Bear Down Baffa

“And the bass keeps runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and…”

I’m not a big fan of the Black Eyed Peas, but the Bears certainly “got it started in here” on Sunday.  We woke up running, got on the bus running, got off the bus running, and came out of the locker room running – running like the nose of a fevered cokehead cutting an onion in a blizzard.  And it wasn’t limited to the offense.  The team introduced the Special Teams squad during pre-game festivities, which Lovie tries to do twice a season.  And if this game were a novel, that act would be considered foreshadowing – much like the Tea Party Debates have foreshadowed the forthcoming Armageddon.

“Seven” Hester Sets Soldierz Aflame During Introductions

Our first drive consisted of 8 straight runs for 78 yards, and led to a FG that wiped out Carolina’s only lead.  D.J. Moore then ran an interception back 20 yards for a TD.  And after Hester ran a kickoff back 73 yards, Forte ran it in from the 17 to give us the lead for good early in the second quarter.  And for good measure, Hester ran the next punt back 69 yards for our third TD in under 7 minutes, giving us 24 points on only 2 possessions.  At that point, we had 276 all purpose yards – 142 from Hester, and only 15 through the air.

Hester en Route to his NFL-Best 15th All-Time Return TD 

Phaseology
Offensively, it was all about the run.  We ran on 31 of our 49 plays, and amassed 224 net rushing yards (our most in 23 years) to only 93 passing.  Forte had a career high 205 yards (over 200 more than last week) on 25 carries for an average of more than 8 per carry.  His previous best of 166 yards (on 22 runs) was in Carolina last year.  He joined Walter Payton (275 and 205) and Gale Sayers (205) as the only Bears to run for 200 yards in a game.  However, in the post game press conference, Forte blew multiple opportunities to give the glory to God, instead giving it to his offensive line.

Forte Ties Sweetness’s 2nd and Sayers’ Best Games of 205 Yards

We allowed only one sack, one turnover and punted only 4 times.  Cutler didn’t throw a pass until the second quarter, and he didn’t throw his second pass until almost the 25 minute mark.  Overall he was only 9 of 17 for 102 yards with no TD’s, 1 INT and a 46.7 QBR.  But of his 8 incompletions, 2 were thrown away to avoid a sack, 5 were catchable (and either dropped or the defense made a play), and one was picked.  But the INT went right through TE Adams’s fingers, and it didn’t lead to any points for the Panthers.  So overall, the Butler played well.

Trying to be Obama-esque, Cutler Makes Left-Handed Pass

Special Teams was all Bears.  We made the most of our opportunities, gaining 199 yards on only 4 returns (a 50 yard average), while Carolina had 152 on 8 returns (19 per).  Gould was 2 for 2, while Carolina’s Mare was 2-4, missing a FG and having 1 blocked by Pepp.

Peppers Gets OJ’s Isotoner Glove on FG Attempt

Defensively, we gave up 543 total yards – 226 more than we had.  But Carolina ran 50% more plays than we did (72-49) and we were protecting a lead almost three quarters of the game.  We did allow a rookie QB to throw for 375 yards, but it was his second lowest total in 4 games, and he threw almost 50 passes.  And we did have a pick-6 while holding them to 2 for 12 on third downs.

If You’re Really Superman, Wouldn’t You Have Won the Game?

Steve Smith accounted for a third of the Panthers yardage, with 181 yards on 8 catches after averaging 161 yards in 3 previous match-ups with the Bears.  Surprisingly, this was the first time we’ve faced him since the 1/15/06 divisional playoff fiasco when he had 12 catches for 218 yards and 2 TD’s.

Steve Smith Runs Amuck for the Carolina Steve Smith’s 

Free Speech
During the game, I was reminded how nice it is to be an American again after Brian Billick quoted two-time Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:  “There are known knowns, there are known unknowns, and there are unknown unknowns.”  No wonder we’re still in Iraq.  One known known is that Rummy is a complete and utter buffoon.  Speaking of buffoons…

Tiki and Ronde’s Brother Marion Protecting His Injured Calf 

Oh Roy
Roy Williams made his return to action after missing the last 2 games, catching one forgettable pass.  Apparently when Williams signals a first down this year, he’s actually signaling that he’s only good for one catch a week.

Williams Celebrating Mediocrity With Exuberance 

And Finally…
Hey Lovie, there’s no X in the word “especially.”  The ghetto called, they want their vernacular back.

The Last 2 Guys Who Should be Eating Fried Food 

Back to .500, and the beginning of a win streak that could/should run 12 more games.

Super Bowl, Super Bears! 

© 2011

This entry was posted on Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 1:47 pm and is filed under j) 2011 Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.