Bears Bye: Keeping Up With The NFC North

Brett Favre got hit in the 4th quarter of Minnesota's loss to New England, sacked hard by Patriot DT Myron Pryor. When he got up off the ground he unsnapped his chin strap, which was soaked in blood. A woozy Favre was carted off the field and required stitches to close his wound. He was replaced by Tarvaris Jackson, who finsished the drive with a TD, and 2-point conversion. Statistically Brett had a better than the Pat's Tom Brady, but that's the only way.

If Minnesota signed Randy Moss hoping for an advantage against New England specifically, it didn't help. Not in gaining insight into their offense, who scored 28 points, or in their own offense as Moss was held to one catch for 9 yards..

For more on both teams, visit Daily Norseman and Pat's Pulpit.

Mason Crosby's 3 field goals accounted for all the scoring Sunday in New Meadowlands stadium. Mark Sanchez threw for 256 yards for New York, but couldn't close the deal. Aaron Rodgers only managed 170 in the air. Both teams had missed FG's and incomplete passes aplenty, aided by the wind. Green Bay also had two interceptions, both of which were completed passes that were snatched away from Jets receivers.

The wind may have accounted for the low scoring game, but it doesn't explain why the Packers Brandon Jackson had only 55 yards rushing, while the Jets LaDainian Tomlinson only managed 54 on 16 runs.

For more on both these teams, visit  Acme Packing Company and Gang Green Nation .

Matt Stafford's 2010 home field debut may have been overdue, but it was a joyful one. At least for the faithful few who made the trip to Ford Field. The NFL blacked out the game locally, due to insufficient ticket sales. They missed the Lions defense sacking Donovan McNabb 6 times, and blowing up his replacement Rex Grossman for a forced fumble, that Ndamukong Suh took 17 yards for his first NFL touchdown.

Offensively, Matt Stafford threw 4 TD passes, and engineered a come from behind scoring drive in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. Calvin Johnson caught 9 passes for 101 yards.

The Lions are starting to see some payoffs in their number one picks.

For more on both teams, visit Pride of Detroit and Hog's Haven.

Minnesota lost to New England dropping the Vikings to 2-5 on the season. Brett Favre, who was questionable throughout the week with ankle troubles, was knocked out late in the game. He took a helmet to the chin, and had to be helped off the field. He reportedly had 10 stitches. to close the xut.

With less than two minutes left in the 1st half,  Minnesota failed to score on 4th and 1. Brett Favre, who earlier in the half threw his 10,000th NFL pass attempt, handed off to Adrian Peterson who was stood up behing the line of scrimmage. That game is tied at 7-7.

FYI, the New England Patriots are wearing 'throwback uniforns' that they last wore in 1993, the year after Brett Favre began playing in the NFL.

Earlier Detroit, who scored and converted a 2-point play to go up 28-25 on Washington, with 3:28 left in the game, managed another 9 points to finish with a 37-25 win.That includes a TD from  Ndamukong Suh, who ran a Rex Grossman fumble back 17 yards.

It was Matt Stafford's regular season debut, having been injured by Julius Peppers in the opening day Soldier Field loss to the Bears.

Grossman was brought in late it the 4th for Donovan McNabb, who was benched for only the second time in his career.

The Green Bay Packers converted just 3 field goals, but it was enough to beat the Jets in New York 9-0. It was the first time Rex Ryan has been shut as a head coach.

That gives the Packers a 5-3 record, best in the NFC North.

Elsewhere, the Detroit Lions scored ago ahead touchdown with 3:28 left in the 4th quarter to take a 25-28 lead over the Washington Redskins. 

Minnesota vs. New England is jus about to get under way.

Looking at the remaining games for the Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings. and Detroit Lions, two very different scenarios present themselves. The only thing they have in common is that they depend entirely upon how the Bears adjust their offense for the second half of their season. The first scenario is that the Bears continue to self-destruct on the offensive side of the Ball, and leave the door open for the Packers to walk away with the NFC North. The other, perhaps overly optimistic option, is the Bears play competent offense for the rest of the season. Not brilliant or league-leading, just competent. If they can execute the changes they suggest they are making, (Two-back option, short passes, simplifying) and minimize miscues, the division title might be decided in Lambeau on Jan. 2, the last game of the regular season for the Bears.

Let's look at the rest of the division, from the bottom up:

Detroit Lions (1-5-0): The Lions perennially lead the NFL in preseason, for being "Most improved". However, it never seems to translate to any regular season success. They might not get the #1 pick of the next draft, but they'll be right up there with Buffalo and Carolina. In the 10 games they have left, six are at home (Washington, NY Jets, Patriots, Bears, Green Bay and Minnesota), and four are away (Buffalo, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Miami) .

Remembering that we're going with the more hopeful scenario #2 for the Bears, (under scenario #1, the Bears are eminently beatable for every team on their schedule) The Lions maybe beat the Bills on the road, and the Vikings at home. But expect them to be looking like contenders again next August.

Minnesota Vikings (2-4-0): Brett Favre had an inflated boot on his ankle for a week. He's had an inflated ego for much, much longer. It's not entirely his fault; The NFL's marketing department, and a ravenous media have spent the last several years keeping all available spotlights shined on him. Who can blame him for being a little blinded? His pedestal has been built higher than any player before him, and there's one way to go from there. Favre is done, and he's all but finished Minnesota's season as well. Brad Childress, fresh off ranting about the referees and opposition coaches cheating against him, is clearly no longer in control of his team. That they were desperate enough to bring Randy Moss back in order to regain an offensive spark, tells you all you need to know.

The Vikings have five home games (Arizona, Green Bay, Buffalo, NY Giants and the Bears) and five away (Patriots, Bears, Redskins, Philadelphia, Detroit). The best they could realistically do is win four games beating Arizona, Buffalo, and the Bears at home, and Detroit on the road, leaving them at 6-10. That's with me tempering my Bears optimism.

Green Bay Packers (4-3-0): Here's where things get tricky. The Bears and Packers both have a 4-3 record with nine games left. When these teams met in Soldier Field, the Bears escaped with a three-point win. They were helped in part by the 18 penalties committed by the Pack worth 158 yards, more than double the Bears rushing yardage on the evening. Chicago is unlikely to get that sort of assistance again. Green Bay is a tough team, but is sagging under the weight of lots and lots of injuries. Aside from hosting the Bears on Jan. 2, the Packers have Dallas, San Francisco, and the NY Giants at home. And they have the NY Jets, Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit and the Patriots on the road. I have them splitting those evenly, beating Dallas, S.F., Minnesota and Detroit putting them at  8-7, going into the new year.

Chicago Bears (4-3-0): Have I mentioned this is the optimistic scenario? Good. The Bears are no strangers to optimism, of course. After losing to Washington, Lovie Smith saw a rainbow that you may have missed in the deluge. He said, "You have to be a good football team, to turn the ball over six times, and have an opportunity to win, and that's what happened." Sure, that's part of what happened, but it does sort of skip over the ugliness of the turnovers, and a couple of coaching decisions that were questionable at best.

But, wait. For the purpose of this exercise, the Bears offense comes around enough to not choke on the ball with every possession, and lets defense and special teams keep them in games. I still see them going 4-4 before the Packers game, splitting with the Vikings, and losing to Miami, New England, and the Jets, and beating Buffalo, the Eagles and Detroit.

This is of course, all just speculation bordering on outrageous homerism. The Bears, despite their record, have not looked like a playoff team. At times, they haven't even looked like a professional team. But thy remain just as much in it, as the Pack. Anything can still happen. And if these teams meet at the end of the season for the NFC North crown, it could very well just be another page in a very long history of heartbreaking Chicago sports moments. 

Optimistically, of course.

On Sunday against the Redskins, Jay Cutler, Johnny Knox and Greg Olsen were all sporting some new scraggly facial hair. I don't know if it was coincidence, hockey-style superstition, or some kind of team building exercise. But they looked like the characters from the Geico commercials. Maybe the new Bears motto should be, "Offense so simple, even a caveman can run it."

Although at times they've seemed defiant, even oblivious to the mistakes they've made, the Bears are (perhaps grudgingly) acknowledging and addressing the biggest of them:The offensive philosophy. Suddenly, finally, hopefully not too late, Mike Martz, Jay Cutler and Lovie Smith have decided to make some changes that don't involve shuffling the line. Of course, that doesn't mean they've stopped shuffling the line.

What it means, is that we just may be seeing a more ball-control oriented offense from the team that brought you six turnovers last week. As mentioned earlier in this stream, there has been some interesting discussions about a split backfield for Matt Forte and Chester Taylor. Even Jay Cutler, who rejected the idea that throwing towards Redskins corner DeAngelo Hall may have been a mistake even as they mailed his jersey to Dayton, allows that getting Taylor and Forte in at the same time is a good thing, "Yeah, we've got to get those playmakers out there. Good things happen when we get the ball to Matt and Chester," Cutler said.

And he's right, they do. Forte leads the team in receptions, Taylor has been great in a limited role, catching the ball. They both are averaging over four yards a carry. They are playmakers. Let them make some plays.

Another hopeful sign, is that Mike Martz is also talking about talking about game-planning more short passes, particularly to Forte.

A lot of people have criticized Bears fans for complaining about the lack of a running game. They point out how unhappy we were with Ron Turner's conservative, less-than-inventive scripting of the offense. And we were. It could be excruciating last year, to watch Matt Forte hit that same wall, over and over. I was one of the many people who found the Martz hiring a welcome change.

But the Bears haven't been able to absorb that drastic an offensive change in style, clearly. You don't just turbo-charge the family sedan, and call it a drag-racer. You have to overhaul everything, and that's just not done on the fly. The Chicago fans who are complaining aren't just angry malcontents. Well...some of them are. But most of them know football, at least fairly well. And they understand that this team not only lacks balance, but offensively has been playing away from some of its main strengths. The Bears need to scale down the huge scope of Martz's playbook, and find its comfort zone.

Forte and Taylor Together: Mike Martz discussed the possibility of combining Matt Forte and Chester Taylor in the backfield. That would indicate a renewed committment to the run game. The offense has self-destructed after a good start, and a more balanced attack has been discussed, but still hasn’t materialized.

Keep your lines straight: The rumors and speculation around Halas Hall is that Roberto Garza is expected to start agains the Bills in Toronto. While a healthy veteran presence on the offensive line is always positive, it would mean the fifth configuration of the o-line, in eight games. Garza would come at right guard, meaning Edwin Williams would come to make room.