points instead of just a field goal after turnovers, which killed them in the last two weeks.

The Bears came out in the no-huddle and Kyle Orton completed two big passes, to Rashied Davis and Greg Olsen, who finally had a good game.

Rashied Davis disappeared from the game after that catch.

Marty Booker awoke from the dead when he scored a big touchdown.

The big loss for the Bears is Brandon Lloyd, who was playing some good ball the last two weeks and obviously becoming the go-to-guy.

They really played some good ball in the first half.

Orton had a passer rating of 106.6 with his three touchdowns in the first two quarters, but Forte was shut down the whole game by the league's best run defense.

The second half was a whole different ball game the Bears came away with only a field goal which proved to be enough to win the game.

Orton's turnovers started after a Kevin Payne interception where the Bears had a the ball at the Eagles eight yard line and Orton through a pass to Dez Clark which was intercepted in the end zone.

He was intercepted one more time and fumbled after getting lit up by #58 Trent Cole of the Eagles.

The Bears play calling was very conservative in the second half unlike the first half, but the defense came up big the goal line stand at the end of the ball game and that was the difference this week.

Alex Brown made the touchdown saving tackle on that big goal-line stand.

You can say all you want that the Bears should be 4-0, we all know that but you can't look in the past when the future is right in front of you.

That was a huge win for the Bears for two reasons there now 2-2 atop the division with the Green Bay Packers and they play Detroit and Atlanta in the upcoming weeks.

Did You Notice?

Nick Roach took over for Hunter Hillenmeyer at LB for a couple of drives.

He also recovered a muffed punt made by Desean Jackson in the first half.

Kyle Orton tied his career high for TD's with three.

Who They Need Back for Next Week?

It would be nice to have Charles Tillman and Brandon Lloyd back next week, but who knows what there conditions currently are.

Also, Tommie Harris will probably not rush back to risk more damage to his knee, as Israel Idonije and Anthony Adams filled in well for the Pro-Bowler.

Best Quotes from the Game:

Mike Brown: “It’s make a play, everybody was thinking the same thing. I was the guy who got my hands on him, but we had other guys keep him out of the end zone. It wasn’t just me. I’m not going to sit here and take credit for it. That play was a complete defensive effort and it was a special way to end that game for us. It was great.”

Lance Briggs: “It was one of the best fourth-down finishes I’ve ever been a part of, finishing is the key.”

Rashied Davis: "Kyle was good; we won."

Greg Olsen: "We didn't play perfect, and we were still able to overcome mistakes and beat a good team."

Marty Booker: "We escaped and got lucky on this one."

Dusty Dvoracek: "I was shocked. I thought they'd run a quarterback sneak, it was six, eight inches from the goal line."

What to Expect Next Week?

Look for the Bears to take the lead early in this one against the Lions.

The defense should get pressure on QB Jon Kitna all game.

Bears DT Anthony Adams, WR Mark Bradley Among Inactives from Week 1

The big surprise from the inactives from week 1 is that Bears DT Anthony Adams has gone from being a starter on the depth chart to being inactive.

Wide receiver Mark Bradley, who expressed frustration last week over his role in the offense, is also inactive.

Also down are safety Craig Steltz, guard Dan Buenning, defensive tackle Matt Toeaina, wide receiver Earl Bennett, offensive tackle Chris Williams and quarterback Caleb Hanie.