Bears-Packers Week: Land of Linkin’
Here are some news, notes and nuggets as the Bears prep for the Packers on Sunday night.
Laurence Holmes is breaking it down like the big boys do on his blog at The Score, giving some great insight into the Packers new 3-4 defense and how the Bears have been preparing for it. Here’s some detail about how subtle differences in the defensive alignment change the pre-snap calls:
"When I asked Bears players about the 3-4, a couple of things became clear: Pre-snap reads are going to be critical for Jay Cutler. As I’m told, the splits that the 3-down Linemen take has a significant effect on what the pass protection is for a particular play. One player told me that the difference can be as small as 1-foot and that would change where the protection slides or the play that’s called. So Jay Cutler and the Olin Kreutz are gonna have to be on their game with recognition. If they aren’t the plays could be blown up."
Meanwhile, if you’ve got a coin, go ahead and flip it – Heads Peanut Tillman plays and Tails he doesn’t. I’m hoping it’s heads, but only if he can run with Jennings and Driver.
Desmond Clark didn’t make any friends with the Chicago Park district when he ripped the Soldier Field playing surface. Is he new here? This is an annual thing with Soldier Field. Just wait until after the U2 concerts this weekend and a few more high school games.
And this city wants to host the Olympics? They can’t even put the Bears logo in the right place?
Chicago Park District Worker #1: “How many rings in that Olympic logo?”
CPD Worker #2: ” Ahhh, tree or four… I think.”
Former Bears legends are lining up to give their two cents on the upcoming season:
Dick Butkus is calling out the defense and thinks Jay Cutler would have been banished to Canada (is that worse than Siberia?) if he pulled his trade me antics with Papa Bear Halas. I wonder what Butkus would have done with Brandon Marshall’s practice routine?
Da Coach is picking the Packers to win the NFC North.
Does this guy look like he’s paying attention to the Bears these days? I think he’s a little distracted.
How did I get this far into a post without seeing what you-know-who has to say about the season opener versus the Packers? Jay Cutler is headed to Green Bay for the first time to get a dose of the Bears-Packers rivalry:
"Cutler has talked to his buddy Rodgers in the past few days. Cutler sent Rodgers a text shortly after being traded to the Bears saying they get to see each other twice a year now. Cutler wouldn’t admit that he said he gets to “beat” Rodgers twice a year."
"“He’s excited for this one,” Cutler said of Rodgers. “I want to win this one, he wants to win this one. But after this game, I wish him the best.”"
Speaking of the rivalry, my guy Matt over at Jay Cutler Superstar gives JC a preview of what he’ll see in Green Bay. Warning, this is not for the faint of heart!
Finally, Brian Urlacher shares some candid memories of his first trip to Lambeau and offers his review of Green Bay’s hotels and fans.
"The hotels aren’t very nice up there. The fans don’t like us, but I think there’s a mutual respect. They don’t like us, we don’t like them. But it’s not like a hatred thing. We’re so close in proximity that we can’t like each other.The fans, they flip us off all the time. They moon us. They don’t care. It’s not worth saying anything back to them because our windows are tinted so they can’t see us anyway. But when you have a police escort going through where people tailgate, I think they can figure out it’s us. A controversy with a fan, that’s the last thing I need."
That’s about the most I’ve heard from Brian since Jay Glazer was his mouthpiece. It’s a good read; check it out.
BEAR DOWN!!!
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