Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011Posted: 10:30 a.m.
By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com Bears InsiderFollow @CSNMoonMullin
Its really kind of difficult to tell whether Jay Cutler is pleased with or has serious reservations about his offensive line going into a game that matters.
Were going to have a few bumps in the road, Im sure this year, with those guys, probably the first game, Cutler said. Just getting them settled down and comfortable. But I have all the faith in the world in them. Theyre a very talented group. Got some older guys and some younger guys. Theyre going to have to learn as they go.
But theyre all weve got, so we got to go with them.
Not a complete hug, but
In any case, you do have to love the simplicity of a rookie.
Gabe Carimi was the Bears No. 1 move since the end of last season to address the offensive line. The only move, really, other than signing backup center Chris Spencer.
NFL
Now Carimi is just a matter of hours away from starting to truly show whether the Bears money and first-round draft choice was well spent. Hell face Atlanta Falcons defensive ends John Abraham and Ray Edwards, who accounted for 21 sacks in 2010, Abrahams 13 with the Falcons and Edwards 8 with the Minnesota Vikings on the other end from Jared Allen.
As the Bears do with Israel Idonije and Julius Peppers, the Falcons flip-flop their ends. Carimi has a simple approach to his first NFL game, not obsessing with the details.
Im going to be cool and collected, Carimi said. Thats my plan.
Line coach Mike Tice would like the same mindset for his whole unit. The offensive line has been perhaps the most scrutinized area of the Bears since the middle of the 2010 season. It was during the draft, training camp and it still is.
The Atlanta offense has firepower, starting with quarterback Matt Ryan and including running back Michael Turner and receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones. But the Falcons, while ranking just 27th in passing yards allowed and rushing average, ranked fifth in the NFL in points allowed.
They play hard, play fast, and theyre really disciplined, said Chris Williams, at left guard now but at right tackle in 2009 when the Bears faced the Falcons.
Center Roberto Garza has more years of experience (10) than the other four offensive line starters combined (6). But the same five were intact for the opening snap of every preseason game except for Garza being given the night off against Cleveland.
Sick bay
The Bears had the good fortune last season to face a number of opponents who were without a key player or two. The Atlanta Falcons are without starting center Todd McClure Sunday, a situation that the Bears need to exploit to get disruption of the Atlanta run game and Matt Ryans pass protection.
Week 2 opponent New Orleans will be without No. 1 wide receiver Marques Colston after he suffered a broken collarbone expected to sideline him for at least four weeks.
But the Falcons will have the advantage of facing a Bears team without Marion Barber, No. 2 on the depth chart, but projected to be a crucial part of the Bears running game and red-zone offense.
Moneyball
Matt Fortes ears unquestionably perked up Saturday. The Minnesota Vikings agreed with running back Adrian Peterson on a seven-year contract worth potentially worth 100 million. More important, the deal reportedly includes 36 million guaranteed, according to ESPNs Adam Schefter.
Peterson, like Forte, was heading into the final year of his rookie contract. Forte has been offered a contract with more than 11 million guaranteed but that was not deemed adequate by the Forte camp. Now, after the deals for Peterson and Tennessees Chris Johnson (56 million, 30 million guaranteed), the market for Forte would appear to have taken a significant tick up.
Just mentioning
The Green Bay Packers are the gimme pick to do great things again in 2011. But the NFC has had 10 different champions in the last 10 years. As Im noted before, only four of the last 10 Super Bowl champions even won their division the following season
Fun to see this week that Rex Grossman was being named as the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins. The last time the Atlanta Falcons played in Soldier Field (2005) marked the return of Grossman, whod missed the first 13 games of the season with an injury.
He replaced Kyle Orton at halftime, a move that a former Bear told CSNChicago.com the players were not behind, believing that Orton had gotten them to a good place even as a rookie, and some felt that the Bears wouldve done better than lose in the first round of the playoffs with Orton instead of Grossman.
Which also is a reminder that Lovie Smith and the Bears have had four winning seasons in the past six and done it with three different starting quarterbacks (Grossman, Orton, Jay Cutler).
And finally
The concern that the Bears cannot score with the apparent class of the NFCthe Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and, of more immediate relevance, the Falconsisnt a good enough reason to pick against a team that has traditionally opened its seasons well under Lovie Smith.
Too much attention is being paid to comparing the Bears offense to Atlantas, which is never completely relevant (Jay Cutler vs. Aaron Rodgers -- ?theyre never on the field at the same time). What is relevant to me is that running back Michael Turner, the No. 3 rusher in the NFC, was held under 50 rushing yards four times and the Falcons lost three of those games.
That isnt a guarantee of success, but it shows that one part of that offense can be shut down, and your chances of winning then rise exponentially.
The NFL has structured its game to support the pass; ironically, if the Bears approach a game with a pass-first mindset against a team with an offense like Atlantas, however, they will lose.
But more than one Bear, including quarterback Jay Cutler, has alluded to the understanding that balance worked for the Bears last year and is expected to again. The Lovie Smith Bears are good learners.
And so
BEARS 21 ATLANTA 20
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.