Written by Brett Solesky | 13 September 2009

Well it's hard to keep calm after a painful game like this.  So much anticipation I don't know if anyone thought Jay Cutler would throw four INTs in his Bears debut.  A lot of the struggles offensively started from one point and one point in particular, that point was not Jay Cutler's play.  However the point that really hurt the Bears was caused by two newly acquired players who were expected to help the Bears win a lot of games with their ability.  Like Cutler these two new players failed miserably in their sparkling debuts. 

This was an ugly game to watch from start to finish.  There were some high points in this game but you saw what a lot of people said, that Cutler needs to get in rhythm with his wide receivers in order to be successful. 

There is plenty of blame to go around in this one, mostly on the offensive side of the ball.  The pass protection and run blocking on the left side of the offensive line was horrible.  Orlando Pace looked washed up and beat down in this game, Frank Omiyale was owned constantly in run blocking.  He was lost in the trenches and it now appears that converting Omiyale to guard was a really bad idea because he has struggled pretty consistently in run blocking. 

The wide receivers share in the blame for the failure of the offense to be successful and in quitting on the routes or mis-communication between Cutler and his receivers in making plays in the passing game. 

Cutler's two INTs, one that put the Packers first and goal at the one for the touchdown, that was a big play, and then the INT to finish out the game.  I think it's apparent the Bears could benefit from having a receiver with some seasoning and ability to get off the jam and to help mentor and guide these young receivers. 

Can't put much of the blame on the defense for their effort.  It's sad that Adewale Ogunleye only seems to show up and rush the passer when he's in a contract year.  Zack Bowman hopefully gets healthy and steps up and starts and is healthy and makes plays over Nathan Vasher.  Vasher yes did have the glaring play where he was burned for what turned into the game clinching touchdown but he played well all things considered. 

The defense did get pressure and did stop the run with Brian Urlacher in there.  Anyone who thought that the Bears should move on from Brian Urlacher or trade him and get what you can for him misses the point on just how good he is in stopping the run.  While Urlacher has never been one of the best run defenders at the point of attack you could tell the difference in the second half when he wasn't in there, it really started to hurt the run defense. 

The defense made the plays necessary to win the game tonight with their pressure and their execution which you hope continues as the season progresses.  I don't believe for a minute that we'll see Jay Cutler throw four INTs per game the rest of the season.  If the defense can start to get turnovers and the Bears cut down on turnovers and Cutler is able to find a better rhythm with his receivers the Bears will win a lot more football games. 

Key areas to improve are obviously all on offense.  The run blocking, the pass blocking and the Bears need to find a wide receiver to take the heat off of Greg Olsen.  The Packers were able to gang up on Olsen and take him completely out of the game and as such the Bears had no wide receiver that could take the heat off of Olsen.  Teams from here on out will focus on boxing up Olsen the same way the Packers did and in order to get Olsen free the Bears need a receiver to step up and make plays.  Hester can be productive but he struggled to make plays unless he was in space, in tight quarter and when he needs to use his body to make a catch or maintain position to make a catch he struggled tonight. 

It's hard to argue with people who say the Bears should look into signing a Matt Jones player, a big physical target that can give the offense a better dimension in the passing will help Cutler be more efficient.  Overall it was a tough game and the Bears could really struggle next week against the Steelers in the home opener.  Based on the play tonight and the likely continued struggles we could see from the receivers the Steelers will likely beat the Bears. 

I don't see a scenario in which the Bears will beat the Steelers, not with the pass blocking we saw tonight from the left side of the offensive line which was truly the most disappointing aspect of the offense.  Omiyale and Pace looked really bad out there tonight and I imagine my film review session will only completely affirm just how hard it was for the offense to find any sort of rhythm with the running game and with Cutler having good lanes to throw in, good time to make smart and sound decisions, and just overall ability to keep the Bears out of third and long and consistently put the offense at a disadvantage.

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