SB Nation - Hunter Hillenmeyer

Week 15 Preview: Bears (5-8) @ Ravens (7-6)

SackMan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:00:26 -0000

Hey, wait a second... that's the wrong Devin!

Lovie Smith, Ron Turner and Co. escape from the Chicago microscope for one weekend and head to Baltimore. The Ravens are a team fighting for a wild card birth, but the only wild card on the Bears is: which player will throw the coaching staff under the bus next? 3:15pm CT on FOX.

Week 14 Recap

The Ravens played host to the Lions last week... who were more than gracious guests, as they brought plenty of party gifts for the holidays. Detroit hand wrapped a 48-3 victory for their hosts, allowing the Ravens to score 6 TDs... including a 59 yard TD run by Ray Rice, and a 62 yard TD reception by Derrick Mason. Nearly all of the damage was done on the ground, as Baltimore racked up an incredible 308 yards rushing (I loved every bit of it, as I had Ray Rice in my fantasy lineup... and McGahee on my bench).

The Bears put themselves in a position to play spoiler and beat Green Bay at home, but ultimately fell short in a 21-14 loss. The highlights of the day were 13 penalties, two timeouts wasted on one lost challenge, and a team leading 8 catches and 1 TD for Devin Aromashodu... who basically wasn't allowed onto the field all season prior to this game. The long list of penalties, repeated mis-communication issues, bizarre coaching decisions and poor clock management have become a staple of the Chicago Bears 2009 season.

Quick Numbers:

3: Consecutive seasons without a playoff birth for the Bears
10: Million dollars remaining on Lovie Smith's contract through 2011.
2: Active roster game days for the Bears top draft pick, DL Jarron Gilbert
0: Active roster game days for the Bears 2nd highest draft pick, WR Juaquin Iglesias

Key Injuries:

CHI HC Lovie Smith (bruised ego) P
CHI LT Orlando Pace (way too old) Q
CHI DE Gaines Adams (missing in action) P

BAL - Half the roster is listed as questionable, most noteworthy are

S Ed Reed (hip/foot)
WR Derrick Mason (finger)
LB Terrell Suggs (knee)

When the Ravens have the ball.
The Ravens are a little similar to the Bears, in that they've been looking for a QB for forever, and finally got one in Joe Flacco. They also don't have a WR who's really worth a crap on their entire roster. However, this team can run the ball with the best of them. The Ravens are averaging 4.6 ypc, and have 19 rushing TDs. In comparison, the Bears are averaging 3.4 and how a lowly 6 TDs on the ground. RB Ray Rice is the center piece of the whole offense... leading the team in both rushing and receptions (ala Matt Forte version 2008). And, Willis McGahee vultures many of Rice's TDs in the red zone. When Flacco's looking anywhere but Rice's direction, he finds trusty veteran WR Derrick Mason, who wasn't even going to play this season, save for a last minute decision to push off retirement.

The key match-up for the Ravens: RB Ray Rice vs MLB Hunter Hillenmeyer
Rice is the Ravens #1 receiving option, and Hunter will have to shadow him in pass coverage all day. Considering that Hunter couldn't keep up with TEs during his career on the strong side, this should be interesting to say the least. Maybe Hunter can slow him down with savvy investment talk.

The X factor on offense for the Ravens: WR Mark Clayton
No... this isn't Dan Marino's Mark Clayton, but considering Derrick Mason's age, that wouldn't be impossible. Clayton is the Ravens best deep threat, and with the Bears atrocious safety combo, deep route runners are always a problem.

When the Bears have the ball.
In between the finger pointing from the players to the coaching staff, the offense will actually be be asked to run some plays as well. Perhaps this is the week that Cutler says "F" it, and starts calling his own plays in the huddle. Anything would be an improvement at this point. Will Devin Aromoshodu see continued action, after his career game last week? Or will he return back to his seat on the bench? Will some more changes happen on the offensive line? Or will the coaching staff stick to the crappy status quo? Sadly, these are the things we have to look forward to on Sunday.

The key match-up for the Bears: LT Chris Williams vs DE Trevor Pryce and OLB Jarret Johnson
All eyes are on Chris Williams, as we watch to see if he's really our LT of the future. Pryce and Johnson each have 6 sacks on the year, and should provide a decent test for the young tackle.

The X Factor on offense for the Bears: Contract Incentives
Who's got bonuses to make? Who's looking forward to testing the FA market? We'll see on Sunday.

Side notes from the NFC North:

The Bears season is lost, but the Vikings and Packers are fighting it out for the division crown, and both are likely to make the playoffs. That's sickening to me. I'll just leave it at there.

Friday Injury Report: Packers at Bears

Brandon — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:37:23 -0000

It's a fairly short injury report for the Green Bay Packers, only 9 players listed, but it includes the top 4 defensive lineman. The Bears report is even shorter, but it might expose their lack of depth at wide receiver.

For the Packers: the big story has been that their top 4 defensive lineman are listed on listed on the injury report. While technically true, the only player likely to miss the game is NT Ryan Pickett, who hasn't practiced all week as he tries to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered during the win on Monday night. NT B.J. Raji will slide into replace him, and he's already making friends with Bear C Olin Kreutz. Raji is listed too, but he was a full participant in Friday's practice. DE Cullen Jenkins and DE Johnny Jolly were both limited in Friday's practice, but I expect they'll go. Late in the Monday night game, DE Jarius Wynn was in on several plays, and I don't expect the coaching staff has any concerns going with the 277 lb. rookie, if necessary.

Everyone else was a full participant in practice, except backup LB Jeremy Thompson, as he tries to recover from a career threatening neck injury. One name not listed is rookie OL T.J. Lang, who missed last Monday's game with a concussion, which is good news since LT Chad Clifton did miss some practice this week, and Lang will also be available to spell RT Mark Tauscher, if he needs a break.

For the Bears: it looks like WR Devin Hester is unlikely to play. While he isn't the greatest receiver and he's no longer the best kick returner on the Bears either, but he's still their leading receiver. Their great kick returner, WR Johnny Knox, would be counted on more in the offense, alongside WR Earl Bennett. Their bigger problem is that they don't have any depth at receiver behind their top 3 (none of their other receivers have more than 2 receptions on the season). The Bears might rely on their 2 TE packages even more than usual. LT Orlando Pace could return this week, but it's not clear whether he would start even if healthy. LB Lance Briggs should return this week, but his replacement, LB Jamar Williams, did very well in his place with 18 tackles against the Rams last week.

The complete injury report is after the jump.

Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Nick Barnett	LB	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Chad Clifton	T	Hamstring	Full Participation	Probable
Jermichael Finley	TE	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Cullen Jenkins	DE	Hamstring	Limited Participation	Probable
Johnny Jolly	DE	Knee	Limited Participation	Questionable
Ryan Pickett	NT	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
B.J. Raji	NT	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Jeremy Thompson	LB	Neck	Out	Out
Charles Woodson	CB	Shoulder	Full Participation	Probable


Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Lance Briggs	LB	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Tommie Harris	DT	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Devin Hester	WR	Calf	Did Not Participate	Probable
Hunter Hillenmeyer	LB	Groin	Full Participation	Probable
Israel Idonije	DT	Knee	Full Participation	Questionable
Orlando Pace	T	Groin	Limited Participation	Probable

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Rams Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:21:09 -0000

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

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The Chicago Bears are an ideal example of how a team will perform when it has no offensive line. There is talent at the other positions on offense- enough to be able to do some damage- but it all starts in the trenches.

Also, there are plenty of folks who like to hate Jay Cutler. From the media constantly showing replays that cast him in an unfortunate light, to random people who aren't even Bears or Broncos fans. They like to root against the guy, because he doesn't fit the mold that they believe a QB should fit in.

- Opening kickoff return: Did Rashied Davis show good hands by being able to regain control of the ball he bobbled, or was it bad hands for bobbling it in the first place? I say the former... simply because there hasn't been many times we could say "Nice hands Rashied!"

- Matt Forte fumbled on the second play from scrimmage, but came back on the next drive and scored a TD. Does the TD make up for the fumble? Maybe in some circumstances, but not last night.

- Say what you will about Bob Babich, but to have all 3 starting LBs go down with an injury and have the backups fill in the way Jamar Williams and Nick Roach did, he must be doing something right. Those guys looked damn good last night. Honorable mention to Hunter Hillenmeyer: He looks like he tried.

- Devin Hester is a much better WR this year than in 2008, and hopefully he'll keep progressing at that same rate next year. He seemed to play more aggressively last night, and showed great hands.

- Devin Aromashodu has got to step up when called on. You can't follow a big play like the one to Hester with a friggin' easy drop. Definitely needs more live reps.

- Johnny Knox also showed flashes of aggressiveness, especially when he drew the pass interference call against the Rams in the end zone in Q1.

- New turf: Forte falls.

- Kahlil Bell saw action early in the game. Typically when the coaches want to spell Forte, we see the backup later in the game. I guess because Bell broke that one run that one time, he's going to be considered a compliment to Forte now.

- Rams 3rd down/1 yard: Converted. I told the guy next to me at the bar that the Bears have been terrible on getting off the field on 3rd down this year. 3 plays later: 3rd/ 4... QB sack! That's how you do it.

- Not a good night for special teams. Maynard's shanks, two penalties, allowing long returns...

- Everydamnthing is fantasy football related in the sports bars. I went to a different spot than usual, but the same old same old. FF makes everyone experts. And I hate seeing people go from television to television rooting for different offensive players from each team. Just like a couple weeks ago, when Forte scored, I heard some folks start cheering. I thought they might be Bears fans. Nope.

- I didn't have sound, but it really seemed like the Bears didn't have their shiat together at the end of the first half. I mean, we had sixty something seconds to try and at least get in FG range... why didn't we try anything downfield?

- On my note sheet, I now have a tally section for each time an OLineman gets toasted. Why? Because some people seem to have different opinions of the OL than I do. And this was just watching the game live... I'm sure I missed plenty of others: Kreutz: III, Shaffer: IIII, Omiyale: II, CWill: II, Garza: I

- Turner loves pulling Omiyale, and I see why. The guy can move pretty well.

- The Bears defense looked great against a bad offense.

- Chris Williams will make a very good LT for us next year.

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Niners Edition

Dane Noble — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:06:39 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

You look good out there coach. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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The Chicago Bears offensive line is terrible. I read an article around week 3 or 4 by one of the Bears beat writers that said our OL was pretty average compared to the rest of the league, that there are only a few really good OLs and only a few bad ones.

He had Chicago lumped in with all the rest and claimed us to be average.

You, sir (Pompei, Dickerson, Haugh... whoever it was) were wrong.

-For those of you clamoring for Kevin Shaffer to replace Orlando Pace, you got your wish. Pace either got the breath knocked out of him, as one report said, or he was feeling dizzy, as another said. Either way, Shaffer still sucks just like he did in the preseason.

- We got to see Frank Omiyale in the last drive at LG... Ron Turner said that he wanted a bigger body in there since we were going to passing every play.

- Chris Williams, who I have been supporting all season, looked awful at times. He made a few really good blocks, and showed very quick feet, but he also got blown backwards a number of times in pass protection.

- Luckily, Nick Roach's injury wasn't bad enough to keep him out of the game. After Vernon Davis trucked him, I was concerned that we would be down to our final 3 LBs.

- I support Lovie Smith and his defensive scheme. Jerry Angelo has not done a good job of acquiring talent in the secondary. That said, there is no excuse for week after week of penalties. penaltie that kill our drives, and penalties that keep alive our opponents' drives. That falls on Lovie. No excuses.

- Teams continue to miss FGs against the Bears. What's up with that?

- Hunter Hillenmeyer looked tiny last night. I don't know for sure, but he looks 10 pounds lighter than he did at the beginning of the year. Was it the injury? Either way, he did not look like a MLB last night. He looked like a unsersized CB trying to make one tackle on Frank Gore.

- Jay Cutler likes Greg Olsen as a receiver. Matt Forte does not like Greg Olsen as a run blocker.

- We saw our first glimpse of Shaffer on the Red Zone INT that Cutler threw. He was lined up left of Pace.

- Say what you will about Tommie Harris, but I'm not buying what he is selling. He looked good last night, but I want to see that happen again. Actually, I hope he plays at a high level for the rest of the year so we can try and get a 2nd round draft pick for him next year.

- Anthony Adams is fast. And round. He is round and fast.

- Alex Smith showed something on one play that made Hillenmeyer start pumping his hands up and down over his head as an audible to the defense. Then, Lance Briggs and Nick Roach started relaying the audible to the CBs, doing the same upward hand pumping. I thought "Wow, this looks like the Bears defense have sniffed something out... this looks really intense." Well, whatever it was, it looked cooler than it actually was. Niners converted a first down on the play.

- When our CBs are 10 yards off the WR, and the DL doesn't get pressure on the passer, the WRs can run 5 yard hitches all day long. Even on 3rd and 3.

- Oh yeah, one other thing that falls on Lovie Smith's shoulders: clock management. We were around our own 40 yard line at the end of the first half, with timeouts in our pocket, and saw the clock wind down from 1:07 to 0:37, with only 1 play being run. Apparently, the referees can't hear me calling timeout from the bar.

- Offsides, against the defense. 5 yard penalty, 1st down. Rinse, repeat.

- I have no idea how good of a head coach Mike Singletary is, but he damn sure looks the part. He is very involved in the game, and coaches up everyone on his sideline, from players to other coaches.

- WR screen, bubble screen, Matt Forte screen. Rinse, repeat. Our OL is embarrassing.

- Johnny Knox showed just the right amount of fight last night... hopefully Tommie was paying attention. Sure, stick up for yourself and push back. But let the other guy throw the punch, and walk away when he does. Then, we get the extra 15 yards... not the other way around. This after school special brought to you by Windy City Gridiron.

- The sheets of paper that have my notes written on them... smells like Bridgeport IPA. Not a good thing to smell with a hangover.

- Jay Cutler is the first Bears QB since 1962 to have two 4INT games in one season. Thanks for the stat NFLN.

- Shaffer didn't know his assignment on at least 2 plays last night. He kept trying to get them at the last second from Beekman. Oy vey, have I said our OL sucks? Because they do. Write that down.

- Matt Forte, bless his heart. That kid ran his butt off last night. And poor thing, couldn't actually get anywhere (except for receptions, but I'm talking about on rushes), but he sure did run hard. Love seeing the legs keep a'churnin'.

- As I've said before, it is pointless to try and find out whose fault something is... the fact is that our OL sucks, and a lot of our troubles would go away if it didn't. But, the officiating crew last night did not have a good game. I'm not blaming anything on them, because our OL sucks... but still. Won't be a pretty meeting Monday morning for those guys.

- Clock management at the end of the game... call a timeout Lovie. Clock ticked from 25 seconds to 17 seconds just so we could line up to spike the ball.

- Hey, Devin Aromashodu... nice footwork on the sidelines. Why were you dressed out again?

- Lance Briggs, thank you. You are a good football player on our team We need more of you.

- Stop trying to do the math and figure out how we can still make the playoffs. Our OL is terrible.

49ers-Bears: Tommie Harris and the Bears defense

Fooch — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:39 -0000

There has been a lot of discussion about Tommie Harris and his ejection Sunday against the Cardinals. He popped Deuce Lutui in the face, leading to a fairly early ejection from the game (video after the jump). There has been some jabbering about whether Lutui had it coming, but either way, it was certainly a poor decision on the part of Harris. According to the Chicago Tribune, folks are not expecting Harris to be suspended. Apparently, since the ejection was so early in the game, it's more or less a game suspension, and so the league will simply levy a large fine.

Whether we agree with that or not, having Harris on the field tonight certainly helps a somewhat beleaguered Bears defense. The Bears roll out a front seven that includes Harris, former 49er Anthony Adams, Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown, Lance Briggs, Hunter Hillenmeyer, and Nick Roach. Certainly talented, but not quite a murderer's row.

As we are discussing week after week after week, the question is whether the 49ers offensive line and general blocking scheme will be able to provide time for Alex Smith and holes for Frank Gore. The Bears currently sit 25th against the pass and 18th against the run. Many teams would be able to take full advantage of that, but many of those teams don't have the truly awesome offensive line the 49ers have.

The 49ers will be without Glen Coffee tonight, but that probably isn't all that big a deal given how he hasn't provided much of a contribution when Gore has played. So we'll get plenty of Gore, but it's a question of how the team utilizes. I'd imagine of all the skill positions, the contribution of Gore will have the broadest impact, as usual. In the rare instances when the team has gone to screen passes, they've been fairly successful. When they mix in the outside pitches, they've been fairly successful. My favorite running play has been the fake handoff to the fullback, followed by a quick pitch to Gore going outside. It's obviously not something you run every single play, but on 2nd and 1 or 2, and 3rd and 1 or 2, the 49ers have been able to catch defenses sleeping with that play.

As always it comes down to a mix of playcalling and execution. As I said earlier this week, I do think Jimmy Raye has attempted to mix things up. However, as somebody pointed out at some point on Monday I believe, it's almost like they swung too far the other way. It's turned into a matter of finding that perfect (or even somewhat close to perfect) balance. Over at ESPN.com, Mike Sando made a good point after reviewing the 49ers-Titans game tape:

How does Raye's vision for the offense mesh with personnel changes since his hiring? The team added Crabtree unexpectedly. Smith is now the quarterback. Davis is becoming a Pro Bowl-caliber target. The offensive line isn't very good in protection. All things to weigh. It's Week 10, but adding Crabtree and Smith to the mix so late means the offense is in a formative state. What will the identity become?

As always, even with a struggling Bears defense and potentially solid play-calling, it comes down to execution. Alex Smith and Michael Crabtree have been working out when special teams practice is going on, so maybe this will bring us closer to better execution (we'll conveniently ignore the offensive line issues in that last sentence).

NightLink: Payne Out, Afalava Questionable

Dane Noble — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:50:27 -0000

If Al Afalava cannot play tomorrow, we will see either Craig Steltz or Josh Bullocks step in, because Kevin Payne has been officially ruled out.

Now that the official injury report has been filed with the league, we know the Bears could be in trouble at the safety position Thursday night against the 49ers. Safety Kevin Payne is listed as out with a back injury. The good news is safety Al Afalava is questionable with a shoulder injury.

We need Afalava's run support against the Niners, especially with Hunter Hillenmeyer still nursing his rib injuries. I am not sure what Bullocks would bring to the table, but Steltz could at least do a decent job in run support. Luckily, we aren't facing a team that is likely to challenge us with the deep ball.

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Cardinals Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:23:16 -0000

by Nam Y. Huh - AP

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The NFC playoff picture seems to be working itself into a pretty clear picture, and, although it could still happen, my prediction of a 12-4 season for the Chicago Bears looks unobtainable. And honestly, at this point, I'm not so sure that our coaching is to blame.

Our GM brought in three new offensive linemen, and none of them have helped. Can Ron Turner be to blame for our porous running game? He didn't make the FA signings.

On the other side of the ball, we do not have the personnel to run a Tampa-2/ Cover-2 defense. Our secondary is a liability,,, is Lovie to blame for our lack of talent on defense? We just don't have the personnel.

The only mystery for me is the DL/ Rod Marinelli situation. It seems like half of our roster is comprised of defensive linemen, and we still chose to trade our 2010 2nd round draft pick for another pass rusher. Add to that, we have a guy that is well-known around the league as being one of the best DL coaches in the NFL... you'd think that would be an area of strength for us.

We know our offense is failing because of our personnel at OL, we know our LB corp is thinned out and that our secondary is incredibly weak... but where's the front 4? Why have we seen over the last few weeks our DL get dominated in the passing and rushing games? What's up with Coach Marinelli?

- Rashied Davis is still doing a mighty fine job on STs. And undersized WR making great open-field tackles... gotta love it.

- Tommie, Tommie, Tommie. What happened to Tommie Harris? Is his career coming to a quick halt? We can expect him not to be wearing a Bears uniform next season... but will he even be in the NFL? Maybe not, unless the Bungles give him a shot.

- One of my notes simply said that Fitz > Tillman. But, that was early in the game. Now, I'll change that note to say that it is a shame when Charles Tillman is our best coverage cornerback.

- I have been wondering for 2 weeks if Hunter Hillenmeyer was really 100% healthy. Rib injuries take much longer than 2 weeks to heal from, and I smelled a rat when he came back so quickly.

- Jay Cutler's first possession of the game: he walks onto the field with his head down, looking at the ground.

- Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Greg Olsen have all developed great hands. I mentioned last week that Cutler puts them in positions where they have to make tough catches... well, they can. Exhibit "A": that catch early in Q1 down the sidelines when Hester was blanketed by the CB. Cutler saw the single-coverage, audibled into a fly route, and made a picture-perfect throw to Hester. And what a catch!

- Garrett Wolfe made an outstanding tackle on KO coverage.

- While we looked like we might be able to generate some pressure on Kurt Warner early in the game, turns out, not really. Soft coverage on the WRs + zero pass rush = duplication of the Cincy game.

- Arizona's OL absolutely dominated Marinelli's DL. Passing plays, rushing plays... didn't matter. An inside source said that the Card's OL even formed a wall in front of the Bears showers after the game, and the DL couldn't bust through then either. They went home without showering.

- Johnny Knox was one cut away from daylight on the KOR following Arizona's second TD. But, he was going too fast to make that final cut.

- We finally saw Cutler looking downfield for our WRs more this week, especially to Hester. On a related note, kudos to the OL. While they still broke down and sucked a large part of the game, there were spurts where they did a good job of protecting the QB. Kudos guys.

- My OL grades: Chris Williams: B, Roberto Garza: B-, Olin Kreutz: C, Josh Beekman/ Frank Omiyale: D, Orlando Pace: C-

- 3rd and 16, 1st quarter. Earl Bennett runs a deep post, right into the lap of the safety. Had he turned that deep post into a skinny post, things would have happened. I know it's his first year on the field, but he's gotta be more aware. Against zone defenses, you have to find the soft spots... not run straight to a defender.

- My prediction of turnovers, penalties, and QB sacks for both teams did not some true. Well, Cutler did get nailed, and the Bears did have too many penalties. But I was thinking it would go both ways.

- As of the 10 minute mark in the second quarter, Matt Forte had exactly one rush.

- Question: If it's 3rd and 5 for Arizona, why are our DBs 12 yards off the WRs? I mean, I trust Lovie Smith, and I know he is having to play defense with some bad talent... but 12 yards off the WRs? Of course they converted a first down. And eventually scored a TD.

- Oh, speaking of converting... 3rd and 10, Arizona ball. Easy pitch and catch on a 12 yard curl route. 5 plays later, TD. Too easy, too soft.

- Kevin Payne plays hard, and hits hard. Good to see a bit of fire from someone on defense.

- Alex Brown fights hard. Even in the 4th quarter when we are getting schooled. Keep on fighting big guy.

- Injuries: Yikes. And now we have another game in three days. Friggin great. You know what though? We will beat San Francisco.

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Browns Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:28:05 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

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Fans of the Chicago Bears got what we expected on Sunday: a complete dominance of a terrible team. In the long run, it probably doesn't make us feel any better about the season, but in the short run, it puts us a game over .500, and along pace with some of the other wild card potential teams in the NFC.

The defense looked good yesterday for the most part, but the offense continues to show a lack of rhythm. Luckily, we have some great young talent to build our future on, but that doesn't get us off the hook for the remainder of the 2009 season.

- Many will argue that the QB is the most important position on the field, while others will say it is collectively the OL. Roberto Garza can still hold his own, but Chris Williams is the only lineman that I think is worth banking on beyond 2009.

- Matt Forte is falling victim to our lackluster OL play. If I were to grade Forte, I'd say he is a 7 out of 10, with 8 being a Pro Bowl RB. Luckily, he is still very young, and dependable.

- Orlando Pace can still get it done at certain times, but is not consistent. One play, he'll have a dominate pancake block, and the next three plays he can't maintain his balance.

- Marcus Harrison showed good penetration yesterday.

- Danieal Manning showed great athleticism, and has incredible speed. Still out of position a lot, but Lovie Smith has done a good job with him. Hopefully, we see steady improvement over the year from Manning.

- I'll see what I can pull up numbers-wise, but Jay Cutler seems to look better in the shotgun.

- Speaking of Cutler, is it just me, or does he hang his head too much? Sees like his confidence level is down, and doesn't show much fire (outside of jawing with the opposing DC). It seems like the QB would be more of a leader...

- Offensive rhythm continues to be a problem. We'll look good one drive, only to look completely out of synch for the next three.

- Nick Roach is fast. Depending on Pisa Tinoisamoa's future as a Bear, I like Roach's athleticism. Hunter Hillenmeyer is intelligent, but not a starter for every Sunday. Next year, could we see Briggs, Urlacher, Roach?

- Cutler has forced our WRs to develop good hands. He makes some throws that many WRs couldn't catch. Good to see the progress of Devin Hester and Earl Bennett.

- Devin Hester should be our punt returner for years to come. He is still very young, and has more talent than I can say. Can you imagine how great he will be as he continues to develop into a formidable WR?

- Craig Steltz struggled in the defensive side of things this past offseason, but looks great on ST coverage.

- Kyle Orton was 10/15 passing for 35 yards in the first half in the Denver game yesterday.

- In the second half, Cleveland's RBs were getting past our front 4 too easily.

- When Cutler has time to throw, and plants his feet, he looks great. Too bad that doesn't happen more than once or twice per game.

- Corey Graham looked good on ST. What is his future with the Bears?

- Is Hunter Hillenmeyer really 100% healthy? I don't think so.

- Al Afalava continued to shine in run support. That kid is tough. Pay him more.

- Once again, we saw a run by Forte headed left, only to have the line collapse, and him cut back to his right for a TD run. His vision/ shiftiness is amazing.

- Hester limping in the 4th quarter after good run. Is he alright?

- Brady Quinn needs to get out of Cleveland. I wasn't a fan of his in college, and didn't think he would be good in the NFL, but have changed my mind. He will be a good NFL QB if he can find somewhere else t play.

- Hard to criticize Ron Turner when he doesn't have the personnel to work with. Our OL will continue holding back Forte, Cutler, and others as long as we keep sticking with what we have.

- JOSH BEEKMAN IS WHO WE THOUGHT HE WAS. HE GOT RUN SLAP OVER SEVERAL TIMES, AND GOT CUTLER NAILED BECAUSE OF IT. BEEKMAN IS NOT THE ANSWER.

- If we are going to fight for a wild card spot, the NFC East will be a tough challenger. It's early still, but it would be nice to see New Orleans get a win over Atlanta...

- The orange jerseys look great!

Final Injury/Practice Report: Chicago Bears (3-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)

Kirkendall — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:56:31 -0000

CINCINNATI BENGALS

OUT	PROBABLE
T Andre Smith (foot)	TE Daniel Coats (shoulder)
	DT Tank Johnson (foot)
DOUBTFUL	RB Brian Leonard (groin)
S Roy Williams (forearm)	WR Chad Ochocinco (hip)
	DT Domata Peko (knee)
QUESTIONABLE	DE Frostee Rucker (ankle)
DT Jonathan Fanene (illness)	DT Pat Sims (biceps)
WR Chris Henry (illness)

CHICAGO BEARS

OUT	PROBABLE
LB Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee)	S Josh Bullocks (ankle)
	CB Corey Graham (ankle)
DOUBTFUL	LB Hunter Hillenmeyer (rib)
DT Tommie Harris (knee)	DT Israel Idonije (knee)
RB Adrian Peterson (knee)	S Kevin Payne (toe)

Practice

BENGALS	WED	THUR	FRI
DT Domata Peko (knee)	DNP	DNP	FP
S Roy Williams (forearm)	DNP	DNP	DNP
T Andre Smith (foot)	LP	LP	FP
TE Daniel Coats (shoulder)	FP	FP	FP
DT Tank Johnson (foot)	FP	DNP	FP
RB Brian Leonard (groin)	FP	FP	FP
DE Frostee Rucker (ankle)	FP	FP	FP
DT Pat Sims (biceps)	FP	FP	FP
DT Jonathan Fanene (illness)	--	DNP	DNP
WR Chris Henry (illness)	--	--	DNP
WR Chad Ochocinco (hip)	--	--	DNP

BEARS	WED	THUR	FRI
DT Tommie Harris (knee)	DNP	DNP	DNP
RB Adrian Peterson (knee)	DNP	DNP	DNP
LB Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee)	DNP	OUT	OUT
S Josh Bullocks (ankle)	LP	LP	FP
CB Corey Graham (ankle)	LP	LP	FP
LB Hunter Hillenmeyer (rib)	LP	FP	FP
DT Israel Idonije (knee)	LP	FP	FP
S Kevin Payne (toe)	--	LP	FP

NightLink: Nick Roach Unfairly Criticized

Dane Noble — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:12:55 -0000

We all remember the confusion and mayhem during the Roddy White touchdown play, in which Chicago linebacker Nick Roach seemed to not know up from down. Today, Jeff Dickerson lets us in on a little more detail from that play.

The confusion on the field -- especially on the Roddy White touchdown -- was because of a delay in receiving the call from the sidelines, not an error by the middle linebacker. If the situation arises again in the future, Roach may opt simply to make a call on his own. But he is still learning the position, and people shouldn't expect Roach to turn into Brian Urlacher overnight. Urlacher had carte blanche to change on the fly, but Roach has played only two-plus games in the middle.

I don't know how quickly Roach is catching on to all of the nuances of playing MLB for the Bears, but I do know he has been playing very aggressively. During his first two starts, he's the leading tackler on defense.

On a couple of side notes, yesterday was Hunter Hillenmeyer's first day back to practice since the Seattle game, but he was limited. Well, today he had full participation.

Tommie Harris, on the other hand, missed his second straight practice. I heard Jerry Angelo on the radio this morning talking about Harris, and he basically said that Harris' health is not an issue. He said that Tommie is healthy, and still has all the tools, he just has to make plays. He said that the Bears would continue to coach Harris, and continue to monitor him. Whatever that means.