You gotta love the Gator chomp!  Hope we see that a lot this year.

If you have great pictures, videos or inside scoops, you can always e-mail me at beargoggles.boomer@gmail.com and I’ll be sure to get them posted.

Are you the Ultimate Displaced Bears Fan?  If you think you are, DirecTV wants to get to know you.  They’re running a contest to find the Ultimate Displaced Fan and BIG prizes are at stake.  And when I say BIG PRIZES, I have 2 words for you: Super Bowl!  As you might expect, with BIG prizes on the line, the competition is pretty stiff.  Check out this video from last year’s winner:

Yes, this dude’s garage is pretty impressive, but the guy’s got the personality of a wet dog.  So if you’re living behind enemy lines and you have a great story of Bears loyalty to tell, sign up by visiting the contest page at www.ultimatedisplacedfan.com.

You can read the contest rules there.  Here’s an excerpt from the Press Release they sent along. 

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Individual game tickets for the Chicago Bears 2009 season at Soldier Field will go on-sale at Noon on July 25, 2009.  Tickets can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or through www.ticketmaster.com.

For the 2009 season, available tickets are priced at $68.00 to $350.00 per-game. For regular season games, there is a limit of four (4) tickets per customer per game. For preseason games, there is no limit on how many tickets may be purchased. Group ticket packages are not available for Bears games. Multiple ticket orders containing the same customer name, address, and/or credit card number that exceed the ticket limit may be cancelled without notice.

Wheelchair seating will be available for each home game through Ticketmaster. Should the wheelchair seating allocation through Ticketmaster become exhausted, fans with disabilities are encouraged to proceed with the purchase of conventional seating – if available – then call the Bears ticket office at 847-615-BEAR (2327) to arrange an exchange.

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Jay Cutler pines for Brandon Marshall

Jay Cutler said all the right things after OTA’s ended last week, saying the Bears are set at receiver, but the new Bears QB let his guard down a bit in a recent interview “off campus” on a visit to William and Mary.

“I played with Brandon for three years and I think he’s one of the best receivers in the NFL,” Cutler told the Daily Press. “I think he can be one of the greatest ever to play. He’s big and fast, and can do everything you want him to do, on the field and in the meeting room.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. That’s up to the guys upstairs. If we make a run at him, we make a run at him.”

I guess you can’t blame Jay for talking up his ex-teammate.  I would put long odds against the Bears having enough to get a trade done with the Broncos, but then again, I never thought they’d pull of the Cutler trade! (more…)

Adrian Peterson had another big day against the Bears with 121 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.  Those numbers are great if you have him on your fantasy team, but in real football it wasn’t enough to help the Vikings get past the Bears.  Meanwhile, the Bears continued to struggle to establish the run, led by 56 yards rushing by Matt Forte.  Almost every rushing play was over before it started for the Bears, but luckily scoring came from a lot of different sources.

Kyle Orton put together another great game with 283 yards on 21 of 32 passing and 2 touchdowns.  If Orton can continue to keep up this level of play fans will begin to wonder why the Bears even bothered with Rex Grossman.  What Orton lacks in throwing the deep ball he makes up for with great accuracy and a wonderful ability to call audibles at the line.  I don’t know where this sudden knack for audibles came from and why it wasn’t used in previous seasons but I hope it continues.  Orton has shown a leadership ability on the field by looking at the defense and deciding whether to change the play.  Just as exciting is the success those audible plays have had for the team to get first downs and keep the chains moving.

If the Bears don’t win this game, the storyline for the Bears are the dropped touchdown passes by Marty Booker.  He finished with 3 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown, but what you don’t see on the stat sheet are the two touchdown catches he blatantly dropped.  There are always difficult catches and miscues on the field, but twice Orton put the ball right on Booker number in the end zone and he dropped it.  The Bears seem to be showing a growing confidence in Booker and he needs to respond with better consistency.

The irony is before the game the biggest concern was the Bears secondary that was depleted from injuries and could have given Gus Frerotte a big day.  Instead, Frerotte threw 4 interceptions, all of them to young Bears defenders getting playing time because of injuries.  Safety Kevin Payne, and corners Corey Graham, Trumaine McBride, and Zachary Bowman all came down with interceptions.  The Bears defense also finally remembered that sacking the quarterback is a good thing, getting one from Kevin Payne and Tommie Harris.

Kevin Payne is an interesting player that I’m going to spend more time researching.  He’s been nothing but criticized in Chicago for his poor coverage skills and allowing receivers to get behind him for big plays.  But if you look at him on paper he came away with 7 tackles, a sack, and an interception that he brought back 50 yards.  How exactly can a kid so productive be dogged as a liability?  Only in Chicago…….

The Bears are far from the strongest team in the league but they sure are playing like a team that believes they can hang in with everyone else.  They manage to screw up plenty of games, but they are a few plays away from being 7-0.  It seems crazy but if you take away the improbable Falcons comeback, the blown lead against the Panthers, and the blown lead against the Bucs, this is an undefeated team.  It was always the Bears who had to come up with points late in the game to try to win.  This season the Bears are having no trouble scoring points but they are having trouble hanging on to leads.  It got scary for a few moments today, but perhaps this team is finally figuring out how to secure a lead late.

The Bears tried to run the ball late and run down the clock but the Vikings had Forte’s number all day.  The Vikings had their chance for heroics, but the Bears came down with an interception and breathed a sigh of relief.

I should probably be happier that the Bears came away with a win, but I’m a bit troubled how they won.  The defense broke down and allowed the Vikings to keep scoring and stay in the game.  This should have been a blown out like the Lions game.  The Bears have always had good defense and run the ball well.  They won today, but they did it by losing their identity as a ball club.  Now the question becomes, do they try to regain their old identity or do they embrace this new identity as a way to win?

I’ve gone over it in my head over and over again and I just can’t see a game plan that would allow the Bears to take advantage of any weaknesses on the Eagles.  The only possibility would be if Eagles back Brian Westbrook has to sit out and Devin Hester is cleared to play.  Even then the Bears would need some breaks, a little luck, and a great game plan to get a win tonight. 

The Eagles are one of the best teams in the league right now on both sides of the ball.  There is no doubt the offense will struggle against a great Eagles defense and a majority of points may come from field goals.  Anything is possible from rookie back Matt Forte to break some plays and create points but I don’t expect anything great from Kyle Orton. 

The Bears have a great defense but they have fallen apart two weeks in a row and they need to look inward to find their identity.  The normally smother the run and force the quarterback to make throws that can turn into interceptions and fumbles.  In every game they have been successful in making the quarterback throw the ball to beat them, but in two of those games, the quarterback did beat them.  Changes may be made in the defensive starters to generate a spark.  However, it appears that the problem has more to do with coaching than the caliber of players.  The Bears have one of the most talented, highly paid defenses in football and there is no excuse for them not performing.  Defensive coordinator Bob Babich needs to figure out why his defensive scheme allows opposing offenses to figure them out in the fourth quarter. 

Perhaps its as simple as making more half-time adjustments so the opposing team cannot make adjustments with their offensive game plan that over powers the Bears.  I still think the Bears have an extremely talented team, but they are lacking leadership at the end of games.  Maybe the Eagles are exactly what the Bears players need to test themselves and prove to themselves that they can hang with the big dogs.  If they can hang in with the Eagles, they can hang with anyone.  However, most of that hinges on their performance in the fourth quarter.

If the Bears drop to 1-3 when they had a golden opportunity to start the season 3-0 coming into this game, fans may already start to sour on this season.

More importantly, the Bears are trying to figure out what chemistry is leading to losing games late.  Last week the Bears opted to start cornerback Corey Graham instead of veteran Nathan Vasher for what they called personnel matchups.  I’m a bit perplexed since Vasher is probably the most talented corner the Bears have had in a while and has shown a great ability to get interceptions.  Perhaps it served as a wake up call to Vasher that he needs to step up his game if this defense is going to continue to do well.  The passing defense has looked horrible and opposing quarterbacks are doing whatever they want, leading to easy touchdowns late in the game.

The scapegoat appears to be linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer, who is the player responsible for giving up key touchdowns late in both losses.  Hunter is an extremely smart, capable linebacker, but it is obvious teams have found a way to exploit his weaknesses.  Coaches have a tough decision if they will continue with Hillenmeyer or give capable backups Nick Roach and Jamar Williams more playing time. 

The Bears seemed perfectly healthy a week ago but now that the losses are piling up, so are the injuries.  There is no reason the Bears shouldn’t be 3-0 right now except for the complete breakdown of the defense late in the game.  The starting point for me is lack of pressure on the quarterback.  The Bears have always prided themselves on good defense and a strong rotation of players to apply constant pressure on the quarterback.  There is something wrong with the Bears front four, they should be more productive and producing more sacks. 

There are rumors that Tommie Harris is having knee problems again and he is attempting to play through the pain yet again.  Whether its true or not, that doesn’t excuse the rest of the men on the line for getting taken out of the game.  Brian Griese may be accurate but he sure is not nimble and the Bears should have been able to get at him with the blitz.  Instead he tore the Bears defense up for the winning drive. 

The penalties late in the game that cost the Bears were probably pure frustration for the sudden inability to hold the lead late.  That isn’t the identity the Bears defense has carved for itself and they have not changed any of the players from previous years.  Fans are starting to turn to coaches for answers and more specifically, defensive coach Bob Babich.  His defenses and blitzes are working good throughout the game, but opposing teams are making easy reads and finding ways to beat them late.  More needs to be done to change up the defensive attack late in games to keep offenses confused and maintain the win.  If not, the murmurs are already starting in Chicago for a change in coaching staff if this trend continues.

Luckily the Bears still have some depth at the position.  In training camp the starting nickel back was Danieal Manning but by the end of camp he had been beaten out by McGowan for the position.  Manning will have an opportunity to step up and prove that the job should have rightfully belonged to him.

Manning already knows the position well and should not have too difficult of a learning curve to get back into action.  However, the Bears are debating the options of using Manning or leaving linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer on the field to concentrate on shutting down the run.  The problem is leaving too many linebackers could leave the secondary exposed to big passing plays.

The other element comes from opponent Tampa Bay starting former Bears quarterback Brian Griese on Sunday.  Whether the Bears go with a nickel back or an extra linebacker could dictate how difficult they want to make life for Griese on Sunday.  Griese had some mild success in Chicago but lacked consistency.  The Bears defense may contest his ability to make throws on the run.  Griese’s biggest drawback is his lack of mobility and the ability of Manning or Hillenmeyer to reach the quarterback may make the difference of which gets more playing time.

The injury to Devin Hester still remains a mystery.  He simply ran out of bounds and held his side with extreme discomfort and has been held out of practice.  Hester made an appearance at practice today but did not participate.  He told reporters he plans to play on Sunday but his availability remains unknown.

The other rumor on the block is the Bears and Lovie Smith may be interested in pursuing free agent safety John Lynch.  Smith has experience with Lynch when they both were in Tampa Bay and he might have interest in bringing him in.  In that case, Lynch would give another talented and able body to help shore up the secondary in McGowan’s absense.  The Bears took a gamble last year on Adam Archuletta and it blew up in their face.  Regardless, the Bears may take another gamble with another aging safety and see if he has any gas left in the tank.