Thank you flex schedule. Because of the flex schedule I’ll be able to watch my beloved Bears finish off their season, and hopefully Brett Favre’s career. I say hopefully Brett Favre’s career not because I don’t like him. That’s precisely why I want him to finally retire. It’s time, but that’s fodder for another post. Back to the game. Sunday’s game is pretty much meaningless for the Bears, but the Packers may actually have something to play for. They’re mathematically still alive in the hunt for the final wildcard spot in the NFC. I hope they don’t make the playoffs. Not because I’m a Bears fan, but because I don’t think I can handle all of the mushing and gushing over Brett Favre and his career. And I think the Packers are pretty much brutal.

What can we expect from the Bears? Will Lovie give Brian Griese some more snaps in the game to make sure he’s sharp for the playoffs if he would need to be called into action? I think there’s a good chance we’ll see Griese for at least a quarter. I think it’s a great idea. And I think it was a great play for Lovie to make last week. I was obvious that it wasn’t punishment. Grossman had a pretty good game, he took him out and gave Griese a chance to get some game experience. I also expect to see a lot of Cedric Benson, and Adrian Peterson. The offense just needs to make sure and not lose the ground that they’ve gained over the last couple of weeks. They’ve looked like a professional offense.

On the defensive side of the ball, they need to get a grip. The Bears defense will get Tank Johnson and Peanut Tillman back this week which will hopefully help shore up the defense. The have fallen from the being the best defense in the league to the fifth rated defense, and that’s just in the last four weeks. Of course, being the fifth rated defense isn’t bad, but the way and the rate in which they’ve fallen is what is alarming. Of course we can point out that injuries, and pressure could have played a role. I also think that some overconfidence crept in. Hopefully it’s not one of those things that has slipped so far, there’s no reeling it back in.

The Bears offense now and the Bears defense from the beginning of the season will take them to the Superbowl. Can they maintain their offense? And regain the defensive production they had when they shut out the Packers in week 1?

The Lions are bad, really bad. With Kevin Jones now out for the year, they do not have a legit running attack, and John Kitna will be at the helm of the Lions passing game. They have some decent options at wideout, Roy Williams and Mike Furrey, but the lack of a running game will allow for the Bears to key in on the pass. I anticipate the Bears sending some timely blitzes to disrupt Kitna’s rhythm. This is a game where the Bears defense can, and should get back on track. The last 2 games the defense has looked weak, and tired. They need to snap out of it, and get back to the hungry, ball-hawking defense that we all had seen this year. If it’s a matter of the defense believing their own press, Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Ron Rivera need to help them to understand that it doesn’t mean anything to be called the best defense. The only way this team will be remember in the same breath as the 85 Bears, and the Ravens defense of the 2000, will be for them to take this team to the Superbowl. To get to that level they’ll need to return to the level of play that has kept them in games while the offense has sputtered.

The offense doesn’t seem to be sputtering anymore. It seems like Rex and the boys have gotten themselves on track. Grossman has completed passes to 7 different receivers each of the last 2 weeks. Last week hooking up with TE Desmond Clark seven times for 125 yards and 2 TDs. Thomas Jones, and Cedric Benson are sharing the ball carrying duties as of late. Both have amassed over 50 yards in the past 2 games. It seems like balance is the name of the game for Ron Turner and the Bears offense. Not only between run and pass, but also the players that are running, and receiving the passes. It keeps everyone involved. And it keeps Rex Grossman out of a rut. I’m sure this plan will continue this week. Building on their recent success, and planning for the playoffs.

As for the Lions, they have enough troubles on the field that they don’t need the distractions of their defensive line coach Joe Cullen, who was suspended for this Sunday’s game following an incident with the police where he was cited for driving while intoxicated, and driving while nude. Now, I don’t get why anyone would drive nude, drunk or sober, but this guy has a history of this behavior. He needs help. And so do the Lions.

This is what I’ve been afraid of. The Bears defense has not only showed signs of faltering, Sunday, they nearly let the lowly Buccaneers back into a game where they were ahead 24-3 in the third quarter. This is not ok if the Bears hope to progress deep into the playoffs. Todays narrow overtime victory, coupled with New Orleans unlikely loss to the Redskins, secures the Bears homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Bears defense was definitely not playing at full strength. The Bears were without their starting defensive tackles for 2 very different reasons. Tommie Harris is out for the remainder of the season with a torn hamstring, while Tank Johnson had some legal problems this week followed up with the death of his friend/bodyguard outside of a club late Friday night. That didn’t hurt their run defense though, they ended up only surrendering only 57 yards on the ground. It was through the air where the Bears felt the pain. Tampa Bay backup QB Tim Rattay passed for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns. The hole in the lineup left by Nathan Vasher, who was inactive for Sunday’s game, definitely was felt by the secondary. Touchdown passes to Joey Galloway (64 yards) and Ike Hilliard (44 yards) exposed the Bears pass defense. If the front seven of the defense can’t pressure the quarterback, Ron Rivera is forced to send guys from the secondary in on blitzes. Sunday, Ricky Manning Jr. was able to sack the QB twice and force a fumble. When the defensive backs have to blitz, it leaves the rest of the secondary exposed. Even when the opposing quarterback is Tim Rattay.

Rattay’s counterpart, Rex Grossman had another solid performance (29/44 for 339 yards and 2 TDs). The completions and yards were both career highs for Grossman. I think it’s too soon for me to jump back on the bandwagon. I need to see Grossman close out the year continuing to improve and build upon what he’s learned this year. One game against a sub par defense won’t convince me that Rex is back to his early season form. Of course, I like that he’s not throwing picks, and seems to be making the right decisions. I’m still skeptical of Grossman and his decision making abilities, but I think that going into the playoffs with confidence and in a rhythm can really be something that takes a team from good to great, and possibly Super Bowl Champions.

So let’s recap: Rex Grossman saved his job, Devin Hester might have wrapped up the Rookie of the Year award, the Bears defense showed that it’s not impenetrable. Next. No, let’s dig a little deeper here after the knocked off the Rams 42-27 on Monday Night Football.

Rex Grossman came out and showed that he is, in fact, a capable quarterback. He didn’t light the Rams up. Truth be told, he didn’t need to. He did however make some really nice plays. Whether pulling the ball down and running for a first down, or putting the perfect touch on the a beautifully thrown ball to Muhsin Muhammad, Rex Grossman had a fine evening. He threw for 200 yards and 2 scores, but most importantly no interceptions. Ron Turner and the Bears coaching staff gave him a game plan that he could both work with and trust. I think that was the key for Grossman tonight. And Joe Theisman (who I can’t stand) said about a million times, he didn’t have to think about the game. He just took it as it came. I have to admit, I was a little worried when the ball was stripped from his hand, but ruled an incomplete pass. We’ve seen that before. It’s a sign of bad things coming. But the Bears and Rex kept their composure and continued to play well.

The offense didn’t light the field on fire. But as we’ve seen, it doesn’t have to. But they played a really solid game. Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson carried the ball well against a terrible Rams rush defense. Adrian Petersen came in as a change of pace back, and broke a couple really nice plays. One thing that I really like to see is that Rex completed a pass to 7 different receivers. I feel like that means he was able to get into the flow of the game and take what was given to him by the defense.

The defense on the other hand looked very shakey. I know that they’re a little banged up with Nathan Vasher and Tommie Harris out, but they didn’t look good. They got beat long, and short by the Rams passing attack and Stephen Jackson was tearing off big chunks of yards. What does this all mean? Probably nothing. The Bears were ahead the entire second half. But it does worry me that they seemed to lose interest. That’s not the way championship teams do it. Champions close it out. The Bears need to resist the temptation of coasting the rest of the regular season. They did that last year and got burned by Carolina. That cannot happen again.

So I’ll try and close this. The Bears wrapped up a first round bye in the playoffs. That’s good. The offense got on track. That’s really good.
The defense looked wobbly. That’s not so good, but I hope they’ll be able to stay focused and finish the season strong.

All-in-all a good game by the Bears. I look for 3 more of these to finish the regular season against the weak Buccaneers, Lions, and Packers.

Can Rex Grossman turn it around? That’s the question that Bears fans have to ask. If he can, the Bears are looking at a first round bye and a road to the Super Bowl that will be paved with weak NFC teams. That would be a good thing. If Grossman doesn’t regain his early season form, the Bears are just one of those weak NFC teams vying for a Super Bowl birth.

That brings us to this Monday’s game against the Rams. Rex Grossman is the only quarterback in this game who has been having some difficulties. Marc Bulger has throw 3 TDs and 6 interceptions in his last 4 games. Granted, that’s better than Rex (8 TDs and 14 INTs over the last 7 games), but still not what you want from your quarterback.

By the time the Bears take the field, they will know if they can wrap up a first round bye in the playoffs. Dallas and Seattle would both have to lose on Sunday for that to be a possibility.

The Bears offense, the source of all their woes enters this game in the middle of the pack in terms of rankings. Their rushing attack is 17th in the league, and their passing is ranked 18th. However, the Rams defense is ranked 31st against the run. A great sign for Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. Look for them to have big days against the feeble defense of the Rams. And to totally be a broken record about this, spread the field with long passes to Bernard Berrian and now Mark Bradley as well. It will open up the offense and give Rex a chance to make a splash. Ron Turner and the Bears offense needs to stop throwing so many crossing routes. Those seem to be the ones that are getting picked off. I’m not sure if Rex hasn’t learned the coverages, or if he’s just making bad decisions, but it needs to stop. The play calling can help him out a bit on this one. Call plays that will give him confidence, where he doesn’t need to think too much.

On the other side of the ball, the Rams will bring their 7th ranked passing attack against the Bears 2nd rated passing defense. St. Louis might want to lean more heavily on their workhorse running back, Stephen Jackson, to try to expose the hole left by the hamstring injury of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris. Harris will be out, most likely, for the rest of the season. The Bears will call upon Alfonso Boone and Ian Scott to take Harris’ place. For the Bears to have success stopping the run on Monday night, Boone and Scott will need to step up and keep the Rams offensive lineman off of the Bears linebackers.

The Bears locked up the NFC North division with a win today at home against the Minnesota Vikings. However in the win Rex Grossman sucked it. Three more picks. Makes a guy long for Chad Hutchinson. Okay, not really, but at least for a competent quarterback. Am I sure that Brian Griese is that guy? Not at all. I am however, fairly confident that he wouldn’t throw so many picks.

Both passing offenses were terrible today. The weather conditions may have had something to do with that, but I think it had more to do with the fact that Rex Grossman is young, and forcing everything about his game, and Brad Johnson is old and not very good. Minnesota’s running game was strong but only managed one score. As usual the Bears defense was the story with 3 sacks, 4 interceptions (Ricky Manning Jr. returned one for a touchdown), and 2 forced fumbles. Devin Hester and the special teams unit did there part by scoring a touchdown on a 45 yard punt return.

Like I’ve said before, it won’t be long until the defense and special teams starts to turn on their offense and more specifically their quarterback Grossman. Everyone seems to be acting all nice right now, and as long as they keep winning that can continue, but when the Bears start losing because of it on a consistent basis, I think you’ll start to hear Brian Urlancher and friends start to speak up about how the offense hasn’t performed.

Thankfully the Bears have a fairly easy schedule remaining. They face St. Louis next week on Monday night.