Week 4, Bears get mauled by Giants

This was a perfect example of a horrible game between two horribly inconsistent teams. Originally, it seemed like it would be a fun match-up between the Chicago Bears (3-0) against the New York Giants (1-2). To be fair, I did not expect much from either of these teams at the beginning of the season. I had the Giants hovering around .500 the whole season, with Chicago lucky to pull off 3rd in the division. However, both teams have shown certain things this season that almost caused me to change my opinions on them. Both teams are physical teams with talented defenses, we knew this before the game started. What I was not aware of was the extent of how inconsistent BOTH of these teams are.

The Giants had 10 sacks against the Bears, and Jay Cutler paid the price

The Bears are probably the worse of the two off. I do not care what anyone else says, their offensive line is pathetic. They allowed 10 sacks for 63 yards last night, an unacceptable amount. One may argue that the Giants have a good defensive line and pass rush, but let us note that they had only 6 throughout the first three games of the season. Granted, not all of the sacks can be considered the O-Line's fault, Jay Cutler is notorious for wanting to be sacked, shown by his willingness to hold onto the ball for far too long. But you'd think the Chicago O-Line could help their below average Quarterback by at least giving him a couple seconds without pressure each passing play. Now, Cutler faces a concussion that could sideline him for a few games. And Todd Collins (even if he also does not have a concussion... which is a possibility judging by the hit he took at the end of the game) is not the answer at QB. And it is not just passing, either. Matt Forte is an incredibly talented back who was limited to just 26 yards on 12 attempts, for an average of 2.2 yards per carry. Runningbacks are heavily dependent on their Offensive Line in the NFL, and when your line cannot open any holes, you aren't going anywhere no matter how good you are. And for a team who wants to run the ball like the Bears, you need to create holes.

So what exactly is the state of the Bears? Well, the answer is that the Bears are the same-old Bears team in the last several years, a pretender. While they do still have a solid defense lead by a seemingly rejuvenated Brian Urlacher, their "Mike Martz-infused offense" still leaves a lot to be desired. As far as offensive coordinators go, Martz may be the most overrated in the NFL.. his success this season has been nothing but smoke and mirrors. Yes, Martz's system can create big-play opportunities, but it does not hide the fact that both the passing game and running game of the Bears are inconsistent at best. The Bears are 3-1, but no where as good as their record. In Week 1, they should have lost to the now 0-4 Detroit Lions. While I suppose the referees made the right call about the Calvin Johnson "drop", everyone knows that the rule is flawed and it should have been a Detroit touchdown. They can thank the Packer's gift of 18 penalties for a total of 152 penalty yards for their Week 3 win. Their only legitimate win, and time where their offense actually looked anywhere near explosive, was their Week 2 win against an overrated Dallas Cowboys team. There really are no positives for the Bears except they somehow came out of it all with a 3-1 record. But if at this point, with the O-Line the way it has been playing and Cutler possibly being out for such a long time, and a likely completely demoralized defense, I would not be surprised if this team ended the season under .500, like I originally predicted.

Of course, the Giants are no stranger to inconsistency, either. What is the identity of this team? More specifically, this defense? We all know the Giants offense is, all things considered, pretty average. They like to run the football, and they are doing a better job of it this year with Ahmad Bradshaw (who makes the Giants offense so much more explosive than Brandon Jacobs, by the way), and Eli Manning is enough of a Game Manager to make it work. They will score about 17 to 21 points a game, on average. We saw the Giants defense can play well against a horrible Bears offense, but is this their true identity? Or is their defense the defense that allowed season-high performances by the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans? They need to get more consistent on defense before they can be considered a serious contender, either. Especially with the reports coming out that arguably their best defensive player, Mathias Kiwanuka, could be out for the entire season.

The good news for the Giants is that it seems that the NFC East is incredibly weak this season. At 2-2, they are now tied for the lead of their division, and still have all six division games on their schedule. However, their rest of the schedule looks tough. It seems like their best chance to make the playoffs is to win the division. Their rivals in this regard are the 2-2 Philadelphia Eagles who still have questions on both sides of the ball (especially now with the Michael Vick rib injury), the 2-2 Washington Redskins who may be 2-0 in the division, but have lost to the likes of the St. Louis Rams, and the incredibly overrated 1-2 Dallas Cowboys, coming off of a huge win but have consistency issues similar to the Giants. Honestly, I do not know what to make of this division anymore. It seemed to go from the NFC Beast to NFC losers in a single year.

And so, in the end, the Bears drop to 3-1 and the Giants rise to 2-2, but neither team can feel good about their position still and both of them leave with more questions than they have had before.