Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE
The Chicago Bears certainly came out of the gates firing in Week 1 and, after a sloppy start, really put a pounding on a young Indianapolis Colts team. Jay Cutler was tossing smoke from the pocket as well as on the run en route to 333 yards in the air with a 60% completion rate. Matt Forte had a quiet 120 all-purpose yards while Brandon Marshall was targeted 15 times and hauled in 119 receiving yards. All in all a very solid output from a new look Bears club.
Now the Bears are showing up at #5 in Week 2’s Power Rankings here on Rant Sports. While I am personally thrilled with the club grabbing the #5 spot, I just don’t see the Bears deserving the position after beating a less than adequate Colts side. Now don’t get me wrong, the Bears played well and showed the nation exactly what they plan to do this season with The Cutler & Marshall show that will be coming to your living room live every Sunday until February. However, it just doesn’t seem warranted to put the Bears at #5.
The Colts offered very little in terms of resistance to the Bears offensive firepower and also couldn’t get much going against the Bears defense. Even with Brian Urlacher playing injured the Colts were not able to exploit any gaps. I’m not really sure if the Bears were just playing so well or if the Colts were really just that bad. On top of that, it was the first game of the season and it is hard to take away some strong opinions based on one outing.
The real test will be this Thursday when the Bears head north to Lambeau Field to take on division rivals the Green Bay Packers. This will truly be a battle for the defense as they will be taking on one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Aaron Rodgers. If they allow Rodgers to pick them apart like Andrew Luck did, it could be a long day for the fans back in Chicago.
The offense will have to be consistent in third down conversions, red zone efficiency and line blocking in order for me to consider them a juggernaut. This is no easy task against a team that went 15-1 last season. However, if the Bears are able to sustain drives and put consistent points on the board, I could really see them coming away with a W.
Again, I am thrilled that the Bears won and came in at #5 in the Power Rankings. However, I will just need to see a bit more footage of them in action before I totally buy in on the team. A win in Green Bay will likely shift the power in the NFC North and make the Bears the team to beat. A win against the Packers will also vault the Bears into the top 3 of the Power Rankings for next week. And at that time, I will be right back here arguing for them to be #1.
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