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Versus Houston the Bears Should Follow the Packers Lead............
Bears can get tips from Packers
BY ADAM L. JAHNS ajahns@suntimes.com November 8, 2012 10:33PM
FILE - This Sept. 13, 2012 file photo shows Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews sacking Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler during an NFL football game in Green Bay, Wis. Cutler's outburst aside, an all-too-familiar scene played out for the Bears during last week's loss to Green Bay. Their quarterback took a beating.(AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Updated: November 9, 2012 2:32AM
It’s all about the Green Bay Packers. They’re the common denominator for the Bears and Houston Texans, the only blemishes in their 7-1 records.
The Packers beat the Bears by beating up quarterback Jay Cutler. And they beat the Texans behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers. For the Bears, particularly Cutler, on Sunday night, success against the Texans might come down to what they see, learn and can use from those games with the Packers.
There’s no better opportunity for Cutler to silence his doubters than this nationally televised matchup. Can Cutler’s skills translate into an elite performance against an elite defensive opponent in a marquee game?
“Every week, it’s our goal to rattle the opposing quarterback, whether it be with batted balls [or] sacks,” Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt said in Houston this week. “You always want to make the quarterback do things he doesn’t want to do.”
The Bears’ success likely will come down to what Cutler can accomplish:
◆ The Texans are the only team that hasn’t allowed a rushing touchdown, and they’re limiting teams to 82.4 rushing yards per game, second-best in the NFL.
◆ The Texans’ defense leads the NFL in third-down efficiency at 26.47 percent. Heading into this week, Cutler is the 10th-best passer on third down, converting 61.3 percent of his passes with a 91.1 passer rating.
◆ Defensive highlights for the Bears might be at a minimum with the Texans adept at protecting the ball. Quarterback Matt Schaub has only four interceptions, and running back Arian Foster has carried the ball 192 times without a fumble.
◆ The Texans have outscored opponents 139-58 in the first half, the best mark in the NFL. Cutler has performed better in the second half of games, including his league-best 135.0 passer rating in the fourth quarter.
◆ The Texans are expected to blitz a ton. According to Pro Football Focus, Cutler has a 92.5 passer rating when blitzed.
Offensive coordinator Mike Tice said Cutler is carrying the Bears’ offense.
“You look at it, and he’s doing a great job for us in the second half and, of course, in the fourth quarter,” Tice said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve started well. We scored on the first series a couple of games ago. We scored on the second series a couple of weeks ago.
“We just need to put a couple of drives together. We need to get that rhythm.”
Cutler never found it against the Packers and their 3-4 scheme, which is very similar to the Texans’ defense. “[The Texans] present a lot of challenges,” Cutler said.
The Packers were able to neutralize wide receiver Brandon Marshall by using “two-man” coverage. Essentially, they had two safeties over the top while underneath man-to-man coverage was employed using a trail technique.
But the Bears’ offense has evolved since that Week 2 loss. Cutler and Co. have beaten other teams such as the Cowboys that use a 3-4 defense. For starters, Marshall is being used in more ways. Whether it’s lining up in the slot or going in motion, Marshall has found mismatches, and Cutler has found him.
“They’re top of the league when they’re going,” Texans safety Glover Quin said.
The Bears believe they do well against “single-high” man-to-man coverage (one safety over the middle). The Texans used that against the Packers at times and were burned.
Cutler made sure to closely watch film of the Packers’ 42-24 thumping of the Texans on Oct. 14. “We like to run the ball a little bit more than Green Bay does,” Cutler said. “They’ve been in their offense for a long time, and they do a really good job at it. We’ll take bits and pieces from teams and see what’s successful and what translates into our offense.”
An 8-1 record might depend on that translation.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Junior Member
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The Texans are expected to blitz a ton. According to Pro Football Focus, Cutler has a 92.5 passer rating when blitzed. This is an interesting stat. A reading of this could mean that Cutler recognizes the blitz and adjusts accordingly. When there is not a blitz, Cutler does not adjust make an adjustment and the line cannot give him time even without blitzers?
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Well I would think that watching how the Packers attacked Houston would be a really good idea. Putting up 42 points against that defense took some real effort and some luck. Hopefully we'll get both too.
Based on how well those guys protect a football this would be a bad week to be looking over at the defense and expecting them to produce even more miracles. If there was ever a game when the offense needed to prove that they've come in prepared and are growing stronger as a unit this would be the week.
As good as Houston is at running and controlling the ball and as good as they rush the passer this is not a game the Bears want to get out of control early so scoring some first half points and preventing them from doing the same is the order of the day for Sunday night. If we can't do that then this game may be over by halftime.
If they blitz a lot Cutler needs to see his "hot reads" and we need to set up screens to Forte and get them blocked. I think we're gonna need to find ways to move the ball through the air because they're not gonna be very easy to run against at least for Forte. We may have better success running Bush straight at them than trying to get outside with Forte or by creating cutback lanes. It's tough to get those against 3-4 fronts.
If they double Marshall that leaves a single Safety high so running Davis up the seam could produce a big play or two. I don't think any SS or LB can match up with his size or his speed when he runs that kind of route. This is a game where he and Bennett can help take up some slack.
The other key should be focusing in scoring in the red zone and that's gonna take better play calling at use of the weapons at hand. Losing out on four points for every drive we have stopped inside the 20 would be costing us games if the defense hadn't been playing as well and opportunistically as it has.
Time for the offense to "grow up" and win one. That's how the Packers beat them and we need to go to school on that.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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The first key to winning this game is to believe that we will win. All great teams are humble, but also quietly confident they have what it takes to come away from any game with a win. The Bears have to believe that, or they've already lost.
The second key is to look at all of the game footage of the Texans from past wins this season. They have been in many close games. Yeah, they beat Denver on the road and whipped the hell out of the Ravens, but neither one of those teams are as good as we are, and are probably not even as good as the Packers. We need to be confident again in the weapons we do have and secure in the knowledge that with our weapons, we can match up well against the Texans. Look no further than the previous week's game against Buffalo and how the offense struggled against a woeful Bills defense.
The third key is to execute game strategy as needed. The Bears have the best defense in the NFL, so I don't really get where people get off telling Bears fans that our team doesn't have the goods to beat teams like Houston, San Francisco, and Green Bay. In fact, we should be 8-0 right now and well on our way to competing for a ninth consecutive victory if it wasn't for a poorly devised and executed game plan by Tice and the offense. If we learn from mistakes of the past, prepare for our opponents accordingly, and just go out and have fun, we'll win.
And those, my friends, are the keys to victory.
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High Fives / Like - 3 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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I know it's a football cliche, but we just need to avoid beating ourselves. Seriously. If we have some of the self-inflicted wounds of recent games, then it's going to make it hard to win. But that's the beauty of this. These are "fixable" things. We've talked these things to death, but it's true that if we simply stop the stupid plays.
Wouldn't it be GREAT for the team to finally put together 4 quarters of smart football on offense? Even with our oline woes, I believe this is possible.
Brian Urlacher
Thanks For The Memories
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High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
JustAnotherBearsFan99 
I know it's a football cliche, but we just need to avoid beating ourselves. Seriously. If we have some of the self-inflicted wounds of recent games, then it's going to make it hard to win. But that's the beauty of this. These are "fixable" things. We've talked these things to death, but it's true that if we simply stop the stupid plays.
Wouldn't it be GREAT for the team to finally put together 4 quarters of smart football on offense? Even with our oline woes, I believe this is possible.
Yeah all those foot wounds heal slowly and the ammo is expensive. 
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Junior Member
Originally Posted by
Dagan81 The first key to winning this game is to believe that we will win. All great teams are humble, but also quietly confident they have what it takes to come away from any game with a win. The Bears have to believe that, or they've already lost.
The second key is to look at all of the game footage of the Texans from past wins this season. They have been in many close games. Yeah, they beat Denver on the road and whipped the hell out of the Ravens, but neither one of those teams are as good as we are, and are probably not even as good as the Packers. We need to be confident again in the weapons we do have and secure in the knowledge that with our weapons, we can match up well against the Texans. Look no further than the previous week's game against Buffalo and how the offense struggled against a woeful Bills defense.
The third key is to execute game strategy as needed. The Bears have the best defense in the NFL, so I don't really get where people get off telling Bears fans that our team doesn't have the goods to beat teams like Houston, San Francisco, and Green Bay. In fact, we should be 8-0 right now and well on our way to competing for a ninth consecutive victory if it wasn't for a poorly devised and executed game plan by Tice and the offense. If we learn from mistakes of the past, prepare for our opponents accordingly, and just go out and have fun, we'll win.
And those, my friends, are the keys to victory.
Nevermind....... I will stay respectful.
Last edited by Texan Pride; 11-11-2012 at 03:00 PM.
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