Bears vs Bills: a game preview

[Ingtar33]

Well, a week has passed; the Bills are one more loss richer, and a step farther from the postseason. However, you have to just love watching those games on Sunday don't you? They sure are worth their weight in entertainment value, leaving us on the edge of our seat until the final second clicks off that clock. I don't know about you guys but I have now thrown in the towel and stated in three consecutive weeks, "they've lost" with two minutes or less remaining, only to find myself on the edge of my seat watching Drew pull the team back into contention... and even though last Sunday the team fell short, do any off you seriously think they wouldn’t have won that game had they recovered the onside kick? Well anyway, back to the mater at hand, the Chicago Bears. This preview will follow the format of last weeks with an analysis of the matchups and a prediction for all you gamblers out there (so far I'm doing quite well with a 2-1 record against the spread and a 3-0 record against the over-under).

When the Bills have the Ball and are...

Running: The Bills O-line dominated a weak Jets front seven in week one giving Bills fans (including myself) unreasonable expectations for the ground game this season. While the O-line as a whole is vastly improved on last year's unit, they still have far to go to give Gilbride the rushing attack and balance he desires. Until they learn to get down lower in their stances when run blocking we will see a lot more defensive players in the backfield in Henry's face before the end of the season. Unfortunately for the line, things do not get any easier against the Bears. This is an extremely talented unit who gets to the ball quickly, and stuffs the run readily. In fact 3 of the top 4 tacklers on the Bears are their starting 3 LBer's (the one exception is their SS), proving how dominant the unit is on the whole. The Bears front seven contains such great strength even the loss of Ted Washington seems not to mater much. Even more important will be Henry's control of the ball as the Bears have an extremely physical front seven who specialize in causing turnovers. You can bet they are licking their chops at the idea of going up against good old “Butterfingers Henry” on Sunday. The key matchup this week (on the ground) will be Sullivan and Teague against K. Traylor, who should give them fits all game. If they can't control him don’t expect them to run against that D.

Passing: However inconsistent the Bills run blocking has been, the line's pass blocking has been the one saving grace for the season, as they have given Bledsoe some very good protection against some strong early blitzing in all three games. Against the Bears it will not be the DL the offence will have to concern themselves with, as the Bear's pass rush from their front four has proven to be inadequate this season (some of the reason for their Defensive struggles thus far). However the Bears do get an excellent pass rush from outside LB R.Colvin, who leads the Bears with 4 sacks thus far (Urlacher has the Bears other two), and has gotten good pressure on his blitzes. Bledsoe should (if the Bills continue their good blitz pickup) continue to put up big numbers against a Chicago secondary which has lost two starters for this Sundays game, and when the Bills go to a spread, they will be able to capitalize on the resulting mismatches as Chicago will be forced to put 4th and 5th string CB's out against our receivers. Watch for who Urlacher is assigned to (as he usually is assigned an opposing player to contain) this Sunday, as he will probably be tasked to stopping Centers out of the backfield, forcing Bledsoe to find a different dump off guy.

When the Bears have the football and are...

Running: The Bear's O-Line has been extremely suspect this year, and are have huge problems opening up holes for the A-Train. The Bills will have to hope that this continues this week as their D has been shaky at best thus far against the run. If the Bears did their homework they will find that the best way to run against the bills is to get us into our nickel D, which take us out of out 8 men in the box approach and leaves the run stopping to our DL, to disastrous results for the Bills. However Chicago seems married to their strong I formations, and that said it should be time for the D to stand up this week.

Passing: As shaky as the Bears Run blocking has been, that is nothing compared to the disaster that is their pass blocking. While I know the numbers say Miller has only hit the ground 3 times, the numbers sometimes can be misleading. Thus far Miller has been hard to sack because of two factors: One, the Chicago passing attack is a short dump passing attack predicated upon play action; and two, Miller has been very good at throwing the ball away. So far the Chicago O-line has given him precious little time to throw, and Miller has been creamed on numerous occasions on simple dump passes. The Bills should be able to get strong pressure on Miller all game on Sunday, so don't be discouraged Bills fans if the D only gets one or two sacks. What should worry us is a repeat of Vinny's game in week one, and the Bears will attack our DB's in the exact same fashion, with short dumps under our soft zone.

Conclusion:
Last week I predicted an entertaining game with the unfortunate conclusion of a Bills 4 point loss (it was a five point loss but who's counting anyway). The Bills D should look better this week against a Chicago O which is just a poor man's version of the Broncos; however they have yet to inspire any confidence in me, so I wouldn't bank that statement. The Bills O proved that it was the real deal in Denver, watch for them to lay good numbers on the board, and lets all cross our figures that the Bills can limit the Big plays of that fabulous Chicago LB corps. I'll take the Bills this week, 28-24.

[Typ0]

We're going to teach the Bears a lesson in scoring. They are so toast. I think we will play their game except where it comes to us scoring 30+ pts.

[Typ0]

Hey I was there the last time Drew played in Soldier field too. It was a very valant effort.

[Typ0]

End zone seats the day before Flutie's last stand. LOL.

[German]

Ingtar,

good post.

I agree with you on the outcome too.
Do you think that going with a two TE set would help against blitzing LB's?

Since the passing game is obviously our most effective weapon
I think they should just focus on that. Run every now and then but spread the field.

[Ingtar33]

I like the idea of going with a 4 or 5 WR spread and forcing all those practice squad DBs onto the field and getting an early 1st quarter lead, to force the Bears into a must pass situation. This is probably the best way to limit the effectiveness of a good LBing corp. It also gives you the added bonus of seeing what types of blitzes the DC is throwing at you. In essence do what NE did to the Steelers. It’s a good strategy against a strong run D like Chicago’s.

[Ingtar33]

BTW, I'm not a fan of run 'n gun football, its just that even I (a huge fan of smash mouth ball) can concede that we are not going to be able to run against that front seven.

[lordofgun]

Awesome stuff again Ingtar! It's hard to respond to your posts because they are so right on and so complete!

:up:

[German]

Well, they are missing Ted W. up front. That should help.
But you're right, they won't be very effective running the ball.

I'm with you, bomb 'em to death. Take advantage of that weak
secondary. Who knows, if they can score consistently with the passing game we might see a blowout after all.

I just hope I can watch the game somewhere this weekend.
I have to say, I wasn't this exited about the Bills in a long time.

[Ingtar33]

Well, I try not to be too critical of this team because of how bad they were last year (not to say I wouldn't call anyone out, its just that my expectations to start the season were 5-11 or 6-10, and thus far they look much better than that). Truthfully, this team has me excited more than the team which lost to Tenn. in the playoffs... I know people keep talking as if that was the Bills one good shot at the bowl but, I never thought they were good enough to go or even win that year. This year I'm just ecstatic at how good they look on offence, and even the D has shown some good things. This season reminds me of 1987 (I was in high school then) when the Bills were just beginning to turn things around and we all got glimpses of what they would become... that team finished the season 7-9.

[shelby]

awesome analysis Ingtar...thanks
:up:
hope you are right about the W!
:gobills:

[payton34]

ingtar33,

Good break down. I'll have to defend my bears though and point out a few errors.

1. We have only one starting defensive back out. You'll see Austin and McMillon who are 2nd string.
2. The bears o-line is actually one of the best in the league. The saints who have lead in sacks the last 2 years only managed one last week. Miller hasn't been getting creamed and the prove of this is he is still playing(very fragile). We also ran the ball good gaining with A-train going over 100 yards. Our fullback is also back from suspension which will improve blocking for A-train to run.
3. The bears offense has been changed from last year. We used it last week vs the saints defense, but the "dink and Dunk" offense is a thing of the past. With 4 above average WR's including Booker,Robinson,white, and Terrell they have opened up the offense. I will admit they have yet to really get all cylinders firing.

I'm not ready to make any predictions yet. I want to hear what bill fans say about their team.

:stupid: (I don't mean anything with this its just the coolest smiley I've seen)

[payton34]

Originally posted by Ingtar33
I like the idea of going with a 4 or 5 WR spread and forcing all those practice squad DBs onto the field and getting an early 1st quarter lead, to force the Bears into a must pass situation. This is probably the best way to limit the effectiveness of a good LBing corp. It also gives you the added bonus of seeing what types of blitzes the DC is throwing at you. In essence do what NE did to the Steelers. It?s a good strategy against a strong run D like Chicago?s.

That might work against you since we seem to play good only when were losing.:girlsmil:

[Creemoredrinker]

:punk:

W-O-W!!!!!

:smooch:

Very complete and bang on.

Keep it coming!!!!

[Ingtar33]

Payton,
Welcome to the board and good call on the DB thing, I never realized I used the words "starting DB," what I meant to say was with one starting CB and one backup safety (who was a good special teams player) will not be starting, in addition several other DB's and DLmen are banged up and while they may start, their injuries will limit their effectiveness. Hence the practice squad reference... so in the interest of succinctness, I fear I didn't fully explain some of my points and may have simplified some of the issues at hand.

With regard to the Bears O-line, trust me on this point; it has been Miller who has made them look good. I know it must be hard to hear this, but Miller, while not all that good of a QB (if anything the best to be said about him is he is efficient) does make that O-line look good. In addition, your claim the dink and dunk is gone is patently untrue. Your team has thrown short (7 yards or less) on something like 73% of their throws (not completions, and sorry this was just a personal count from review some game tape so correct me if this is wrong)… and if you’re referring to the aberration which was the Vikings game, I must say your passing O did look good, however that was the only game that I saw in which the Bears were able to move the ball deeper throw the air... considering the overall cr@piness of the Vikes secondary, I don't think you can hang your hat on that one. From what I remember of last years team they do pass deep more often, however, in the grand scheme of things in the NFL, they still are a dink and dunk operation (last week both the Bills and Broncos put the ball in the air on 20+ yard attempts more often then the Bears in ANY game thus far). Thus far this year I've seen very poor line assignments, and equally poor run blocking up and down the line (with "Big Cat" being the worst offender in the run game and your LG being one of the most consistently worst pass blocking linemen on the team).

[Ingtar33]

Oh yah, lest I forget, the Bears do have a very good team... the fact they have been so competitive makes me glad that they're DL is as banged up as it is. I was also just rereading my last post, and sorry if that thing seemed a little confrontational... I was actually going for a sarcastic sound as I actually think quite highly of Jim Miller, its just I know he is #1 on the Bears fan hate list.

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Ingtar33
Payton,
Welcome to the board and good call on the DB thing, I never realized I used the words "starting DB," what I meant to say was with one starting CB and one backup safety (who was a good special teams player) will not be starting, in addition several other DB's and DLmen are banged up and while they may start, their injuries will limit their effectiveness. Hence the practice squad reference... so in the interest of succinctness, I fear I didn't fully explain some of my points and may have simplified some of the issues at hand.

With regard to the Bears O-line, trust me on this point; it has been Miller who has made them look good. I know it must be hard to hear this, but Miller, while not all that good of a QB (if anything the best to be said about him is he is efficient) does make that O-line look good. In addition, your claim the dink and dunk is gone is patently untrue. Your team has thrown short (7 yards or less) on something like 73% of their throws (not completions, and sorry this was just a personal count from review some game tape so correct me if this is wrong)… and if you’re referring to the aberration which was the Vikings game, I must say your passing O did look good, however that was the only game that I saw in which the Bears were able to move the ball deeper throw the air... considering the overall cr@piness of the Vikes secondary, I don't think you can hang your hat on that one. From what I remember of last years team they do pass deep more often, however, in the grand scheme of things in the NFL, they still are a dink and dunk operation (last week both the Bills and Broncos put the ball in the air on 20+ yard attempts more often then the Bears in ANY game thus far). Thus far this year I've seen very poor line assignments, and equally poor run blocking up and down the line (with "Big Cat" being the worst offender in the run game and your LG being one of the most consistently worst pass blocking linemen on the team).

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Ingtar33
Oh yah, lest I forget, the Bears do have a very good team... the fact they have been so competitive makes me glad that they're DL is as banged up as it is. I was also just rereading my last post, and sorry if that thing seemed a little confrontational... I was actually going for a sarcastic sound as I actually think quite highly of Jim Miller, its just I know he is #1 on the Bears fan hate list.

:shakeno:

The question was:

MODERATORS, CAN WE TAKE AWAY ZONE BUCKS IF A POSTER IS TOO POLITE TO AN OPPOSING TEAM'S TROLLS?

I mean if the right thing to do is to blast them out of here, then we can't have Bills posters being nice to them. It is alll about the message.

:bigwave:

[Rebecky]

Really interesting thread -- thanks.

[Ingtar33]

:rofl:
Hey, there is no reason to blast someone who was trying to engage in intelligent football debate. Although, I guess I could take the obligatory pound of flesh :shelby: and say DA BEARS SUCK!!

[Herdwatcher]

LET'S GO BUFFALO!!
.500 coming up! damn! cheering for 50/50 oh well!!
LET'S GO BUFFALO!

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Ingtar33
:...I guess I could take the obligatory pound of flesh :shelby: and say DA BEARS SUCK!!

:redgun:

We will shape you into a true Bills fan yet.

[Rebecky]

I am so lousy at smack. What's the trick?

If the opposing team is really good (like Denver, like Chi, like Oakland), well, I just end up complementing their team.

If the opposing team is bad (Detroit), I feel too sorry for them to pick on them. It feels like you just shot Lassie, you know?

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Rebecky
I am so lousy at smack. What's the trick?

If the opposing team is really good (like Denver, like Chi, like Oakland), well, I just end up complementing their team.

If the opposing team is bad (Detroit), I feel too sorry for them to pick on them. It feels like you just shot Lassie, you know?

:badangel:

:2guns:

Then again what do I know, I'm only a procotologist.

Becky, you have to listen to the little devil on your left shoulder rather than the little angel on your right. Give in to your primative side. Think about every cavewomen who was dragged by her hair by a caveman to be devoured without foreplay. Think of your sistern's suffering at the hands (and other parts) of men for centuries. Now, are you p*ssed off enough? Unleash that anger at every opposing team's fans who are male b*stards. Let your feminazi instincts take over.

:punch:

Does that help?

:jetsuck:

The alternative is to spend 4 hours with me Tailgating at the Ralph and you will learn Smack 101, Advanced Smack 201, Violent Smack 301, Police Involvement Smack 401 and Can't No Longer Get Over the Border Smack 501. If you want a PhD in Smack (as I possess -- Dr. Smack), you will need to be with me for one whole season.

:machgun:

[payton34]

I can see your point with the o-line. About the bears offense, I should rephrase my comments by saying they claim they have did away with the dink and dunk, but I have seen it this year. I hope they can start playing as a team on offense. I think they try to open it up once or twice and if it doesn't work they don't go back to it which is stupid.

[payton34]

Originally posted by Ingtar33
:rofl:
Hey, there is no reason to blast someone who was trying to engage in intelligent football debate. Although, I guess I could take the obligatory pound of flesh :shelby: and say DA BEARS SUCK!!

Around my waist please. I can't seemed to get rid of these love handles anyway

[Ebenezer]

sign ingtar33 up to write for the zone!!

[lordofgun]

ummm...he is writing for the zone. check the front page.

:lol:

[Ebenezer]

I know....:rolleyes:

[lordofgun]

I'm not very good at detecting sarcasm. :(

[lordofgun]

Could you do me a favor and write "(sarcasm)" next to everything you say that's sarcastic?

Thanks! :D

[Ebenezer]

:rofl: neither am i. speaking of which...please publish "Rock Music" this week in outside the zone?!?

[lordofgun]

Was that sarcasm?? See, I really suck at this.

[Rebecky]

Originally posted by Creemoredrinker


:badangel:

:2guns:

Then again what do I know, I'm only a procotologist.

Becky, you have to listen to the little devil on your left shoulder rather than the little angel on your right. Give in to your primative side. Think about every cavewomen who was dragged by her hair by a caveman to be devoured without foreplay. Think of your sistern's suffering at the hands (and other parts) of men for centuries. Now, are you p*ssed off enough? Unleash that anger at every opposing team's fans who are male b*stards. Let your feminazi instincts take over.

:punch:

Does that help?

:jetsuck:

The alternative is to spend 4 hours with me Tailgating at the Ralph and you will learn Smack 101, Advanced Smack 201, Violent Smack 301, Police Involvement Smack 401 and Can't No Longer Get Over the Border Smack 501. If you want a PhD in Smack (as I possess -- Dr. Smack), you will need to be with me for one whole season.

:machgun:

LOL -- Police Involvement Smack?

If we can ever get up to Buff for a game, we'll be sure to find your tailgate group -- sounds like you guys have fun! Problem is, Hubby's worse than I am. He's kind of a cross between St Francis of Assissi and the Dalai Lama -- just no good at ALL at talking smack.

[Sabre Ally]

wow. which lot do you park in, creemore? :drinker:

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Rebecky


LOL -- Police Involvement Smack?

If we can ever get up to Buff for a game, we'll be sure to find your tailgate group -- sounds like you guys have fun! Problem is, Hubby's worse than I am. He's kind of a cross between St Francis of Assissi and the Dalai Lama -- just no good at ALL at talking smack.

:hump:

Just wondering?

:pet:

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Sabre Ally
wow. which lot do you park in, creemore? :drinker:

Right after the paved parking lot ends, we are 3 vehicles from the guard rail.

:gobills:

This week will be calm because it is only me and my two sons. The Pats game we will have the full tent, propane tanks, XtremeTailgate sign, etc. You should be able to find me this Sunday by the music. I am going with a reggae theme.
:angel:

[Typ0]

This has been a good post Ingtar.

I still say the Bills are going to kick the living tar out of Da Bears. That's the depth of my analysis.

LOG...you are an idiot! (sarcasm)

LOL