• 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!

Then he gives his playoff predictions.  That’s where the love gets a little bit much.  He picks the Vikings and Packers to both win Wild Card games, then the Packers to win their divisional round game while the Bears down the Vikings in theirs.  Then he has the dream matchup that we would all love to see, a Bears-Packers NFC Championship.  Who wins that?  The Bears of course.  Eventually whatever paint he was huffing must have run out, since he finally has the Bears choking in the Super Bowl to the Patriots.

While it seems like I’m hating on my beloved Bears a little bit, King’s predictions are a little over the top.  Cutler definitely makes this team better, but I think he might be blinding some analysts to the fact that our offensive line is average at best, our defensive line is a huge question mark, and our secondary has more holes than a slice of swiss cheese.  All that being said, the NFL is a crazy league with a lot of unpredictable runs by teams.  The Bears definitely have the talent on both sides of the ball to play deep into the playoffs.  Only time will tell if King was crazy or prophetic, but either way its good to see “experts” think the Bears are a legitimate contender this season.

I have a feeling that this season will be a wild ride one way or another, so hang on to your hats Bears fans.

h/t: Adam