I didn’t actually think we were going to win. I was just irritated that nobody was even giving us a chance.
Time for a “Try to stay positive” post:
A) While Cutler has been great the past few games, the core of the Bears is special teams and defense. Nothing has happened to them, and they’ve been outstanding as always.
B) The offensive line issues haven’t been much of a problem. Cutler has had to scramble a bit, but they’ve been avoiding sacks. Should give Hanie decent time to throw.
C) Forte is having a great year. It’s gonna be harder for him here on out, but I think he can still put up great numbers.
D) Hanie’s not crap. He played well against a Super Bowl winning team with no reps. Plus, he’s a free agent after this year so he as extra incentive to prove himself.
E) There’s really four teams going for the two wildcard spots: Bears, Lions, Cowboys/Giants, and Falcons/Saints. The Giants have a tough schedule coming up, the Lions still have to play the Packers twice, and we beat Atlanta in the tiebreaker. So, Go Saints and Cowboys!
F) The schedule coming up isn’t the toughest:
@Raiders
Chiefs
@Broncos
Seahawks
@Packers
Vikings
We aren’t going 6-0 or 5-1 probably, but 4-2 or even 3-3 could still get the team into the playoffs.
The chunks of Bears games I’ve seen, it seemed to me that a lot of the credit for the lack of sacks belonged to Jay Cutler. He’s moving very well in the pocket and avoiding the rush quite well. I’m not so sure Hanie has those kinds of skills. It will be interesting to see though.
Oh god, the “Favre to Bears?” talk have already started.
It’s gonna be a long six weeks.
Back in January, when Favre retired from the Vikings, and was saying, “this time it’s final”, I said that I would only believe that if Thanksgiving arrived without Favre having signed with another team. Soooo close… 
I always worry about playing the Lions on Thanksgiving. The Packers always seem to have tough games then even when they are really good and the Lions are really bad.
Yup…and there are already lots of folks discussing the parallels to 1962 (when Lombardi’s Pack was 10-0 heading to Detroit for Thanksgiving, and got pummeled by the Lions).
Let me ask the other Packer fans, how important is an undefeated season to you guys? I do not favor resting players in the stretch run (although the way the Niners are playing, that may not be an option), but not for any perfect season reasons. I just think it is good to keep the players in sync. If they get a perfect season along the way, that’s nice, but I am not going to fret if they get a loss one of these weeks.
I’m with you. If anything, I’m not going to be a fan of the increased media scrutiny which will accumulate with each undefeated week (though, honestly, it’s probably still not going to be as intense as it would be for a New England or New York team which made it to 10-0).
Win the division, get the #1 seed. That’s what’s important.
OTOH, I really, really would like to have somebody shut up Mercury Morris & co. once and for all.
It’s not, it is a false goal that detracts from the real prize, getting to and winning the super bowl.
Their plan should be to win each game, but it should not be to win every game.
If they do, that’s just gravy.
QtM, volunteer Packers coach (from the safety of my living room) and shareholder, dammit.
As a Lions fan, I want this win so bad I can taste it. It’s been since 2003 that I’ve had a Thanksgiving win. It’s time to end that drought.
I don’t even hate the Pack. I mean, Jesus, they’re amazingly good. They’ve been fun to watch, and the Cheeseheads I’ve met are much nicer about football than other NFC-N rival fans. But I want to see a Detroit victory this year, badly.
Up until this Cutler injury I wanted Detroit to win too. Now, the Bears are going to need the Lions to lose. Go Pa… cough, gag cough
Not important. A loss may take that pressure off of them.
I’d like to see them rest Rodgers at some point. The last thing they need is someone like Suh cheap shotting him straight to the hospital. As dirty as the Lions are I worry about Rodgers this week.
Thanks. As a Packer fan I think it’s great to see the Lions not be the embarrassment of the NFC North. Too many years have you guys suffered through shitty football. You deserve some success.
I would never ever say that about the Bears or the Vikings.
Bear in mind that the Packers play the Lions in the final game of the season. If they were to enter that game 15-0, and had the #1 seed in the bag, that could be a very interesting issue.
I had agreed wholeheartedly, but then I saw how their coach comports himself, I saw some dirty plays and dirty players, and I saw them being jagoffs. They didn’t change that they are an embarrassment to the NFC North, but instead of being because they sucked, it’s because they’re poor sports. I’m not rooting for them anymore.
This game was against the Panthers. Everyone looks like a world beater rushing against those bums.
I appreciate the sentiment but Cutler has been an absolute monster this season. He’s made both the offensive line and WRs looks serviceable. The defense has been opportunistic like always, but their secondary is still pretty shaky and they aren’t generating enough sacks. Cutler’s numbers aren’t jumping off the page, but when you see him extending plays and making great decisions he’s been the engine that drives this team, more than even Forte, Peppers or Briggs.
Also, the Special Teams did take a really big loss this week too. Long snapper Patrick Mannelly is done for the season with a torn ACL. Long snappers don’t carry teams but they can really undermine them and Mannelly was the best there was. Clutts did an admirable job in relief, and they signed Jake Laptad today who was on the preseason roster with the team but this loss could really create some issues for Gould on key kicks in what presumably will be very close games from here on out.
We will see. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the O line this year and I have to eat a little crow (just a little, though) regarding the Bears front office. They told us that they liked the young guys they had, that Garza would be a good Center, that Lance Louis had the potential to be a stud that Webb could play every day and for the most part they were right. The Chris Spencer signing even looks like a genius stroke based on how he’s played, and if Edwin Williams continues this trend they deserve a ton of credit. But…and it’s a big one, Cutler has bailed these guy out a bunch. He’s extended 5 or 6 plays a week by escaping the pocket and he’s made teams really hesitant to blitz. That will change with Hanie and I’ve very worried about the Bears line’s ability to handle those blitzes with a bunch of backups in there. Hanie is very mobile though, so hopefully he’ll be able to continue that trend and save us some sacks and move the chains when needed.
Again, I’m worried about this. Forte’s numbers came off a lot of screens and outside runs. You have to threaten with the pass to make that work. You need CBs and LBs going backwards and Cutler made that happen. We’ll see a lot of run blitzes and 8 man fronts without Cutler in there, and Forte struggles mightily against short yardage fronts and that’s what we’ll see a lot of.
I’m a Hanie fan, he played well in the preseason 2 years ago and played well in the NFC title game. He should never have been behind anyone for the 2nd QB spot. But, Matrz has a problem with him for some inexplicable reason and he actually struggled quite a bit in this year’s preseason. I like his physical skills, he’s actually somewhat similar to Cutler in everything but arm strength and maybe, just maybe, he’ll be a little bit better at playing small ball than Cutler was. Cutler rarely took the check down and didn’t seem willing to throw those quick hitting slants and outs on anything other than 3rd and short. Martz might have to call more of those with Hanie and we might see the TEs, Forte and Williams getting more balls to move the chains. Plus Hester might get a lot more action in the bubble screen. Hopefully the Wildcat stays in the bag through.
The schedule is really favorable, if you had to lose a QB this was the right time for it to happen. Hopefully we can steal a WC and Cutler can get back in Week 17. Sadly I’ll probably be stuck watching the Bears get roughed up in Lambeau without Cutler now though. What a bummer.
You’re right about Cutler. The line has been better than expected but Cutler bailed them out a lot. He also held the ball too long a lot as well, so it probably evened out. Hanie has the mobility that Cutler does. He’s not as strong and tough, but he’ll be able to move around really well and stretch a few plays, plus he might be forced to get rid of the ball quicker if Martz adjusts his play calling even further.
I’ve never gotten a reasonable explanation as to why Martz has always been so down on Hanie. I suspect we’ll know one way or another once the season is finished. If this leads to Hanie earning a nice contract all the better, though I suspect it won’t be here to the chagrin of Bears fans.
All the math says I should feel the same way, but when the ball kicks off I simply won’t be able to do it. At least when the game ends I’ll be able to walk away happy one way or another. The Lions being the scummiest team in the league only adds to the difficultly for me. Probably the best scenario for the Bears is a Pyrrhic victory for the Packers. A couple key Packer injuries and a demoralized Lions team starts it’s tailspin in earnest. Though, a Lions victory would eliminate the undefeated season potential for the Pack and I suspect a high profile win could be almost as bad for the Lions fragile psyche as a loss. Can’t you see them winning this one, then start thinking they are god’s gift to football and thinking they are too good to have to actually prepare for games like a vintage Raiders team? A win here followed by 4 straight losses would be almost poetic.
The very first sentence and you completely blow your credibility. Yes, Cutler has been better of late, and he might have finally broken into the top 10 rated QB before the injury, but “absolute monster?” C’mon.
Take it in context. As noted, the stats aren’t otherworldly. He’s not Rodgers or Brady. But he’s everything to this offense. The WRs suck balls and the O line is adequate, but isn’t good enough to take over games or move the point of attack on obvious running downs. For the Bears, he’s the biggest contributor by a wide stretch. Yeah, he’s a monster on this roster, he hides so many deficiencies on other areas.
ETA: Also, Cutler is better than top 10. I think it’s tough to argue that he isn’t top 5 this year. I have him 4th behind Rodgers, Brady and Brees. Unless I’m forgetting someone obvious, the only guys in the conversation are Big Ben and Romo.