Looking at the 41-3 score, you would assume the Chicago Bears (4-1) dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) throughout the game.  But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.  The score was 3-3 at halftime and then Lovie Smith got … loud.  According to Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune, Lance Briggs described what happened at halftime, “I don’t know exactly what [Lovie Smith] said, but it was loud, though.  Probably the loudest I’ve ever heard him. Whatever he said, it sunk in. And it jump-started us.”

It was perfect timing for Lovie to show some raw emotion, because the Bears responded with a 17 play scoring drive, two defensive touchdowns and three offensive touchdowns.  Everything started to click.  The defense now has five touchdowns in three weeks and leads the league with 17 takeaways.  The Bears are going into the bye with a lot of momentum, but will gladly take the time off to let a few guys heal up.

Let’s check out the grades for their dominant Week 5 performance against the Jaguars.

Quarterback – B+
As Boomer stated yesterday, it was a tale of two halves, especially for Jay Cutler.  He threw an interception on his first pass and over/under threw too many receivers.  He went into halftime completing just 50 percent of his passes for 110 yards and only one field goal to the Bears credit.  Then, he started to find Brandon Marshall all over the field, leading the Bears on four scoring driving in four chances in the second half.  He finished the game 23-for-39 for 292 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.  As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race.  Cutler is beginning to show that he can be clutch when he needs to be.  I just hope he is a little more careful when he runs the ball.  Slide, Jay, slide!

Wide Receivers – A
Marshall caught 12 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, Alshon Jeffery had a nice touchdown catch and Devin Hester show his speed once again, making a beautiful 39-yard reception in the fourth quarter.  Overall, Marshall had the bulk of the catches, but when he was covered, the other receivers were able to get open and make plays.  It looks like Jeffery is going to miss a few weeks after fracturing his right hand, but at least he did it while catching a touchdown.  It looked like he was getting into a groove, so hopefully he can pick up where he left off when he returns.

Running Backs – A+
Matt Forte finally looked to be 100 percent, rushing for 107 yards on 22 rushes and catches two passes for 20 yards.  Michael Bush contributed as well with 52 total yards on six touches, including a nice show of athleticism.   This is the type of game that Mike Tice envisioned when taking over as the offensive coordinator.  He stuck with the run on the first and second down and set up manageable third downs.  Eventually, the passing game also opened up and the Cutler took advantage.  Forte’s longest run was only 14 yards, but he was consistently breaking tackles and gaining first downs.  Even third-string running back Armando Allen joined in the fun with a nifty 46-yard touchdown run to cap off the victory.

Tight Ends/Fullback – C
Kellen Davis once again showed his upside and his shortcomings.  In the first quarter, he dropped a pass that was right in his hands, but then made two nice catches to keep the Bears first scoring drive alive.  After the first quarter, he wasn’t targeted again.  Davis and Matt Spaeth did a nice job blocking, giving Cutler time to throw, but they will somehow need to get open and catch some more balls with Jeffery out.  I feel as though we have seen the ceiling for Davis.  Let’s face it, he’s just average at best.

Offensive Line – B+
This grade is a bit skewed by the multiple mistakes from Gabe Carimi.  He single-handedly stopped the Bears from scoring a touchdown in the third quarter with two false starts in the red zone.    He also gave up the only sack on Cutler.  Other than Carimi, the line played very well against a below average Jaguars defense.  J’Marcus Webb has fallen off the fans radar and seems to have responded since Cutler bumped and yelled at him a few weeks ago.  I also want to mention that Roberto Garza has played extremely well all season.

Defensive Line – B
Corey Wooton was the only Bears to sack Blaine Gabbert, but he did it twice and forced a fumble that was recovered by Julius Peppers.  After the last few weeks, this performance seemed to be a bit of a letdown.  However, if giving up 60 rushing yards and three points is the worst they play all season, I’ll take it.  Henry Melton has slowed a bit from his quick start and didn’t record a tackle against the Jaguars.  Let’s hope he doesn’t fall into a slump like he did last year around this time. (Games 4-7 he had just one tackle and zero sacks).

Linebackers – B+
Brian Urlacher still doesn’t look like himself.  He’s definitely a few steps slower than he was last year and doesn’t seem to have the burst we’ve always seen from him.  A long bye week should help to heal his aging body.  Lance Briggs, on the other hand, is playing at a level as high as Urlacher did in his prime.  Briggs recorded his second pick-six in as many weeks to go along with a sack (almost a safety) and four total tackles.  He’s definitely holding down the fort while Urlacher is getting healthy.  Nick Roach had a nice pass deflection in the end zone and has been doing a nice job containing and covering running backs and tight ends.

Secondary – A
Is it just me or is Major Wright starting to look like a Pro Bowl safety?  He and Chris Conte are patrolling the secondary like a couple of veterans.  Tim Jennings, however, briefly reverted to mediocrity in the first half, capped off by giving up a 34-yard reception to Cecil Shorts (longest play from scrimmage by a Bears opponent in 2012).  He bounced back in the second half and finished the game as the Bears leading tackler with six.  Charles Tillman equaled Briggs’ pick-six repeat, making them the first set of teammates in NFL history to have back-to-back games with interception returns for touchdowns.  Anyone who worried about Tillman after the Giants preseason game should now be resting easy.

Special Teams – C+
For the first time in a long time, the Bears special teams unit has been the weakest phase of the game.  They haven’t made any big mistakes, but they haven’t been very special.  The coverage team held Jaguars KR Rashad Jennings to just 21.7 yards per kick return.  Hester had four punt returns for eight total yards and one kick return for 28 yards.  Adam Podlesh averaged just 40.7 yards on three punts and kicked one into the end zone.  The consistent bright spot has been Robbie Gould, who continued his perfect season, making two field goals and five extra points.  He’s on pace for over 150 points this season, which would break Kevin Butler’s franchise record of 144 points, set in 1985.

Coaching – A
Even a person who has been critical of Lovie Smith’s coaching style has to give him a ton of credit for motivating the Bears at halftime.  The Bears outscored the Jaguars 38-0 in the second half after looking ineffective throughout the first and second quarter.  Mike Tice has shown that he’s willing to establish the run early, but also go the pass when it’s working.  Any time that a team can come out of halftime with a drive of 17 plays for over nine minutes, you have to give credit to the coaching staff.

Overall – A-

The Week 5 Milk Carton goes to Gabe Carimi, who had a forgettable day to say the least.  While J’Marcus Webb has drawn plenty of attention for his lackluster start to the season, Carimi has flown under the radar.  He was exposed on Sunday, most notably committing back-to-back false start penalties that turned the Bears’ opening second half drive into three points instead of seven.

Let’s cut Gabe some slack, as this is basically his rookie year.  He missed all but the first six quarters of action to a knee injury and spent a better part of the offseason recovering.  I’m not pushing the panic button yet on Carimi, but he’s got some work to do to anchor that right tackle position if the Bears hope to turn their strong 4-1 start into a deep playoff run.

Sep 09, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (17) runs the ball after a catch against the Indianapolis Colts during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field. Chicago defeats Indianapolis 41-21. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE

This Sunday, the Chicago Bears (3-1) will face the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3) down in Florida for the sixth meeting in their histories (Bears have won three).  Jaguar fans are known for avoiding EverBank Field at all costs, so expect to see a lot of the Bears faithful in attendance.

The last time the Bears and Jaguars were mentioned in the same sentence, Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew was calling Bears QB Jay Cutler a quitter via Twitter.  The two have brushed off the incident since, but you know the Bears defense wants to get a little payback for Jay.  The Monsters of the Midway already lead the league in takeaways (14), are second in stopping opponents from converting third down (73.9 percent of the time), are third in sacks (15), third in rushing yards allowed per game (67.3), and have only allowed one rushing touchdown all season.

After a big Monday night win, the Bears looked primed to stomp on a Jaguars team that is deprived both offensively and defensively.  They average a league low 254.3 yards per game and 15.5 points per game, while giving up 404.8 yards per game and 24.3 points per game.  That’s a recipe for disaster in my book.  Let’s take a look at how the rest of the matchup adds up.

1:  Number of times Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert has had a QB rating over 100.00 in 19 career games.  Also, the number of times Gabbert has thrown for over 225 yards in a game.

2:  Sacks by the entire Jaguars defense in 2012 (both came in Week 1).

2.5:  Sacks by Bears DE Israel Idonije in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys.

3:  Number of quarters that the Bears have been outscored by their opponents this season.

4:  Number of takeaways (two interceptions, two fumble recoveries) by the entire Jaguars defense in 2012.  Also, the number of takeaways by Bears CB Tim Jennings (four interceptions) in 2012.

6:  Number of AFC running backs that have rushed for over 100 yards in a game against the Bears since 1999.

9:  Number of times Cutler has compiled a perfect QB rating (158.3) in a single quarter, most recently in the third quarter on Monday night in Dallas when he went 8-for-8 for 133 yards and a touchdown.

10:  Number of red zone scores by the Bears (five touchdowns, five field goals) in 10 attempts this season.

11: Games since Devin Hester has had a kick or punt return for a touchdown.

39.2:  Percentage of Jaguars total yardage gained by RB Maurice Jones-Drew (435 out of 1109 total yards).

17-2:  Bears record when they score a defensive touchdown in a game since the 2005 season.

21-5:  Bears record when Robbie Gould makes three or more field goals since the 2005 season.

65.9:  Opposing quarterback’s QB rating when Major Wright and Chris Conte start at safety for the Bears (10 games, 181 of 296 for 2,632 yards, seven touchdowns and 19 interceptions).

164:  Receiving yards by Bears WR Alshon Jeffery this season, ranking him first among NFL rookie wide receivers.

Not much to say here other than, on paper, the Bears are far and away the better team.  That being said, this is the NFL and you never know what is going to happen week to week.  Look for Brandon Marshall and Jeffery to have big games, and the Bears secondary to be deflecting and intercepting passes left and right.  Cutler will finally get some long awaited payback on Jones-Drew.

Sep 23, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew (32) runs with the ball against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Jacksonville defeats Indianapolis 22-17. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

The Bears head down to Jacksonville for the second of back-to-back road games before they hit their Week 6 bye week. Maurice Jones-Drew, Blaine Gabbert and the 32nd ranked Jaguars await the fifth ranked Chicago Bears scoring defense.  On paper, the Bears should dominate, but as they always say, they don’t play the games on paper.  Here are my keys to a Chicago Bears victory. (more…)

Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher are ready to maul the Panthers. (photo courtesy of ESPN.com)

This week we will observe one of nature’s great rivalries, Bears (3-1) vs. Panthers(0-4) and break down the key matchups.  It will be a true battle for dominance between a wise old grizzly, Bears QB Todd Collins and a young cub, Panthers QB Jimmy Clausen.  The two will lead their packs into the wild kingdom that is Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

The Bears have their reputations on the line as a real contender in the NFC, but will be without their alpha male, QB Jay Cutler (concussion).  The Panthers, after losing their first four games, limp into week 5 and will most likely be without their ferocious WR Steve Smith (injured paw).   They will have to rely on two young kittens, WR David Gettis and WR Brandon LaFell, to protect the Panther’s home den.  Let’s take a look at some key matchups that will help decide this week struggle for NFL survival:

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