Thread: After this 1st game, how do you feel about this 2012 team?

There were some great posts here and I can't disagree since I saw the same as most. The most impressive thing to me was the offense and the way they recovered from that miserable start.

Great players need to have short memories and Cutler must be a master of compartmentalizing his bad throws. Once he got untracked he was as good an any QB in the league. That TD throw to Jeffery landed in his arms right in the middle of the end zone where he still had room to get his feet down. That's fantastic touch and accuracy on a long ball.

Most of my criticism would come against the defense. Whenever we get gashed for long runs between the tackles it always comes down to one thing, "gap control". On Browns long run up the middle Urlacher over pursued and failed to cover the gap and Toe was late getting over so Brown had clear sailing all the way through the line and the second level. That needs some work as usual.

Other than that the only other defensive issue is that guys need to "close the deal" more often. We have twice as many missed sacks per game as we do sacks. But I was impressed with the penetration and the push we got out of Melton and Paea. Those two should be a good pair inside.

Originally Posted by bearsinhouston

For me, more goods than bads.

Jennings outplayed my expectations. Marshall did not disappoint, but I think Cutler goes to him too often. I need to go back and look to see if it was because the other recievers were not open or just because he wants to go to Marshall. Some of those throws, I would not have made.

The DL put up more pressure than I expected. I want to see if they can do it against GB. I would still like to see it more consistently. They had more pressure than I anticipated, but on some plays they didn't. I know no team can do it on every play, but I think we could have put even more pressure on Luck. In all, they did better than I thought. Shea played hard and got in there on a few plays. He wasn't as effective as I would have liked for a first rounder, but as long as he keeps getting better I think he will be ok. In all, he put on more pressure than most of our guys were able to do last year, so that's a positive.

The OL held up pretty well. However, the first few plays, they showcased their "suck" ceiling -- and it was impressive. So while they held up well, they still can be really awful. So I'm optimistically cautious. Looking to see which OL comes out and for how long against the good teams.

The WR's and Jeffrey were all I had hoped. Cutler has his toys. Now he has to be protected and he can use them.

Cutler (to me) was not as sharp as I had hoped. He ended up playing well, but he forced more passes than I would have liked and just plain missed a few. On a couple, the WR and QB expectations were off, but he did not seem as sharp as I have seen him. However, first game of the season, and I strongly believe in him.

Forte and Bush have to be one of the best if not the best RB duo in the league.

The LB (traditionally our strength) performed only average. They have to do better against GB.

In all, a very good performance. I don't know if beating Indy was much of an accomplishment as they were dead last. I'd like to see how they do the next few weeks to see if we looked good playing a crappy team or if they are respectable. Honestly, with Luck behind center, I am of the opinion that we beat a pretty decent team, but the next few weeks will bring a few things into focus.

I think the part about Marshall catching nine passes and being targeted for more is par for the course, houston. That's why Emery brought him in. He's our security blanket in the passing game. When guys like Hester, Bennett, and Jeffery can't get going, we all know that Brandon Marshall will.

As for my analysis, to be honest with you, this is about what I expected. I figured that the offensive line would either be feast or famine, and considering that a good (as opposed to great) line gives up about two sacks per contest, the line did remarkably well despite having good OLBs for the Colts in Freeney and Mathis bearing down on them from the corners. I thought that the line blocked well even with Freeney in the game after what happened in the first two possessions. Now, that being said, this last training camp saw the offensive line focus probably 75% on pass protection and 25% on run blocking, and it's showing. While we pass protected pretty well, the run blocking wasn't always crisp. We still struggle to spring off big runs up the gut with the guards and the center like we need to, and I happen to believe that a lot of that would be addressed at least on the left side if Chris Williams were playing rather than Chris Spencer. That being said, Spencer did pass protect pretty well after, again, the first two series. I did not see where the right side of the line struggled against the pass rush, as Carimi and Louis looked, for the most part, sharp. Garza was his typical steady self. That second sack, though, was more of a coverage sack, as I thought that Cutler held the ball too long. There looked to be a sliver of a window in which he could have made a run for it out of the pocket, or he could have thrown the ball inconspicuously and just make it look like an errant throw -- Cutler has been known to air mail a few balls in his day.

The wide receivers were superb, and contrary to the opinions of some, I thought Marshall's handling of the football inside the red zone went pretty well. There was one play in which he didn't catch a ball that maybe could have been handled better than it was, but even that play was tightly contested. Hester made some nice catches and some nice yards after catch, and so did Bennett, who I liken to former New York Yankee Tommy Heinrich from back in the 1940s-50s when I use the term "Old Reliable." He has the best hands I have ever seen on a receiver, which is why I was shocked that he actually dropped a pass against the Giants during the preseason. What can I say about Alshon Jeffery other than "Wow!"? He made some big plays, including the most exciting play of the game on that 42-yard bomb from Cutler that result in a touchdown pass in the end zone. Three receptions and 80 yards -- it doesn't get much better than that when you're a rookie WR in the NFL playing your first game in the league. However, I do have one criticism of the pass playcalling by Tice, and that's the lack of targeted passes to the TEs. I think if memory serves me correctly, the only catch made by a TE in yesterday's game was by Kyle Adams that was good for 17 yards. In a sense, we have only advanced a little ways from the Mike Martz offense that didn't call for many passes to the TEs. I don't know if Kellen Davis is going to cut it with this team or not -- that holding penalty on that big run by Michael Bush in the fourth quarter was frustrating to say the least. That being said, I was really pleased with the blocking by rookie TE Evan Rodriguez. I didn't get to see many of those plays as I didn't turn on the game until literally at the point where Bush rush for the touchdown to tie the score at 7, but I've heard good things about them. Now that we know for sure that he can block, I want to see him being utilized as the H-back that Tice envisioned of him and catch some passes. He could be another Aaron Hernandez and, if everything falls into place like I'm hoping it will, Kellen Davis will prove to be a reliable, sizable receiving TE and an even more improved blocker from last year.

Defensively, I honestly was not impressed at how we defended the pass. I mean, Luck passed for over 300 yards on the Bears, and the standard I hold the Bears defenses of today is about 220-230 passing yards allowed per contest, with more fond leanings toward the great Bear defenses of 2005 and 2006, when the defense was arguably one of the most dominant in league history. Perhaps it's because Chico is no longer the defensive coordinator -- I don't know -- but it appears to me that there has been a letdown in the focus on defending the pass over the course of the past six years. The Steelers and Ravens seem to defend the pass brilliant, allowing fewer than 200 yards per game in most seasons. Maybe the 3-4 defense is superior to the 4-3 Cover 2, or Chuck Pagano and Dick Lebeau are just brilliant defensive minds. That being said, I will digress and go on to my next topic: the pass rush. In reality, we had four sacks on the Colts and probably would have had more if Luck weren't so mobile in the pocket. I was particularly impressed with Henry Melton; I really think he can be our new Tommie Harris if he stays healthy. Now that we have Paea back and relatively healthy, as well as Okoye again, there is no reason why this defensive line shouldn't become a monster this season. Whether it will become as dominant as the New York Giants line is debatable, but our NT and three-technique DTs are very good at pressuring the quarterback and stuffing the run. That being said, we need to average about three to four sacks per game if we're going to keep the opposing quarterbacks honest. As for the secondary, they're going to be hurting without a healthy and fully-operational Charles Tillman. That being said, we have an excellent alternative to him in Kelvin Hayden, but even he has struggled with the injury bug at times. I was most impressed with Tim Jennings and Chris Conte -- I knew Conte had a nose for the ball, but where in the hell did Jennings come from with those two interceptions? Last year, I think he only had two picks all season; he has now equaled that through one game. Major Wright did some good things, too. But, the weak point on the defense today was what has traditionally been a strength for the Bears, and that's the linebackers. Several of those big runs by the Colts wouldn't have happened had Urlacher been up and at-'em. That being said, we limited the running game of the Colts to 63 rushing yards, and I'll take that total everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

What do I expect out of the Bears/Packers game? Well, I expect a high-scoring affair, with our defense struggling against Rodgers' passing but thriving on stuffing the run. This may sound like pie in the sky with the fact that we will probably stuff their running game much we did the Colts, but the fact of the matter is that Rodgers serves as both a deep threat and a threat to dink-and-dunk the ball off for short games similar to a "hybrid running game." I think the Bears will win, but will be close.

99, I feel a little better just because I wasn't sure what to expect. A win is a win & it was fun to be at a game when we score 41 points. 1-0 was a must going to GB next week.

Having said that there were several plays that were there for the Colts to make & they didn't make them. Under thrown passes, over thrown passes, dropped passes, all in key situations that could've made this a much tighter game. We also had too many penalties, inconsistent run blocking & guys left wide open by our D. We'll have to play much better @ GB to get a win as they would be 0-2 if we kick their butt. Ask me again on Friday!

We'll be fine. I really think that things will settle down. Remember that the Packers had more than their share of penalties in the 49ers game. I don't think penalties will be all that big of a deal. We just had to get our first game jitters out of us.