Hmmm, they don't look that intimidating...

My preseason prediction figured the Bears to lose a close one tonight, and after looking at all of the data, it’s still hard to argue against that informed opinion.  The Eagles simply have more talent, but as they have shown earlier in the season, talent doesn’t always equate to victories.  Here’s hoping the Bears to sneak one by the lovers of cheesesteaks.  Now for my unwarranted, more detailed predictions hopefully to be proven incorrect by a more positive final score:

• both teams will score a special teams TD
• Cromartie will intercept at least one Jay Cutler pass
• it will be McCoy, not Vick, who will prove to hurt Chicago the most

Final predicted score, Philly 24, Bears 20.  Prove me wrong Chicago, and you’ll be (gasp!) in position to make the playoffs!

Pack penalized 17 times!

Like Week 1, Week  3 wasn’t pretty but it got the job done.  Cutler and the rest of the offense seemed nonexistent at times, but that’s because they literally weren’t on the field for many portions of the second half.   The defense used a “bend but don’t break” strategy, and it worked when Rodgers and the Packers milked half of the 3rd quarter and came away with nothing more than a blocked field goal.  17 penalties on Green Bay didn’t hurt either.

Cutler was tough as nails again, but he did make some questionable decisions including airing out a woefully underthrown ball in the 4th quarter which was intercepted but got bailed out thanks to pass interference.

In the end, the offensive line still looked weak, Lovie still made some questionable decisions, and the Bears won thanks to a punt return and a timely turnover.  I’m not sure how long this “secret formula” can last, but it just feels like fool’s gold.  At least it’s 3-0 fool’s gold.

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Wow!  Not sure where that effort came from, but Jay Cutler and the rest of the Bears made the city proud last night by performing up to the task on a prime time game for once.  Cutler upped his trade value (hey, this is TradeJayCutler.com after all) with an impressive performance against a top tier team. 

I didn’t even find his lone interception to be nearly as detrimental as Jon Gruden did.  Gruden is big on hyperbole, and he was all over Cutler for throwing that interception, but the truth is it was 3^rd and a ton, and Cutler let it fly about 30 yards.  You never want to get picked off, but if you’re going to give up an interception, that’s the time to do it.  If it’s simply incomplete, you’re punting anyway, and with a decent return the Vikings have the ball in the same place anyway.  Calm down, Chucky.

Not to be overlooked are the 4 touchdown passes.  Fans don’t expect 4 TDs every time out, but what was nice to see was the lack of mistakes in crunch time – no overthrowing, no underthrowing, etc.  The defense didn’t help the cause by utterly collapsing and giving up 30 second half points, and even the reliable Robbie Gould couldn’t help in OT, but the Bears did just enough to beat the Vikings and prevent Favre from winning his first game ever after falling behind by 17 points or more.

I give the Bears a heap more credit than the Colts this week.  In games that “don’t matter,” one team still tried to win while the other was content in basically suspending the competitive spirit of the game until the games “matter” again.  Using Indy’s logic, shouldn’t they just sit Manning in Week 1?  Sure a first week game won’t have a great effect on a team likely to make the playoffs, so why risk injury?

Maybe the Bears should have sat Cutler the past couple weeks once the chance at a playoff berth disappeared.  Why risk injury on a player considered to be the franchise in a season of lost hope?  Save him for next year when the records are wiped clean again.  Can you imagine an NFL where every coach only put out his best team when he felt a victory was relevant to the playoff picture?  The Lions’ starters wouldn’t have played a down for 2 years! 

What Indy coach Jim Caldwell did was embarrassing to the sport.  Never underestimate the need for consistency and timing when it comes to playing winning football.  The best way for healthy players to get better heading into the playoffs is to play, not sit on the bench.  Hopefully Caldwell’s mistake won’t cost them a Super Bowl.