This weekend, the Chicago Bears will welcome the Detroit Lions to Soldier Field in their second division game of the 2009 season.

These Lions, though, aren’t the pushovers of 2008, however. Coming off their first victory in 20 tries, the Lions have enough talent to give the Bears some problems. Despite the Bears winning their last two games with successful fourth quarter drives, this likely won’t be an easy win.

Perhaps the most intriguing issue to watch this weekend will be whether or not this is the week Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford remembers he has one of, if not the most talented receiver in the entire NFL. A matchup that might give the Bears some problems is Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron, against Charles Tillman, aka Peanut.

If the matchup is decided by the nicknames, the Bears are in trouble.

Thankfully, nicknames don’t win games in the NFL. Players do, and the Bears will need more than Tillman to contain Johnson. Mental breakdowns like the one that left nothing but empty grass between Green Bay’s Greg Jennings and the end zona in Week One could cost the Bears dearly, so the safeties will have to be alert and active in this game.

The other key position to watch this week is if, and how, the Bears get running back Matt Forte involved. Through three weeks, Forte is still struggling to get the ground game moving. Part of that falls on an unimpressive offense line, and some falls on Forte. He showed some spark at times against Seattle, but still didn’t put up big numbers.

This could be a good week for Forte to get yards in chunks, though. He’s always played well against the Lions, and will probably be looked to for a strong contribution going into the Bears bye week.

Some Chicago media have asked questions regarding the health of Forte, which the second-year back has tried to put to rest. The Bears coaches have also tried to limit Forte’s workload by taking him out of the game for a series or two per half. But Garrett Wolfe and Adrian Peterson (the non-diety AP) aren’t going to win the Bears many games.

Watch for Forte to be involved both on the ground and through the air this weekend, and cross your fingers Johnson doesn’t get off against the Bears secondary. This could be an entertaining weekend of football in Chicago.

http://fanhuddle.com/chicagobears/2010/02/19/off-season-drags-into-the-off-season/

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 7:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.