Thread: Last I checked they are still professionals...

Excellent thread. I agree, there are no true "easy" games, and historically, the Bears seem to struggle with teams they should blow out. And since it is the first game of the season, we will probably look a bit rough out there. There is a big difference between pre-season games and the real deal.

I keep thinking about that 2nd game (I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it). If we are to take over the NFC-N, then it begins with that Green Bay game. My hope is that we "take care of business" and beat the Colts Sunday, and we have no injuries. I'm hoping that San Francisco physically beats up on Green Bay Sunday & not only wins the game, but also GB comes out of that game hammered pretty bad (SF is the kind of team that can do that to GB).

Then when we meet GB 4 days later, on Thursday night, we mop up with them - that we finish what SF started and kick the poop out of them.

I'm fine giving Urlacher some reps in the Colts game. But if we find that the game is in the bag early, I'd get Brian out of there to preserve that knee for the Packers. Don't be stupid, and overuse him & risk having that knee balloon up again.

For that matter, I'd approach every game this way. Ration his snaps where possible. If we find we're in games where we can rest that knee early, then let's do it. If we DO find ourselves in the playoffs this year, wouldn't it great to have Urlacher available with a healthy knee?

Originally Posted by BearStuff

First, we need to play well on offense and get out to a lead early. That shifts the pressure to them, and if we then give Luck some looks he hasn't seen before (Like the Mugg we did a few years back) we could really rattle him. Of course, we need to take care of the football.

Closer game than most think, but we should win.

That would be my formula too. The Bears have always been somewhat conservative in the past going out and establishing the run before taking shots downfield. With this offense and especially in this game I'd like to show the rest of the league that we have the weapons to strike fast and hard.

If we can put a couple of quick tds on the board in the first and then begin to grind it out with some long drives we force Luck into passing and that's were we can tee off on him. He's far more advanced than most rookies but no matter how well prepared he is he still needs protection and this will be a good warm up for the pass rush before going up against GB.

You need to play them one at a time but this is a perfect dress rehearsal against a pass heavy offense just like we'll face in GB. Time to get the kinks worked out of coverage and the pass rush.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I'm fine giving Urlacher some reps in the Colts game. But if we find that the game is in the bag early, I'd get Brian out of there to preserve that knee for the Packers. Don't be stupid, and overuse him & risk having that knee balloon up again.

For that matter, I'd approach every game this way. Ration his snaps where possible. If we find we're in games where we can rest that knee early, then let's do it. If we DO find ourselves in the playoffs this year, wouldn't it great to have Urlacher available with a healthy knee?

It will be interesting to watch how he plays it but in my mind you'd need a different kind of a drug than a pain killer to get Urlacher to sit in a regular season game. That's not his nature.

Originally Posted by soulman

It will be interesting to watch how he plays it but in my mind you'd need a different kind of a drug than a pain killer to get Urlacher to sit in a regular season game. That's not his nature.

I agree. But he has a good relationship with Lovie and Marinelli. Privately they could talk with him and let him know they NEED him to be at his best for a Super Bowl run - knee and all.

Urlacher is savvy. After the training camp experience, with his knee ballooning up, he knows he needs to be careful. And I'm not saying baby the guy, but just use common sense. He's just had surgery. Don't use him up and aggravate that knee during the late minutes of a game IF you don't need him in there. If, as the season goes on, it is apparent that the knee if fine (and not ballooning up) then of course. Play the guy the whole game.

Just take it easy at first until you KNOW the knee is fine.

Urlacher and Pep (and others) get rests when it comes to practice. So he's used to being smart with his body. And you know he's wanting a Super Bowl so bad he can taste it. So be smart.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I agree. But he has a good relationship with Lovie and Marinelli. Privately they could talk with him and let him know they NEED him to be at his best for a Super Bowl run - knee and all.

Urlacher is savvy. After the training camp experience, with his knee ballooning up, he knows he needs to be careful. And I'm not saying baby the guy, but just use common sense. He's just had surgery. Don't use him up and aggravate that knee during the late minutes of a game IF you don't need him in there. If, as the season goes on, it is apparent that the knee if fine (and not ballooning up) then of course. Play the guy the whole game.

Just take it easy at first until you KNOW the knee is fine.

Urlacher and Pep (and others) get rests when it comes to practice. So he's used to being smart with his body. And you know he's wanting a Super Bowl so bad he can taste it. So be smart.

I just posted the depth chart and they have Costanzo listed as the #2 MLB now and Roach is back at SLB so it looks like Costanzo would be first off the bench if Urlacher needed to come out.

I've got mixed emotions about that. Costanzo really picked up his play later in preseason after looking lost in the Denver game but does he have the range and coverage ability that Urlacher has. If we're up by 24 points and the other guys have shown no signs of being able to mount an offense then fine but not in a two TD game where anything can happen.

I agree Soul. Also, it would be decent to get Costanzo some RS game reps late in meaningless games, until we know if Urlacher's knee is doing OK. The further out from surgery we get, hopefully, the better and stronger that knee is.