Bear with me

So after getting my hopes up after last week’s game against the Lions, they came crashing down yesterday when the Bears fell apart against the Bengals.  Yesterday’s game was the first one I’d actually been able to see, and there wasn’t much about it that I liked.  For the most part, I thought the defense did pretty well.  They were put in some tough positions after some turnovers, but for most of the game, they really didn’t do that badly.  They kept the running game in check, but I don’t think they were able to put enough pressure on the QB.  Things fell apart at the end, but they had been on the field for most of the day.  The defense can’t do it all.

The Bears’ offense, well that didn’t look any different from what I’d seen last year.  Something is definitely wrong when I find myself happier when the Bears are on defense because I think they have a better chance of scoring than when on offense.  Orton had a horrible game and threw five interceptions.  At least he is a rookie, and Harrington and Culpepper can’t use that excuse.  It’s now Favre’s turn to throw five picks in a game.  Most of Orton’s interceptions were a result of bad decisions, and only one was really not completely on him.  The first pick of the day probably should have been caught, but it was slightly behind the receiver, and ended up getting tipped up in the air, and dramatically caught by the Bengals.  The good news is that Orton really can’t do much worse, it’s still early in the season, and the rest of the division is struggling just as much.

I guess the Bears are a Jeckyl and Hyde team this year.  One week they play great and rack up 38 points, and the next they fall off a cliff and can’t even get a first down for most of the game.  If they play bad like this in their next game against the Browns, I’m going to have to back off my prediction of at least 9 wins, but for now, I’m going to stick with it.