What I Predicted:
Week 2: vs. Pittsburgh (CBS) Even coming off an emotional win vs. the rival Packers, the Bears will be outmatched by the defending Super Bowl Champs as they will keep the Bears O at bay all day. The Bears D against the run has been suspect and will be called out in Week 2. Steelers 31, Bears 17.
What Happened:
Bears 17, Steelers 14
The Bears came into week 2 of the 2009 season with massive storm clouds hanging over their heads. The face of the franchise Brian Urlacher was 6 days removed from being shut down for the rest of the season and his replacement as leader of the pack Jay Cutler was coming off his worst game as a pro, throwing 4 picks against the division rival Green Bay Packers. The game began with Bears fans shaking their heads as the Steelers marched right down the field on their first possession eating up over eight minutes on the game clock and punching it into the end zone. More anxiety was added to this equation when the Bears took three possessions to complete a first down but shortly after, they began to get into a rhythm offensively.
It seems that Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith were right about much maligned defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and his group have applied much more pressure on opposing QB’s in this early season. Last week it was Adawale with two sacks, this week it was Alex Brown with two sacks and a pressure that forced the only meaningful turnover of the game in the form of a Charles Tillman interception.
The Bears receivers looked sloppy early on with 4 drops in the first half but Johnny Knox stepped up and found himself open on a number of occasions including an 8-yard touchdown strike.
Jay Cutler played like the guy we thought we got in the offseason, nothing spectacular but he did not turn the ball over and produced when the game was on the line going 4-4 on the game winning drive to get Robbie Gould a shot to win it. Gould snuck his boot just inside the left bar with 15 seconds left, did you expect anything else? Robbie is now 16-16 under two minutes and in overtime in his career, talk about clutch.
Lets be real Bears fans, they don’t win unless Jeff Reed chokes twice in the 4th quarter, the fact that Cutler and the offense drove down the field with the game on the line gives me some hope moving forward. The running game needs a makeover and Urlacher’s void has yet to be filled but with Matt Hasselbeck likely out next week, Da Bears should move to 2-1 vs. the Seahawks in week 3.
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