Go West Young Bears

This week the Bears travel to the West Coast again, but this time with much maligned quarterback Rex Grossman at the helm. While Rex did come in for the injured (and mostly ineffective) Brian Griese last week and save the day, he has not made any Bears fans forget the torture of the first three weeks let alone last season. Still this is Grossman’s chance, his moment: the do-or-die, last chance, million to one shot at redemption… those always work, right? Well at least he has a 2-0 record against this week’s opponent the Seattle Seahawks. Which I’d feel a whole lot better about had they not just completely dismantled the 49ers on Monday Night Football. Oh well, “In Rex We Trust”… sort of.

Bears Offense vs. Seahawks Defense: Last year Rex Grossman led the Bears to two victories of the Seattle Seahawks. However, there will be two things this week that are very different from both of those games: 1) The game is in Seattle which is an incredibly though place to play and 2) Unlike then the Bears can no longer run the ball with any sort of consistency. These two factors will put a lot of pressure on the passing game and in turn Rex… yippy (I don’t think sarcasm gets across the why I’d like it to in text). Anyway, it seems that the Seahawks win when the apply pressure and get sacks and their defense, 20th against the pass, gets torn up a bit when they don’t. Lucky for us we have a sturdy offense line and a veteran Quarterback who knows how to avoid sacks… oy vey. The more I look at this the fewer and fewer chances I see for the Bears offense to get on track and be effective. Their best chance probably lies in a lot of screens and short passes to the tight ends with at least one bomb early to hopefully loosen up the D enough to get some semblance of a running game going. The problem is all that seems like a lot to ask of a QB who just got his job back and wasn’t all that good or consistent to begin with. I want to be optimistic, but this could get ugly.

Bears Defense vs. Seahawks Offense: Over the last two weeks the Seahawks have gone pass happy. With Shaun Alexander and the ground game unable to provide any sort of support for Matt Hasselback, our good friend Mike Holmgren went back to his routes and a more traditional version of the West Coast offense. As such the Bears are likely to see a lot of short slants and swing passes as replacements for the Seahawks stagnant running attack. This is going to put a lot of pressure on the Bears defensive backs who will once again be without Nathan Vasher. This means rookie Trumaine McBride as well as Rickey Manning Jr. must step up and have big games. Additionally it will be of the utmost importance that the Bears provide pressure without blitzing. This means you Mark Anderson, at least if you ever plan on making an impact in the second half of the season. This is a dangerous game because this is the kind of offense the Bears struggle with. Just like the Green Bay game earlier this year, if they can’t provide pressure and disrupt the timing the Seahawks will likely march the ball up and down the field. Pressure and turnovers are going to be the Bears best chance to win this game. Unfortunately the Bears have not done either with any consistency this season. Not exactly a situation which breeds confidence.

Special Teams Glance: To say the least last week is one Devin Hester would like to forget. The Oakland Raiders showed no fear in kicking to him all day and Hester could not respond by making them pay, especially since his one big return was called back for holding. The quickest way to make that a distant memory is to come out and have a big game against the Seahawks. The Bears will need Superman in top form if they are to win this game, and removing the bad taste from last week would simply be a bonus. On the kicking end of things the Bears continue to have an above average season. Brad Maynard has become Mr. Reliable to the point where I don’t think Bears fans really appreciate the fine season he’s had. Robbie on the other hand continues to struggle beyond 50yrds but he has been so consistent from 49yrds in that it’s hard to complain. It’ll also be important for the Bears to be solid against Nate Burleson in their coverage units. With the Bears not matched up well in the other two phases they can not afford to lose any portion of this battle.

Prediction: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I am not waiting around to be fooled a third time. The Bears just have not shown they can carry any momentum from week to week, and the Seahawks are just a team they don’t match up well with. Bears 17 – Seahawks 28.