Bears Grab Bag

As you can tell by the lack of posts lately, finals is upon us. As such I don't have a ton of time to write much so I'm going to old reliable: the bullet point post. Enjoy my random Bears thoughts.

• Matt Forte was the man against Jacksonville. He has been the man all year. What rookie wall? I haven't seen one. The kid pounds the ball week in and week out. He doesn't have any spectacular numbers in terms of yards per carry every single week, but he is effective in keeping the offense moving and most importantly keeping defenses honest. What he has been able to do for the passing game is impossible to measure, but it is very apparent if you watch the games.


• Playoff implications of Week 15 from ESPN.com-->1. Chicago loses to New Orleans on Thursday night. Minnesota wins at Arizona. Green Bay wins or loses at Jacksonville. Vikings win division. Packers eliminated from playoffs. Bears barely alive for a wild-card berth. From the best we can tell, the Bears would need 14 games around the league to fall their way in order to eventually make the playoffs as a 9-7 wild-card team. 2. Chicago wins. Minnesota wins. Green Bay wins or loses. Packers eliminated from playoffs. Vikings and Bears alive for division title and wild-card. 3. Chicago wins. Minnesota loses. Green Bay wins. Vikings and Bears tied for division lead. Everyone remains alive. (Ultimately, Vikings would win a tiebreaker with the Bears if both teams finish 9-7.) 4. Chicago loses. Minnesota loses. Green Bay loses. Packers eliminated. Bears need to win final two games and have Vikings lose final two in order to win division.


• Orton vs. Brees this week. Did you notice something they both have in common? Purdue quarterbacks. Somehow that school seems to recruit great QBs year in and year out. Both took a couple years to adjust to the pro game but both are having success. This isn't really important to the game, I just thought it was interesting.


• The Saints are 1-5 on the road this season and have yet to play a game in cold weather this year. Usually the cold weather games bode well for the Bears, but with the defense as it is this year, it doesn't make me as comfortable as it has in years past.


• I would talk about the wide receivers, but there's nothing to talk about. They suck. Oh yeah Booker has some broken ribs. Whatever. Get Orton some help.
  


• Let's talk about Danieal Manning. For all the weaknesses he appears to have, he has played exceptionally well the last three years, this year being no exception. He has emerged as the kickoff returner in place of Hester and he has hit the ground running. We dominated the field position game last week against Jacksonville and he was as much a reason for that as anyone else. Also defensively the kid has to change positions about 3-4 times a year. Not knowing your role on a team can be very difficult, but he has performed admirably. This year is the exception to that, however, since he has been at nickelback for almost the entire year. As I have always thought, having a set role has allowed him to grow as a player. My point: he has been excellent at nickelback. KEEP HIM THERE!