Week one is in the books and week two brings the Chicago Bears to the Superdome for the Saints home opener. While the Packers get all the headlines in the NFC North, to me the Bears is not that far behind. Breaking down the Bears, I never thought they would beat the Falcons the way they did. They are a well coached team and veteran laden team. This will be a good test for the Saints and should be a good game for the fans also.
Special Teams: The only thing you need to know about the Bears special teams is Devin Hester. He only returned punts last year but has added kickoff returns this year to his duties on special teams. I thought coming into this season we wouldn’t have to worry about kickoffs being returned for touchdowns but I think the fact that the returners are getting a bigger head start is helping the returners. It also doesn’t hurt the Bears that Randall Cobb took one to the house last week, so you know the Bears will be bringing it out when they can.
How to take advantage?
The Saints have to play every kickoff return like Hester is returning the kick out of the end zone. I think last week they were lulled to sleep thinking “Oh let’s just run down here and watch the rookie take a knee.” It can’t happen this week as Hester will take it out and has the chance to take it back every time he touches the ball. So the key for Thomas Morestead this week is to kick the ball in the second row of the end zone on kickoffs and on punts. Either angle it to help the punt coverage or kick it out of bounds around the goal line.
Defense: The fact that the head coach is a defensive minded coach, you know the Bears will always have a good defense. The defense is led by their middle linebacker, Brian Urlacher. He is currently dealing with the death of his mother and his status is unknown for Sunday’s game. But like the game with Cowboys a couple of years ago in which Demarcus Ware wasn’t going to play, the Saints need to gameplan as if Urlacher is going to play. It would hurt the defense if Urlacher didn’t play but the Bears have other guys that can make plays. The two things I took away from last week’s game against the Falcons are that they are good at getting pressure with their defensive linemen and they are good at creating turnovers. The defense as a unit will be one of the best the Saints face all year and a good test for the offense as they look to get better.
How to take advantage?
It doesn’t hurt that the Saints starting center is Olin Kreutz who spent 13 seasons with the Bears. I’m sure he knows the Bears defense inside and out so we can start there. The Saints are also going to need to exercise patience as an offense. The Bears play a Tampa 2, so the big play will be taken away but the guy who can benefit most from this is Jimmy Graham. He will be getting covered by linebackers and should get some significant action as he will be streaking down the middle of this defense. The gameplan should include protecting Drew on passing downs and mixing it up keeping the Bears on their toes.
Offense: The Bears offense is not a top five offense in the NFL but it is an efficient group. They are led by Jay Cutler at quarterback but to me the guy that makes the offense tick is Matt Forte. Matt is not a great running back as he makes most of his big plays outside the backfield. He is probably the best receiver on the Bears catching it out of the backfield or lining up as a slot guy. The other guy the Saints will have to watch out for is Devin Hester, as if him on special teams wasn’t bad enough. He will also line up in the slot and will sometimes get the ball on reverses. The offensive line is a group that the Bears wanted to get better this offseason as they got shredded last year giving up a ton of sacks. The line held up the Falcons pass rushing attack last week but I think this the one weak spot the Saints can attack this week.
How to take advantage?
Getting pressure on Jay Cutler is a key to stopping this offense. The offensive line is the weak link and Coach Williams should have some exotic blitzes ready to go this Sunday. It will also be key to limit the big play as the offense has been known to score at any given moment of the game.
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