The Chicago Bears season will be here in just five days. Think about all the things we focused on to not get bored since the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup (Sharknado, Kate Middleton, the Packers Eddie Lacy being fat/not fat/looking fat in a picture, the drunken escapades of Johnny Manziel, Miley Cyrus, Jay Cutler wearing an ’80s t-shirt….etc.
We did this because baseball here in Chicago was even more pathetic than it usually is. And we just couldn’t think about baseball during the summer drought period so we…well, Chicago Bears football is here, that’s what matters.
TV: CBS Noon CST Sun lead announce team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms
Spread: Chicago Bears -3
Chicago Bears analysis:
Here’s your drinking game for this season “Marc Trestman is a quarterback whisperer.” Here’s your second drinking game for the season: “this is a contract/make or break/career defining year for Jay Cutler.”
I went to NFL on CBS Media Day where I asked Phil Simms a few questions about the Bears.
“I hate the phrase it’s all about the quarterback, but I’m starting to warm up to it because Christ- that’s all anybody can talk about. And in the NFL, all the rules are for (the favor) of the quarterback too.”
Here’s more on what Simms had to say about Cutler and the Chicago Bears in week one.
“I do know this I saw his team play quite a few times in Montreal and he was running a NFL offense in the Canadian Football League- that’s pretty hard to do. And it worked. I saw him a run a play the 49ers used to run with Joe Montana,” Simms said about Trestman.
Shannon Sharpe had some insight on the Chicago Bears QB/Offensive Coordinator and Coaching situation too (read all of it here)
“I’m anxious to see what Jay Cutler can bring to the table. I look at it like this, I hear about all these guys and all the coaches they’ve had, how many offensive coordinators they’ve had. There’s a reason. Look at Peyton Manning, he had one offensive coordinator when he was in Indy. Normally when the quarterback position is good the guy gets promoted. Coordinators and Head Coaches don’t normally get fired when that guy plays well,” Shannon Sharpe said.
“There have been some guys who have gotten fired because he hadn’t played well, and everybody keeps saying, he had a different offense. There’s a reason he has a different offense, because he wasn’t playing well in the previous offense, but at some point in time, you need to see to say it’s not the coach, it’s you,” Sharpe said.
Rich Gannon on Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears:
“I went and worked with Jay for a day this offseason, Marc Trestman and I were together a couple different places, most notably in Oakland. Jay, to me, it’s all about trusting. Trust in the system, the players around him, trust the coaching staff and if he can do that I think he’ll be successful,” Gannon said.
“But, he’s got to work through some demons, he’s had some bad experiences as a quarterback and because of those experiences I don’t think he’s trusted the guys he’s worked with,” Rich Gannon added. (read the whole interview here)
Cincinnati Bengals analysis:
They’re a dark horse Super Bowl pick. They’re my SB Champion pick for 2013. Some NFL pundits are getting on board with this pick of mine too. Simms believes Cincy has everything in place; it just comes down to whether or not Dalton develops.
“It’s Andy Dalton. They’ve done it all. They’ve lined it up. We got you a good line, we got you some tight ends, one of the best wide receivers, we’ve drafted another running back, they got a good defense,” he said.
Simms gives more analysis on the Bengals here.
NBC Analyst Cris Collinsworth was a big part of the Super Bowl 23 Bengals team 25 years ago.
Cris Collinsworth: “Well, as you know, I watch them. I just got finished watching the tape against the Dallas Cowboys and preparing for our opening Sunday night game and they’ve got a lot of pieces.
I thought that Jermaine Gresham looked like a better football player now that they drafted Tyler Eifert. I’m a little concerned that Whitworth’s knee hasn’t kind of rounded into form yet.
I think Giovanni Bernard has given them an element on offense and of course A.J. is a spectacular player. Defensively, we know what they are. I think defensively they’ll compete with anybody — Geno Atkins almost single-handedly beat the Cowboys the other night. He’s an unbelievable talent and Michael Johnson- you know this is a legitimate football team.” (more from Collinsworth here)
Chucky said something similar recently in a conference call I was on.
“I think the Cincinnati Bengals are a legitimate dark horse. James Harrison obviously has to prove that he can play a different position, and they have to prove that he can function in a different role in their nickel package. He’s been a right defensive end rushing the passer and doing it extremely well, but Michael Johnson played right defensive end, and he’s a franchise player, so how they utilize Harrison will be interesting, who the safeties are going to be, who plays opposite Reggie Nelson. That will be, I think, an interesting subject,” Jon Gruden said. (read the whole interview here)
Brutally Honest pick (brutally honest record 44-20): Chicago Bears 21, Cincinnati Bengals 17.
The Bengals aren’t winning the Super Bowl in this game. And I think the Bears are playoff bound this season with a 11-5ish record. But neither offense will be even close to midseason form Sunday. Chicago Bears triumph due to turnovers and a pick-six somewhere.
Catch me every Friday at 7:30 AM CDT talking Chicago Bears on WAOR 95.7 The Fan, Michiana’s home for Bears football
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)