Week 3 Bears (2-0) @ Steelers (0-2) 7:30 CST Sun NBC/780

[Soul]

If ever there was a game for the Bears D Line to get healthy, this is it. Steelers can't run, have trouble protecting, the whole thing.

 

Bears need to show up on the road and pin Roethlisberger to the turf.

[UMFan83]

Roethlisberger sucks so bad at passing now. Bears need to destroy this team.

 

I think this will be a tough one mostly because their season is basically on the line here and its at home. The short week for the Steelers will be an advantage though of course.

[UMFan83]

Opening line (at least according to Yahoo) is Bears -2

[Banedon]

I don't remember pics like this with Lovie...

 

 

http://prod.images.bears.clubs.nflcdn.com/image-web/NFL/CDA/data/deployed/prod/BEARS/assets/images/imported/CHI/photos/clubimages/2013/09-September/tempotf_091513_24--nfl_mezz_1280_1024.jpg?width=960&height=720

 

[Banedon]

Martellus Bennett is with Jay on the Jay Cutler show today. Great stuff.

 

Listening now. So funny.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't remember pics like this with Lovie...

 

 

http://prod.images.bears.clubs.nflcdn.com/image-web/NFL/CDA/data/deployed/prod/BEARS/assets/images/imported/CHI/photos/clubimages/2013/09-September/tempotf_091513_24--nfl_mezz_1280_1024.jpg?width=960&height=720

 

As a religious man Lovie would never sit so close to another man in pants like those.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Plus when would Lovie and Trestman have been in that locker room together?

[jersey cubs fan]

that's a good point

[jersey cubs fan]

Opening line (at least according to Yahoo) is Bears -2

 

The first line I saw was Bears -2 but that one is now -1.5. So people might be betting on Pittsburgh not starting off 0-3, which would seem unthinkable to most coming into the season.

[UK1679666180]

Opening line (at least according to Yahoo) is Bears -2

 

The first line I saw was Bears -2 but that one is now -1.5. So people might be betting on Pittsburgh not starting off 0-3, which would seem unthinkable to most coming into the season.

 

I don't bet but given how Pitt looks, I'm surprised that the line is going down.

[Banedon]

Seeing some people pick the Steelers simply because they don't think that the Steelers could possibly go 0-3.

 

For example:

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/23691417/nfl-week-3-picks-steelers-will-avoid-03-bucs-will-upset-patriots

[Banedon]

Marc Trestman playing QB for Minnesota:

 

 

http://www.trbimg.com/img-1358366642/turbine/chi-trestman1970gopher-20130116/1884

 

http://www.trbimg.com/img-1358366644/turbine/chi-trestman1970qb-20130116/610

 

[wekse]

I like when the Bears play in one of the prime time games because it guarantees I'll be able to see the game. I live in the regional coverage twilight zone and invariably get crap, and Sunday Ticket is just too rich for my blood.

 

go to a bar

 

I do this even if the Bears are on tv. Finding a watering hole with Sunday Ticket and fans of every team sitting in different parts of the bar watching their team is a lot of fun.

 

I'm too much of a raving lunatic to watch the games anywhere but at home.

 

That's me.

 

i go to the bar and act like a lunatic at times, but we have a very large contingent of Bears fans that meet at a bar close to my house...we get the entire back room and they allow us to do tailgates for the more important games (opening day and such).

 

a group shot after the bengals game

 

 

 

[WrigleyField 22]

Plus when would Lovie and Trestman have been in that locker room together?

Because Lovie almost hired him as OC but we ended up with Shea instead.

[Soul]

Seeing some people pick the Steelers simply because they don't think that the Steelers could possibly go 0-3.

 

For example:

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/23691417/nfl-week-3-picks-steelers-will-avoid-03-bucs-will-upset-patriots

 

No, he says the Steelers will win because the desperation factor will propel their badness into goodness.

 

That's some solid football prognostication, right there.

[Cubswin11]

Unless Cutler gets knocked out of the game early the Bears should win by 10 or more.

[UMFan83]

Football Outsiders Game of the Week:

 

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/clutch-encounters/2013/clutch-encounters-week-2

 

Minnesota Vikings 30 at Chicago Bears 31

Type: 4QC/GWD

Largest Deficit: 6 (30-24)

Win Probability (GWD): 0.27

Quarterback: Jay Cutler (15-17 at 4QC and 19-18 overall 4QC/GWD record)

 

This is "Game of the Week" if only because we planned to feature Chargers at Eagles for Any Given Sunday. The caliber of play here was nowhere near the level of Packers at 49ers from Week 1. This was a sloppy game with the teams living off special teams returns as Cordarrelle Patterson opened the game with a 105-yard kick return score. Devin Hester had five kick returns for 249 yards. Jay Cutler lost a fumble returned 61 yards for a touchdown and Tim Jennings picked off Christian Ponder for a 44-yard return touchdown.

 

Cutler had three turnovers in the game, including an interception by Harrison Smith to start the fourth quarter with a 24-24 tie. Minnesota drove the ball to the Chicago 18 and actually went for it on fourth-and-1 instead of settling for the field goal. Adrian Peterson easily converted with a four-yard run, but lost 13 yards when trying to do too much on his next carry to stall the drive. Blair Walsh kicked a 28-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 27-24 lead.

That's when Matt Forte fumbled for Chicago's fourth turnover of the day. This time Minnesota did go conservative, running Peterson on third-and-goal at the four. He gained nothing and Walsh kicked another field goal.

 

Cutler had 3:08 to drive 66 yards with one timeout. That's not too bad, but another turnover would signal the end of the game. The drive was moving along rather slowly with Brandon Marshall bailing out Cutler with a high catch and Alshon Jeffery diving low for one. A holding penalty threatened to kill the drive, but on first-and-20 Cutler found tight end Martellus "Black Unicorn" Bennett all alone and he gained 23 yards. Cutler spiked it, though I felt he could have called a play as time was precious (22 seconds) and the ball was at the Minnesota 16.

 

A pass to Jeffery was overthrown in the back of the end zone. Sixteen seconds remained. Cutler delivered one of the best passes of his career to Bennett at the goal line for the touchdown with 10 seconds left. Bennett's height was a big advantage. He may not be a great tight end, though he seems like a funny guy, but there's no way Matt Spaeth or Kellen Davis ever makes that play.

 

Chicago did a squib kick, which I hate, but John Carlson fumbled the ball. Bears being the Bears on special teams again, and this one was over.

This was the fourth time Chicago has ever won a game after allowing at least 30 points, turning the ball over at least four times and not getting more than three takeaways. What makes that interesting? It's the third time the Bears have done it to the Vikings (1961 and 1962). The other time they did it was against Cutler's Broncos in 2007, which was another classic performance by Hester.

 

So how about Cutler? This start to the season gives him 13 game-winning touchdown passes in his career. That's one more than Drew Brees, as many as Eli Manning and two fewer than Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

 

Cutler and Matt Schaub mark the 15th and 16th time a quarterback has led a fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive in each of the first two games of the season since 1960. You can see how the previous seasons played out for those teams with Michael Vick doing it last year. Cutler is the first to do it twice, doing it in 2007 with Denver.

 

4QC/GWD in First Two Games (Since 1960)
Quarterback	Year	Team	Record	Result
Charley Johnson	1966	CRD	8-5-1	No Playoffs
Kent Nix	1971	CHI	6-8	No Playoffs
Brian Sipe	1979	CLE	9-7	No Playoffs
Doug Williams	1980	TB	5-10-1	No Playoffs
Lynn Dickey	1982	GB	5-3-1	Lost NFC-D
Steve DeBerg	1983	DEN	9-7	Lost AFC-WC
Boomer Esiason	1990	CIN	9-7	Lost AFC-D
Brad Johnson	1996	MIN	9-7	Lost NFC-WC
Drew Bledsoe	1999	NE	8-8	No Playoffs
Vinny Testaverde	2000	NYJ	9-7	No Playoffs
Jay Cutler	2007	DEN	7-9	No Playoffs
Alex Smith	2007	SF	5-11	No Playoffs
Jake Delhomme	2008	CAR	12-4	Lost NFC-D
Michael Vick	2012	PHI	4-12	No Playoffs
Jay Cutler	2013	CHI	TBD	-
Matt Schaub	2013	HOU	TBD	-

 

Those teams usually did not finish the season well, but things are looking decent in Chicago right now. Cutler has also shown in his career if his teams can keep it close, he's reasonably reliable. In fact, he's in historic company with his 19-18 record at game-winning drive opportunities. These are the best records (minimum 30 opportunities) I have found in NFL history.

 

Top Documented Clutch Records (Min. 30 Games)
Rk	Quarterback	4Q/OT Wins	4Q/OT Losses	Pct.
1	Tom Brady	39	25	0.609
2	Matt Ryan	23	15	0.605
3	Joe Montana	34	31	0.523
4	Jay Cutler	19	18	0.514
5	Peyton Manning	50	49	0.505
6	Dan Marino	51	50	0.505
7	John Elway	49.5	51.5	0.490
8	Roger Staubach	23	24	0.489
9	Eli Manning	28	30	0.483
10	Jake Plummer	30	33	0.476

Note: I tentatively have Otto Graham at 10-12-1 (.457), would love to track down Daryle Lamonica and believe Johnny Unitas could crack the top 10 once definitive research is found.

 

There's no need to overrate this. Should Cutler lose his next opportunity, he'll fall behind Manning and Marino again, but you can see he's in good company. The only problem is this shows 18 losses while Cutler's played in 43 career losses. Even if we remove a few games he did not finish, that's still too many losses where his team failed to keep it close enough to have a one-score opportunity to win late.

 

However, it may be time to start recognizing the lovechild of Brett Favre and Jeff George as a guy you can trust with the game on the line. We have always known the physical talent to be there, but trusting him to harness it has been an issue. Perhaps Marc Trestman will be the missing piece for Cutler as the Bears have only allowed one sack through two games. If they can keep him healthy and upright, there's potential here for a long-term deal given a successful season.

[bukie]

Nobody should win a road game by 10 or more, especially a Bears team that has needed two comebacks to win home games the first two weeks.

[seanimal]

i go to the bar and act like a lunatic at times, but we have a very large contingent of Bears fans that meet at a bar close to my house...we get the entire back room and they allow us to do tailgates for the more important games (opening day and such).

 

a group shot after the bengals game

 

 

 

that's awesome

[minnesotacubsfan]

Marc Trestman playing QB for Minnesota:

 

 

http://www.trbimg.com/img-1358366642/turbine/chi-trestman1970gopher-20130116/1884

 

http://www.trbimg.com/img-1358366644/turbine/chi-trestman1970qb-20130116/610

 

 

I <3

[Outshined_One]

I don't remember pics like this with Lovie...

 

 

http://prod.images.bears.clubs.nflcdn.com/image-web/NFL/CDA/data/deployed/prod/BEARS/assets/images/imported/CHI/photos/clubimages/2013/09-September/tempotf_091513_24--nfl_mezz_1280_1024.jpg?width=960&height=720

 

Are those yoga pants?

[Banedon]

From week 2, but...

 

http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears/0ap2000000246400/Drive-of-the-Week-Jay-Cutler-does-it-again?continuous=true

[UMFan83]

The "Steelers can't go 0-3" theory is in full practice at ESPN.com. Of the 10 who have made picks, 4 of them have picked the Steelers so far.

[jersey cubs fan]

The "Steelers can't go 0-3" theory is in full practice at ESPN.com. Of the 10 who have made picks, 4 of them have picked the Steelers so far.

 

So the majority are picking the road favorite?

[Guest]

Week 2 Aikman and DVOA

 

http://www.aikman.com/AikmanEfficiencyRatings/tabid/274/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/46/Aikman-Efficiency-Ratings-2013-as-of-Week-2.aspx

 

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings