By Steven Suarez

Jay Cutler and the Bears opened the new NFL picks season with an emphatic win over the Atlanta Falcons. They’ll look to keep the good times rolling over the next few weeks even though some powerhouses stand in their way.

Chicago fans could not have asked for much more from their team in Week 1 of the 2011/12 NFL season.

The Bears jumped on the Falcons from the get-go, racing to a 16-3 halftime lead and finishing up strong in a 30-12 beatdown of a team that went 13-3 last season.

QB Jay Cutler threw for 312 yards and two TDs, but the day belonged to running back Matt Forte, who accumulated 158 total yards on offense. That included a 56-yard reception that he took to the house.

Reliable kicker Robbie Gould was money on all three of his field goals and the Bears also were able to keep a potent Atlanta offense at bay. Brian Urlacher returned a fumble for another Chicago touchdown in the victory.

One week down, 15 to go

In a division that features the defending Super Bowl champs (Green Bay Packers) and an up-and-coming team (Detroit Lions), the Bears needed a good start to their season and did well to manage a Week 1 W, over a very strong team no less.

Up this weekend though will be a daunting trip to the Big Easy to take on the explosive New Orleans Saints.

For their Week 2 road game, Chicago is the clear underdog in the eyes of the top sportsbooks , listed as high as 8-point pups.

The Saints showed in their Week 1 loss to the Packers that they will be able to hang with anyone offensively, with QB Drew Brees making some phenomenal plays down the stretch to keep his team in it.

Getting out of New Orleans with another win would be a huge coup for the Bears, but perhaps it’s not as far-fetched as people may think. Lovie Smith’s crew did tie for second in the NFL last season with an admirable 6-2 road record.

Storied rivals take to the gridiron in the Windy City

After the Saints comes another enormous obstacle for the Bears as they must try to contain Aaron Rodgers and the Packers at home in Week 3 in what will be a rematch of the 2010 NFC Championship Game.

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will surely try to come up with a viable game-plan to slow Green Bay down, but Rodgers has quickly become one of the NFL’s elite players and has plenty of weapons at his disposal on offense, so we wish Marinelli the best of luck with that venture.

Playing such a key divisional game at Soldier Field will be a significant advantage for the Bears, knowing that they won this corresponding matchup last season in a close 20-17 outcome, thanks in large part to a mistake-filled performance from the reigning champions.

The Bears then get a slight reprieve in Week 4 when they will host the Carolina Panthers as the favorites in the football odds. The Panthers have handed the reigns to Cam Newton and he came through with a record-breaking outing in his professional debut against the Arizona Cardinals.

Two easier matchups on the horizon in Week 4 and 5

Still, in terms of NFL picks this is a game that the Bears really should win. Look for their stingy defense to pressure Newton into making mistakes from the beginning and from there Jay Cutler should take care of business versus a susceptible Panthers defensive unit.

In Week 5 another tricky divisional game is on the schedule, this time a road game against the Detroit Lions.

Detroit could very well be a contender in the NFC North this season as evident by an impressive 27-20 road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1. So long as Matthew Stafford stays healthy, the Lions will score plenty of points.

If last season is anything to go by then the Bears may be the NFL pick here, given they won both games over the Lions in 2010. However, the two meetings were decided by a combined total of only nine points and Detroit seems to be much-improved now.

As evident, the next couple of weeks (@ NO, vs. GB) are going to be a huge test for the Bears – they’ll be fortunate to win even one of those games – but they then have four winnable games (vs. CAR, @ DET, vs. MIN, @ TB) before their BYE in Week 8.

There’s no doubt it was an ideal start for Lovie Smith’s gang in Week 1, but we’ll see what this team is really made of over the next month.

I was just sitting around thinking, “Hey, what could make this Bears season even worse?”  With the poor play on both sides of the ball, an embattled stubborn coach being stabbed in the back by ownership, and a bleak future with the Bears having dealt their 1st and 2nd round picks for next season, there is really only one thing that the scenario is missing: Drama.  And who better than an injured Brian Urlacher to make it happen.  Apparently he feels that Cutler may be good, but he has created a new identity for the team and this new identity is what’s causing all the losing.  Here’s what Brian had to say:

“Look, I love Jay, and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him,” Urlacher said. “But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win. Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

Wow.  I mean Urlacher is not playing right now, but you know he is around the team and that he is still a respected figure in that locker room.  The last thing Jay needs now is for Urlacher to be questioning his leadership and what he brings to the team.  Not to mention that Urlacher is COMPLETELY WRONG.  He’s not wrong that the identity has changed, he’s wrong that somehow Kyle Orton was the key to that identity.  The key to that identity was a run game that was remotely functional and a good defense.  We have neither of those.  How would Orton’s “game management” make a difference?  Sure he could “manage” the Bears to a 37-10 loss, but at least Cutler gives us a shot at getting back in games.

Hey Brian, SHUT UP.

It looks like Brian Urlacher is making good use of all his free time since he was injured.  A new special that goes behind the scenes of his life will be airing on Comcast Sports Net this Friday at 7pm central.  According to Bear Goggles On (via Vizio), the show will be very revealing:

This week’s episode airs this Friday, October 9^th across all Fox Sports Net (FSN) regional networks and features Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher like he’s never been seen before.  Urlacher goes fishing with host Laura Okmin and speaks openly about his divorce, his children and a very ugly custody battle that led to contentious relationship with the media. He also reflects about his past as well as his future and how much longer he wants to play and the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

What about that one time he dated Paris Hilton for like 2 days and she came to a Bears game?  Will he talk about that?  Because other than that and his custody battle (didn’t he make his kids wear pink or something?), it seems that Urlacher is a pretty bland guy and he isn’t very interesting or exciting off the field.  I’m glad that’s the case, but it makes me even more intrigued about what kind of a guy he really is.  Based on this teaser promo, we might actually get a look:

Well I tried to be optimistic in my roundup of the Bears game this morning, but with news that Urlacher will likely miss the rest of the season rolling in, it’s hard not to think that God has it in for the Bears:

Brian Urlacher appears to be out for the season after dislocating his right wrist, the linebacker said Monday. The team has not given the official word, but Lovie Smith is expected to address the issue during his afternoon press conference.

Urlacher injured his wrist in the first quarter of Sunday’s 21-15 loss to the Packers. He was ruled out after halftime.

When asked about his status Monday, Urlacher said in a text message that his “season is over.”

He was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday morning upon the team’s arrival back in Chicago from Green Bay. A dislocated bone had to be surgerically put back in. The surgery might have revealed more extensive damage.

This development, coupled with Cutler’s 4 interceptions and Orton’s miracle interception-turned-game-winning-touchdown, make it hard not to think the football gods are against the Bears.  Let’s just pray the Bears official press conference this afternoon brings some good news about Urlacher’s wrist.

***UPDATE: He had the surgery and he will miss the rest of the season.  Goodbye slim chance of good news this afternoon.

• Scottie Pippen HANDLES Patrick Ewing.  Boom! [Pippen Ain't Easy]
• LeBron was in Chicago promoting his new shoes, and the Chicago-styled version looks really cool.  Not like cool in the way I would ever wear them, but cool to look at from a distance. [Docksquad]
• Lou has a theory about Marmol’s wildness: He’s overthrowing.  I have a theory: stop making theories and keep him on the bench until he gets it together. [Tribune]
• So apparently the whole Patrick Kane kicked the shit out of a cabbie story is overblown.  Considering it didn’t really affect my opinion of Kane or the Hawks in the first place, I’m having trouble caring. [Deadspin]
• How come when a player makes a couple million over his market value people go nuts, but when Trib execs make 70 million over their value to run a company into the ground, no one seems to have a problem with that? [WV23]
• Will someone please tell me what is going on with Tommie Harris’s knee? [Tribune]
• Quentin Richardson may be traded a 4th time this offseason.  Do you think he actually even looks into moving to these places, or jsut assumes he’ll only be there for 11 days or so? [TonyBlogs]
• I hadn’t heard this until now, but according to some sources, James Johnson’s work ethic is not stellar.  Some even think Gibson will outshine him in their roookie seasons because of the disparity in effort.  Yikes. [ChicagoNow]
• Is D-Wade contemplating a move to Chicago?  He did buy a house here, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot since he is from these parts. [Bulls Blog]
• The story of how Urlacher almost got killed at the bare hands of Bas Rutten back in 2006.  I don’t know if I buy the story the way Rutten tells it, but still a funny little anecdote. [Chicago's MMA]
• Remember when Steve Stone was so critical of the Cubs and Dusty Baker ran him out of town?  Well Brenly is starting to run his mouth a bit, and just like Stone the fans appreciate the honesty.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t upset Lou too much though, we wouldn’t want to see another good color guy run out of town.  [Bleacher Nation]

With Bears Camp opening this weekend, I thought this would be a good time to let you all in on a new website starting up dedicated solely to Jay Cutler and his off- and on-field shenanigans (hopefully winning shenanigans).  The site is called “Jay Cutler Superstar” and is written by one of the great Chicago sports bloggers out there, Matt Lo Cascio, also known for his work at Zoner Sports, Pippen Ain’t Easy, and Chicago’s MMA.

Anyways, I know I’ve been out of the loop for a few days and this is old news to most of you, but apparently ex-Bears shitty wide receiver Bobby Wade claims Urlacher called Jay Cutler a pussy.  The only controversy here seems to be one drummed up by the media, since Urlacher and Cutler get along just fine.  Here’s Jay Cutler Superstar‘s take on the whole situation:

Is it OK if I hope he did say it? Didn’t Buddy Ryan’s defense loathe Mike Ditka’s offense? And really, unless it affects the way Jay Cutler throws 15-yard outs, is it that big of a deal? Maybe. More likely it is not. But it all goes back to this: Chicago finally has a franchise QB. And we are all going to freak out about it.

I couldn’t agree more.  All we need is Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli giving each other black eyes in the locker room at halftime a la Ditka/Ryan and we’ll be back in the Super Bowl in no time.