Take that Rick Morrissey!  You and your fellow Bears-hating alarmists are not welcome here.  Although things weren’t perfect, the game was exciting and fun.  The Bears showed a lot of good things.  Bullet points?  You know you want them…

• Jay Cutler looked excellent.  After looking  like garbage in the first quarter, he took off finishing with 236 yards on 27/38 passing.  Oh and don’t forget the 2 touchdowns and 0 picks.  His QB rating was 104.7, which is significantly closer to his 86.2 career average than that 43.2 he dropped last week.  Kool-Aiiiidddd.
• Johnny who?  Knox?  The rookie proved why the Bears kept him on the roster this season with some spectacular catches.  Although he dropped a few passes early and still has a long way to go, there’s no reason to think he won’t develop into the kind of mediocre receiver we love to get excited about in Chicago.
• Tommie Harris did something.  I know it was just one tackle for a loss, but it was awesome.  Although the defensive line was not perfect, it sure looked good against the run (besides that one big gain by Mendenhall).  Alex Brown had a hell of a game, but he sprained his ankle towards the end of the 4th.  Rod Marinellil for MVP after making the 2008 Bears defensive line look like the 2006 Bears defensive line?  I would say so.
• Greg Olsen and Matt Forte–Non-factors.  Some combination of Ron and Lovie entirely abandoning the running game (38 passes and 18 rushes), and defenses double-teaming Olsen and/or stacking 8 in the box is completely taking these two out of the game.  If Cutler can make defenses pay for this strategy with his arm, then so be it.  I mean its hard to complain after last night, but couldn’t we run just a little more than 1/3 of the time?  Maybe like 40%?  Or even 50%?
• Fine, I’ll admit Pittsburgh blew a few opportunities, but credit goes to the Bears defense for standing them up for some tough long field goals in sideways Soldier Field rain.  Some national media members are saying the Bears stole this one from the Steelers, but the Bears created the opportunities they had, and took advantage of them.  Pittsburgh did the opposite.  Give credit where credit is due.
• Robbie Gould does it again.  I love that guy.  My brother and I always marvel at his pre-game warm-up rituals which are evidence of why and how he has been so successful and accurate.  He lines up the ball in the back corner of the endzone parallel with the goal-posts and kicks ball after ball at the post to practice accuracy.  He rarely misses.  We saw him hit 12 in a row once.
• Hunter Hillenmeyer is not Brian Urlacher.  He’s not great, or even good really.  That being said, he is definitely serviceable, and proved that he can plug the whole decently in the absence of the great #54.  Roach also did a good job, although hopefully we get Pisa back soon.

Next week the Bears travel to Seattle for a winnable game against the Seahawks.  While the Vikings won again, Green Bay took a loss to Carson Palmer and the Bengals.  If the Bears can get to 2-1, they will be in great shape going forward in the NFC North.  Bear Down!

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Tags: Alex Brown, Hunter Hillenmeyer, Jay Cutler, Johnny Knox, NFC North, Robbie Gould, Tommie Harris