Bears Gameday Thread

I started some thoughts mid-week to try to get a good pregame going. No idea if people read this, and it's not really "done" by any means, and this is incomplete and mid-formatted without most matchups done, but here it is:

Right or wrong, it’s personal with Chicago

Carolina and Chicago have had a long history for the last decade. Bears GM Jerry Angelo has been in charge that long, and Marty Hurney was elevated a year later.

The Bears grabbed Muhsin Muhammad when he came free after a contract dispute, only hours into being available. They signed CB Ricky Marshall in restricted free agency a year later. Then Carolina got involved, trading for S Chris Harris, who would be traded back three years later for current starting WLB Jason Williams. Chicago was famously the landing spot for Julius Peppers in free agency. This offseason, Carolina traded for TE Greg Olsen and hired former DC Ron Rivera as head coach, the stakes in this relationship getting higher.

The teams also had a pair of lopsided victories in 2005, with the Panthers being the ones doing the beating in the playoffs. The win against the Bears in 2008 helped signal that Carolina was a contender. It’s the type situation that, if the two teams played more often, would become volatile.

Rivera, of course, was a career Bear, and then made fame as a top notch coordinator with them under Lovie Smith. After numerous interviews, no head coach jobs came, and then Rivera’s contract wasn’t renewed in what many feel was an unfair move by Smith. Replacement Bob Babich wasn’t as good, and eventually Rod Marinelli came aboard in time to save the day.

There’s plenty of talk this week about Olsen leaving because they chose not to use him correctly – it’s still odd to look at the Coryell principles and see a tight end suffering, but OC Mike Martz is famous for neglect of the position (as was Dan Henning, another Coryell guy, who runs it quite differently). There’s enough on the line just with Rivera and Olsen, two guys who had significant ties with the Bears not long ago.

Outside of the Carolina/Chicago intertwining, it’s still odd that Smith hired so much volatility within his own staff. Martz worked for Marinelli, and was fired; the team then went 0-16 and Marinelli was fired, too. Smith and OL coach Mike Tice were once rivals. Babich replaced Rivera, and still (awkwardly) works under Marinelli.



The Bears’ defense is typical, and well known, both in personnel and in scheme. Tampa-2 afficionados Smith and Rod Marinelli have two basic shells – Tampa C2, in which the MLB drops deeper to create a shallow cover 3 look, and a Cover 1 Robber look with the strong safety playing up. C1 Robber you would recognize from 2009 here with Ron Meeks – think Chris Harris near the line when they’d roll Hollis Thomas out long enough to stop the run for a play or two and get back out. There’s not a lot of variation in their defense, there’s a lot of underneath zone.

So, a lot of room for Steve Smith, in theory. You may see them shade coverage toward Smith, or since Carolina will isolate Smith on one side at times and put two or three receivers to the other side, they may disguise cover two to play a typical double coverage on Smith. Cam Newton was 10 of 15 on deep passes before Jacksonville, when nothing seemed to work for a while; obviously Newton’s consistency will be a key part in the deep game, but plays can be made.




On offense, the Bears are typical Coryell – power running, deep passing, with a guy going deep on almost any play and tiered options shorter. They feature lanky receivers who often have option routes based on how the corners line up, and move those receivers all around – so in a scheme like Carolina’s where the corners stay put, you have to know every receiver well (it’s a tradeoff versus using man principles in a zone scheme and the confusion of who has the #1 man when reading the outside, regarding the safety assignments.



In the end, I think Carolina knows Chicago more than Chicago knows Carolina. If there's any consistency to the passing game, it can be a decisive victory - otherwise, it's wide open.

 

I think Carolina wins. I don't think this is going to be Martz's "get right" week. They can run for 500 yards, but if Cutler doesn't stay upright, they lose. Their offensive line is terrible, and Gabe is out.

Wish Todd Collins was still with them.

 

Following are the Panthers' inactives: QB Jimmy Clausen, CB Chris Gamble, FB Richie Brockel, LB Jason Phillips, DT Andre Neblett, OT Lee Ziemba and DT Frank Kearse.

 

Good read Magnus. Thank you.

 

Pilares active and practicing punt returns in pregame.

person Person twitter

 

yep....nice breakdown Mags.

hate to see Clausen inactive.

 

This would be a positive thing, IMO.

 

Yup.


Urlacher dropping should keeping Olsen in check on those seam routes, plus I think they will devote extra attention to Smitty, so it would be a really great time for LaFell to have a strong game on the other side. I expect lots of dump offs to the backs and Shockey, then a lot of passes forced to Steve. On defense, the key is obviously Forte. The Bears have been pass-heavy the last couple of weeks, so they're going to be focused on getting the running game going, while Forte is also a good receiver out of the backfield. Knox has moved into their starting lineup over Roy Williams, so that gives them a little more speed. Given the one on ones, whoever covers him will have to make sure he's brought down after the catch. I don't want to see any medium passes becoming long touchdowns like Jordy Nelson.

 

Stewart is strong out of the backfield in passing situations (pass pro, screens, swing routes)....Been a good surprise, given the lack of success on the ground.

I would suspect a couple gadgets come out of Chud's sack today.