Good as Gould Again

My first Soldier Field experience turned out to be a success.

Not only was it the coldest (-2) Bears game in history at kickoff, but they also defeated their most hated rival the Green Bay Packers 20-17.

The Bears were trailing 14-3 at half to the 5-9 Packers and basically did nothing offensively.

They adjusted at half, just like me.

My hands were pretty much frozen, so I put multiple hand warmers in my gloves.

That saved me, and the Bears.


Three reasons how they won:

1. Special Teams- Robbie Gould, Danieal Manning and Alex Brown had huge plays.

2. Matt Forte- He came up big late in the game.

3. The fans- they play a huge role in this one.


If they lost, I would have wasted my time freezing my hands.

Thank goodness they won.

Now they play a 7-8 Houston Texans team in Houston, a must win game to even have a shot at the playoffs.

They need Minnesota to lose to the Giants in Minnesota and the Cowboys and Bucs both to lose.

If Minnesota loses and we win were NFC North champs, and if Dallas and Tampa Bay lose and we win we clinch a wild card spot.

What a great weekend for me.

Not only do the the Chicago Bulls win Saturday night, but all the teams the Bears needed to lose lost and they pick up a huge win.


Just a few notes:

S Mike Brown injured his calf late in the second quarter and did not return.

Brad Maynard’s third quarter punt hit Green Bay’s Jarrett Bush, who was blocking on the play, and the Bears’ Jason Davis recovered at the 27.

The 4th and one, when it was 17-10 was converted by only an inch.

Matt Forte played through an injured toe to keep the Bears playoffs hopes alive.

The coin toss in OT went off of Brian Urlacher's Helmet.


Alex Brown had this to say about his blocked field goal to save the day:

We got a great push from a lot of different people. I was just the one who got my hand on it, we were saying on the sidelines that we have to block it. I got through pretty good but I didn’t really think that was going to happen. You just go as hard as you can and see if you can get a hand up and hopefully you can get it.”

Orton had this to say after the game:

“Everything fell right, gave us a lot of momentum and energy coming into this game. We just had to carry it all the way through."

Lovie on team win:

"I don't know if I've ever been prouder of a team."

All quotes from Yahoosports.com

Congrats Robbie!

With his 35-yard field goal last Sunday against the Packers, Robbie Gould officially entered the NFL record book as the fourth most accurate kicker in league history.

The NFL career field goal accuracy is based on 100 field goals made, and Gould’s kick in Green Bay was his 100th field goal (out of 118 attempts). His 84.7 percentage trails only Mike Vanderjagt (86.5), Nate Kaeding (85.8) and Shayne Graham (85.5).

Way to go Robbie! Your good as Gould!

Taking a Look at Their Final Preseason Game

At the end of the Bears final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, the Bears came out the winners.

The won 16-10 and held the Browns to zero points in the second half.

But, Head Coach Lovie Smith had this to say about his defense "I'm disappointed."

"The plan was to get a couple of three-and-outs and then take the players out, but it didn't turn out that way. We didn't play well. Believe me, if we could put our finger on it we would have done something about it before now. We've got a little bit more time to get it right.

"We haven't played well. That is all you can say about it. We have not made all the effort we need to play well. All the things that go into playing well, we haven't done. Once we get all our guys going, I feel we will have a very strong defense."

Starting CB Charles Tillman was aksed about the D's bad play this preseason and he had this say "If I had an answer I'd tell you right now, we have to get this cleaned up."

Keep in mind the Bears did rest two key starters on the defense, S Mike Brown and DT Tommie Harris.

They also kept G Terrance Metcalf, who has been injured for a while on the sideline and TE Desmond Clark out.

Backup G Chester Adams was injured on the last play of the first half and reportedly went out with a knee injury.

That is why they need to get Fred Miller in uniform as a backup, just to get a veteran presence in there.

Read my Fred Miller article for more info, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/52003-fred-miller-waiting-to-make-decision-with-bears.

Offensively:

On the bright side for the Bears, 3rd string QB Caleb Hanie finished the game 12/17, for 115 yards and led the Bears down the field for two field goals.

Grossman led the Bears to there only TD drive, in a 19 yard pass to Brandon Rideau.

Orton was 4/7 and threw a bad ball because John St. Clair missed his block.

P.J. Pope, who was on the practice squad last season, carried the ball eight times for 34 yards in the second half.

The last WR spot on the Bears roster could come down to Marty Booker, Mark Bradley or Brandon Rideau.

This will be a tough call because the Bears depth at WR looks like this, Brandon Lloyd, Rashied Davis, Devin Hester, Mark Bradley, Marty Booker, Brandon Rideau.

Don't forget 3rd round pick Earl Bennett from Vanderbilt.

I think Rideau and Bradley should both make the team, because last night they combined for eight catches, 105 yards and one TD.

I don't know what you do with Marty Booker, he hasn't showed much this preseason.

This will be a tough call for the Bears, but for sure you have to keep Mark Bradley, because he is the type of play maker Bernard Berrian was.

Did you know?

Because the Bears beat the Browns last night, they prevented themselves form going 0-4 in the preseason for the first time since 1998.

Good Stuff:

On a fourth and goal for the Browns in the 4th quarter the Bears Craig Steltz tipped the ball and stopped the Browns from scoring.

Before, that play S Leonard Peters, who was on the practice squad last season, forced a fumble, which was later overturned.

Also, undrafted free agent CB Trey Brown who took Cedric Benson's #32 picked off Ken Dorsey in the fourth quarter.

Lastly, the Bears K Robbie Gould looked "good as gold" last night, he kicked he made all three field goal attempts he had and his longest was a 48 yarder.

Heading into the regular season:

Cutting there roster to 53 men, is going to be tough for the Bears.

They must make there moves by Saturday.

The D is dissapointed in themselves, and they should be, they gave up an average of 25 points, 326 total yards, 161 of that on the ground per game.

If they want to be the D they were in 2006, they better step it up a couple of notches

Devin Hester: The Bears Finally Give Him His Money

I'm glad to report that the Chicago Bears have signed WR/KR Devin Hester to a four year contract extension.

I knew they would come to terms sooner or later.

They gave Hester the money he deserved all along.

Now the Bears are set with all of there players. The signed every potential free agent on their roster and all their draft picks.

Alex Brown, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Robbie Gould, Tommie Harris, all their draft picks and now Devin Hester.

Jerry Angelo should not be fired. That would be the last thing i would do.

Jerry Angelo and Hester's agent Eugene Parker came to terms earlier today.

Hester must be so happy, that he just got his money.

Maybe he won't be injured today on the practice field.

That is joke for the people who didn't know he had a hamstring injury, which many thought he faked so he didn't have to pay the $15,000 fine every day.

Hester should breakout as an offensive weapon this season, but it might take him a while to grow into a #1 WR because he isn't the smartest guy in the league.

I saw an article written by Dan Pompei on Chicagosports.com, that was titled Call me crazy, but it's time for Bears to trade Hester.

I said to myself what is this guy thinking.

Is he nuts.

Do you know how many times Devin Hester bailed the Chicago Bears out of games?

Exactly, too many to count.

Dan Pompei thinks many teams want this guy, of course they do , he is ridiculous.

Who doesn't want a game changer, like Hester?

I can't imagine the Chicago Bears without him.

Dan Pompei you should have thought about what you just said, because Bears fans will be all over you this season, when Hester return kicks and catches passes for touchdowns.

They gave him his money Dan, so obviously it's not time to trade him.

The link to the article is: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-080724-dan-pompei-devin-hester,1,3042432.column