Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011
Posted: 2:25 p.m.
By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com Bears InsiderFollow @CSNMoonMullin
Around the NFC North
The first game weekend was an NFC North statement, if there are really such things. The Bears, Lions and Packers all hung losses on the best of the NFC South, and the Lions win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was on the road. Add the Vikings near-upset of the AFC West favorite Chargers (San Diego trailed until 5 minutes to play) and the North acquitted itself very, very well....
Matthew Stafford was exactly as expected in the win over Tampa Bay, with 305 passing yards. What was even more impressive was the passer rating of 118.9, meaning efficiency with not many turnovers (1 INT), and he had a 9.24-yd. average per attempt....Coach Jim Schwartz was incensed at some of his players for stupid plays, but a key here is that the Lions of the last decade always made stupid plays. They just werent good enough to overcome them....
Minnesota will be better, not necessarily good since adding quarterback Donovan McNabb. But the Vikings wont get much better unless McNabb can give them more than 39 passing yards, as he did at San Diego. Probably a blip, but theres a reason why Andy Reid and Mike Shanahan werent concerned about letting him go....
Around the schedule
The Bears had the good fortune last season of facing some teams missing key players and that will be the case Sunday with the Saints. Wide receiver Marques Colston will be out for at least the next month with a broken collarbone suffered in the Green Bay game....
NFL
Lovie Smith has never lost to the New Orleans Saints in four meetings, all from 2005-2008. The Dick Jauron Bears teams lost three straight to New Orleans (2000-2003, with the 2002 game being played at the University of Ilinois while Soldier Field was being built onto. The contest was moved over to LSUs Tiger Stadium because of the damage wrought by Katrina....
Cam Newton made the Carolina Panthers headlines with his 422 passing yards, a rookie record. But the Panthers also lost the game and, worse, lost Pro Bowl middle linebacker Jon Beason from a defense that already was among the NFLs worst....
Around the NFL
Hot starts, anyone? Exactly four quarterbacks finished 2010 with passer ratings of 100 or betterTom Brady, Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Michael Vick. The first weeks games produced 12, and neither Rivers nor Vick were among em.
Usual stuff
Brian Urlacher had 10 tackles, an interception, recovered fumble taken in for a touchdown, a tackle for loss and a pass deflection. For some linebackers playing against that Atlanta Falcons offense, that would be a career game.
Not for Urlacher. Not even his best game against the Falcons.
Urlacher was named NFC defensive player of the week after the Oct. 7, 2001 game in Atlanta in which he had 8 tackles, a sack, an interception of Vick, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble and a 90-yard TD return of a fumble (Vick didnt catch him). Urlacher wasnt interested in numbers or history after Sundays game.
"We won the game, thats all I care about, Urlacher said. Stats, this and that, you can have all that. There were a lot of questions about our team coming into the season. We are starting 1-0. We just need to keep going.
Important stuff
The annual coat drive run by Bears head equipment manager Tony Medlin is getting underway and will run through Dec. 4 with various drop-off points at Jewel-Oscos in the Chicago area. More than 25,000 coats were distributed last year but the goal is higher for 2011 and has a special target.
Sometimes you look around and see kids without a coat and we definitely want to stress that, for kids, Medlin said.
The drive is a joint effort by the Bears with Jewel-Osco, the Salvation Army and William Meyer Movers. For more information, including if you need a coat, check the teams website Chicagobears.comcommunity or call 773-205-3636.
Its a great thing that Tony does, said Urlacher.
John "Moon" Mullin is CSNChicago.com's Bears Insider and appears regularly on Bears Postgame Live and Chicago Tribune Live. Follow Moon on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bears information.