richard Kagan's Chicago Bears fan blog

A few years back Mike Martz was hailed as the new genius in offense.  St. Louis had Kurt Warner and fleet receivers and won a Super Bowl.  But that seems a long time ago.  The Bears just need someone to help QB Jay Cutler to keep his sanity, not get injured, and throw more touchdowns than interceptions.  Especially less interceptions.

We know Cutler has an arm, we saw that in the last two games of the year.  Now, if he can do that more consistently, and if the Bears can find a running game, any running game.  Then the Bears may have a semblance of an offense.

Mike Martz has his work cut out for him.  And, so the the Chicago Bears.

Continue reading "Mike Martz: New Offensive Coordinator"

The Chicago Bears defeated the Detroit Lions 37-23 last Sunday to finish up at 7-9.  The win most likely saves head coach Lovie Smith's job.  QB Jay Cutler threw for four TD's looking like the QB fans thought he would be.  Devin Aramashado scored twice on passes.  He should be a featured wide receiver, not Devin Hester.  Hester is a valuable player and should be retured to his best position, running back kickoffs and punts.

Bears were leaky on defense this season, giving up huge yards in the passing game.  It certainly wasn't the Bears defense of old, and this needs to change if the Bears want to be competitive.  But the team did win its last two games, saving the season from sure disaster.  Now, one could say the season was disappointing.  And, Cutler's performances the last two games raises hopes among the Bears' faithful.  He finally seemed to get the hang of it in the end.  The Bears need a true power back, some good blockers, a few good linebackers, and at least two good defensive cornermen.  Other than that, the team looks good.  There will be some changes in the off-season, the question remains, who stays and who goes?

Continue reading "Bears End Season on Winning Note"

When receiver Devin Aromashado grabbed QB Jay Cutler's 39 yard heave in OT, for the winning score, Soldier Field erupted in joy.  An OT win over the Vikes, now that tastes good for the holidays.

If this happened more often.  Cutler and the Bears played tough, hard nosed football, and in the first half, looked like "Monsters of the Midway" when they took a 16-0 lead.  But the Vikings with Brett Favre, a sure hall of famer, rallied the team for a late score to tie the game.  Favre, had one bullet let to tie the game on a great corner grab by Simon Rice.

OT was a chess match and the Bears made the final winning move.

In all, four different receivers caught balls for TD's, from the maligned Cutler.  Last night, he looked the part of a QB who could do some damage.  ESPN made a typo on their summary which had the Bears at 6-9.  I believed that, and said to my step-father, another Bears loyalist, "if they beat Detroit, that would make a terrible season, bad."  Then I realized the Bears had five wins. and if they win in Detroit it would be six.  Yikes!  That's a tough season, no getting around it.  But the Bears showed that they can play and frozen fans had plenty to cheer about.

Continue reading "Cutler, Bears Make Enough Big Plays To Upset Vikings, 36-30 in OT"

It's official.  The Chicago Bears 2009 season is a train wreck.  Jay Cutler threw for 3 interceptions, now has 25 his career high, while Raven QB Joe Flacco dissected the Bears for 4 TD's in a 31-7 loss at Baltimorle.  The Bears are now 5-9 and are not going forward. 

It's been a bad Bears year and a nightmare season for Jay Cutler.  Here is this young stud who looks completely shot.

He's used to throwing 25 TD's, not 25 picks.  OK, the offensive line needs fixing up- --and the defense misses Brian Urlacher.  But this team needs seven players to fill holes, not two.

The bright spot for this year has been the reliable kicking of Robbie Gould, who should be given consideration for Most Valuable Bear.  He kicks field goals and makes extra points, whenever the Bears happen to score a touchdown.

Continue reading "Bears Blasted 31-7 by Ravens"

The Chicago Bears got back to the Victory Column with a queasy win over the futile St. Louis Rams, 17-9 last Sunday.

They didn't do it easy either.  One would think this would be a sleep-walk win.  Not with this team.  The Bears won, because St. Louis was that bad.  The Bears got touchdowns from Earl Bennett and Matt Forte, backed by a careful Jay Cutler, to earn the win.  The defense played better, holding the Rams to 3 field goals.  However, this is the Rams, and not the Vikings the Bears defeated.  Chicago (5-7) is a mediocre at best team this season.  The holes are finally showing. 

If this was a good Bears team, the score would be close to 34-3.  They eked by with a win to diminish the pressure off of coach Lovie Smith and the entire team.  Betcha coaches and players got a good night's sleep.  It would be nice to see the record reversed, but this is not the case. 

Continue reading "Bears Break Losing Streak With Win Over Rams"

It isn't a pretty picture.  You want to turn off the TV when the Bears go 3 and out in the first set of downs.   It is frustrating to see a team so over-matched, about to get demolished.  That is what happened last Sunday.  Last year, about this time of the season,  Brett Favre had his last good game as Jet, and then imploded as the season got away from him and the Jets. 

Favre thought he needed a really good team to play with and got his wish.  The Vikings are that good team, and Favre is playing like the Comback Player of the Year.  He threw for almost 400 yards and 3 touchdowns at the age of 40, and made the Bears secondary look like a bunch of amateurs. 

Over on the Bears side, Jay Cutler is becoming difficult to watch.  It's like seeing a train wreck, you are full of fear and amazement, and awe.  How did this young talented QB with so much promise, become the inept, scared QB who has thrown a career high 20 picks this year.  He has managed to throw 15 in the last 7 games.  That's not easy.  The other guys have to catch 'em. 

Continue reading "Bears Get Mauled By Minny, 36-10"

The Bears fought, and clawed and played decently, but it wasn't enough.  In the end, Philly was too strong, and the defense for Chicago was non-existant in key moments.  For the record, Jay Cutler threw one interception but it came at a crucial time to snuff out a rally as Chicago drove to score a winning TD.

The Bears scored, mainly on the foot of Robbie Gould who kicked four FG's. Cutler threw a beautiful pass to Kellen Davis, as the Bears took an early 4th quarter lead. They even connected for a two-point conversion.  But Philly marched down the field and scored a TD of their own to go up, 24-20.  Unfortunately, no lead is safe enough for Chicago. 

Matt Forte had a good game, rushing for 5-7 yards at one point.  He gained yards on offense and moved the chains.  But, it was Cutler, who seemed timid in fear of throwing another errant pass.  He wasn't the gunslinger tonight.  He was careful, but that is not his game.  He throws on instinct.  He threw passes over 3 receivers on that would have gone for TD's.  Those are points off the board. 

Continue reading "Cutler 1 INT Finishes Drive As Bears Fall, 24-20"

We see how the tides of the NFL sweep.  The NY Giants, losers of 4 straight, win a big game vs. Atlanta, who fought hard to the end. After the game, Giants' coach Tom Coughlin said, "It's good to win a game."  While the New York Jets at 4-5, faced a virtually must win game against New England, in Foxboro, MA.  Getting a win there would be quite difficult. It didn't happen as New England took control as the Jets committed 5 turnovers.  Giving New England the ball 5 times isn't going to lead to a winning formula.  The Jets was fallen into the Meadowlands quagmire.  After a fast start at 3-0, the Jets have lost 6 games and won 1.  That's not winning football and the Jets fans are none too happy about it.  But you have a rookie QB in Mark Sanchez and while he is smart and has talent, he faces some of the top defensive coaches and teams in the league, especially the Patriots, who took the team apart.  A radio analyst on the Jets network said of the game, "This is what happens when you don't execute."

Continue reading "Bears: Just Win A Game"

Devin Hester is a player who is not a natural wide receiver.  He has learned this highly skilled position while having On The Job Training.   Gee, I wish I could do that and make millions.  What he is great at is playing on special teams.  He has returned a punt for a touchdown this season and needs to focus on what he is good at.  The Bears have young and talented wide receivers in Bennett and Johnny Knox. Give them a chance to mature and grow.  The way to do that is to let them make catches.  Olsen is a talented receiver.  He has become a number 2 guy on the depth chart.  Put him in situations that will help the team win a game. 

Hester has been regarded as the primary receiver.  And, he is on the field a lot of the time. Running routes all over the place. He's being run into the ground.  Bears, make the change before he either gets decked or pulls a hammy.

Continue reading "Bears Need To Switch Hester to Special Teams ASAP"

I didn't think it could get this bad.  On the game's final drive, Jay Cutler threw his fifth interception in the end zone as the Bears mounted a last ditch effort to win a slop-fest against the marginally better '49ers.  Chicago lost 10-6 to fall to 4-5 for a season that is rapidly deteriorating.

Talk about nightmares, Cutler had a miserable game, and his play indicated his inability to read defensive schemes, and make a play under pressure.  Maybe he was feeling the weight of Chicago on his shoulders.  It's not the end of the world, but for Chicago Bears fans, it's close to it.  Welcome to the Bears Jay, now you're part of the team.

Continue reading "Oops, My Bad, Cutler Throws for 5 INT's in 10-6 loss"