Bears - Colts Live Game Blog

So Deshawn and Demond are at the game so I'm (Westside Rob) filling in to provide the live game blog for tonight. For those that don't view the comments, I'm a pretty regular commenter here and over at Stampede Blue, not that that really qualifies me for this job but I volunteered...

Tonight's game pretty much boils down to how fast Peyton can shake off the rust vs. how much the Bears can regain their defensive form of two years ago. If the Bears can get pressure up the middle on the Colts "new" interior line then the Colts could be pushed, but there is no doubt the Colts have more talent overall.

Obviously based on what happened earlier today (Update: NBC is already reporting that Brady might be out for the year) the most important thing is for Peyton to finish the night upright and unhurt. With JAX and SD losses today the Colts have the opportunity to get out early on front of their likely Conference competitors. I gave DS and DZ my mobile number so I'm hoping they'll give me some updates on crowd noise and atmosphere for the game.

Game ON!
Q1

• Will the Colts kick to Devin Hester? As good as the special teams have been in preseason I almost want to see how they can handle him. Though maybe we should see if we can put a couple touchdowns on the board first.
• Slightly scary moment on the first return...but turned out OK.
• Interesting that the came out with the "2 back" set with Gijon as the h-back.
• Every pundit can SHUT UP now! Big 3rd down pickup with pressure coming.
• Solid protection so far but Peyton and the offense are clearly going to need a few series to shake off the rust. AG needs to catch that...
• I'm sure DZ is screaming for Hunter to STOP out kicking our coverage!
• Lucky break for the Bears on the "Illegal snap"
• Good pressure on Orton. Freeney almost beat the double team.
• Marvin is BACK!
• Peyton is definitely wearig a brace on that knee, which actually makes me feel better.
• Nice makeup by AG! Great footwork!
• Beautiful run by the Jaddai Master. RED ZONE!
• TO: Time for some comments: O-Line looks fine so far. It's clear the team is game planning some rollouts and clear outs to counter extra pressure up the middle and so far it's working. Peyton doesn't look too rusty. His passes have been more on target then most of what I saw from other QBs today (and most of those guys played the full preseason). Addai and the run blocking have been good.
• I spoke to soon...that running play never had a chance. They aren't showing many replays so it's hard to tell who blew that.
• Yikes, we get inside the 10 and then self destruct! This is the rust I was expecting.
• AG is having an up and down night, but that catch wouln't have helped much.
• 4's leg looks strong. He definitely is looking stronger this year.
• I don't like that decision on the kickoff. If you don't want to kick direct to Hester fine. But that was not good.
• Well that SUCKs! Brackett, Sanders, and Bethea all to blame on that play. Not good!
• Followed by more breakdowns. This is likely to get overturned though I'm always confused by when the Ref calling a play dead is reviewable and when it is not. I doubt this one turns out for the Colts.
• OK so I'm wrong. I'm glad I'm wrong but I don't really know what happened there.
• God do I love the TE screen. I'd love to see 2 or 3 different versions of that play.
• Wayne got leveled on that one. Follwed by a good punt this time.
• The run defense is looking a little soft tonight. Deon is probably sitting out there saying "Just like I said man"
• Bob and Gary need to regroup the boys. They need to buck up. The Bears are gutting us right up the middle. Let's see more effort and focus in the 2nd qtr.

Q2

• I'm not sure why the Bears try to throw that deep ball when clearly there wasn't anything there. Then run an obvious draw on 3rd down and kill a good drive. This is a big part of why the Bears didn't make the playoffs last year.
• Nice first catch for Wayne. Mannng is starting to look a little more settled. The O-Line is looking OK. Quick throws are helping. NBC just reported Dallas is hurt...what the heck is going on in the league today?
• Awesome YAC by AG. That's what we need from him. I think they are playing AG wide and Wayne in the slot...funny. Who just misses a slightly overthrown TD pass...
• What's Madden's fascination with Peyton's weight? AV4 puts a squeeker through the uprights. I like what I see from the offense. Still clearly rusty especially in the red zone, but I think they'll get sharper and sharper as things go. I'm a little more worried about the defense. We need to be more stout up the middle.
• Sanders just LAID the WOOD on that one. That's was pretty!
• Starting to see some pressure but we need to stop the run to setup those longer downs. Hayden is down...will anyone on any team be left to play at this rate?
• Looks like Clark and Hayden will both be back. Nice play by Orton on that one.
• Madden reports that the Luke doesn't sound very loud. I would say through the TV that I was thinking the same thing. It will be interesting to hear from DZ and DS their take on that.
• How did Hayden drop that interception? I guess that's why he moved from WR to DB.
• I guess Orton wants to keep this job. Though taking hits like that are a good way to end your night.
• Roby has not looked strong on the returns tonight. I don't know for sure but I suspect Garcon is one of the inactives for tonight. I wonder if we'll see him get a chance at KR later in the year?
• What in the heck were the Colt's thinking there? You don't run wide from the endzone. I just don't get that call. Well evidently the Colts want to put themselves into a big hole to play out of.
• Gijon missed the block on that play. He did a total "Olay" on the guy who tackles Addai. So much for him being the best blocking TE the Colts have ever had. Give me Pat Beach.
• There is some serious holding going on at the line. We need to get some pressure on Orton. The Colts are totally on their heals right now. They better make some adjustments at halftime. Better gap control and stop the over pursuit which has costs us on a couple of the running plays (as usual).
• Nice sack, big time for it.
• I hate it when we put a LB wide on a TE. It almost always turns out bad for us. I'd rather put a safety and have the LB play deep.
• Not a good half for the Colts but they've kept it close. Our offense can still turn it on and put points on the board quick. Let's hope they regroup and knock the rust off quick.

2nd Half Q3

• We really need to win this game. If Brady is out for the year (which NBC is reporting "rumors are spreading Brady has a blown ACL) we need to establish early that we are the big dog in the league. I hope we can turn the switch on in the 2nd half.
• Made him pay for show boating. Love seeing that.
• Nice 3 and out to come out from the half. This is why Dungy is a Hall of Fame coach, because the team almost always comes out and plays better in the 2nd half when we haven't played well in the 1st half.
• Side Note: Paul Kuharsky at ESPN throws Vince Young under the bus (where we all know he belongs as the WORST starting QB in the NFL): http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth
• C Johnson has not looked strong at Guard. He broke down bad on that pass to Wayne.
• Very nice run by Addai, good move to avoid the safety.
• TD WAYNE! Good methodical drive by the Lucky Charms. Nice route and read on that pass. I suspect the Colts found a wrinkle in the Bears D that they are now exploiting. If the D can keep it up like they did on the last Bears posession then I think we can take control of this game this quarter.
• WOW are these special teams for real? We all know they looked much improved in the preseason but you have to like what we've seen from them so far.
• Olsen is a great TE. Reminds me a lot of Dallas though maybe a little bigger.
• The Bears definitely made the right decision starting Orton. I don't know how far he can really take them but he's cleary a better choice then Grossman.
• Defense is looking a little better even though they gave up that first down. Just need to tighten up a little more.
• OK 3rd and 6. Time for Freeney, Mathis, etc. to make their money!!! AND THEY DO!
• OH Crud! Definitely a fumble. Well there goes the momentum!
• Well let's pour some salt on the wound and get a penalty on the return so we have really lousy field position. Come on guys. Let's get something going.
• I know that pitch stretch is more dangerous the the normal stretch play but man it seems to setup faster so I like it.
• J Richard has looked good at Center. On all the run plays up the middle he's way down field with the RB which is what you want to see. I'm not sure C. Johnson or Federkiel have been quite as strong. I'm hoping Pollack is back soon as I think he'll be an improvement at Guard.

4Q

• I think you have to go for this. Put in Hart and GO! You have to score to win, you can't Punt from behind. Jax proved that today, you have to keep your drive alive if you want to win.
• I said Hart not Rhodes! Dom has never been a good short yardage runner. Richard was NOT good on that play.
• D needs to step up! Bend but don't break won't get it done when you are behind 2 scores in the 4Q. That's run is not stepping up.
• Unless the Colts get this goal line stop it's probably game over. I never count out Peyton but he doesn't look poised enough to lead this comeback. As I typed they scored...we're sunk!
• Though with Jax and SD losing, and Brady not looking good losing isn't the end of the world. Clearly this team was not ready to play a "Real" game tonight. You'd think playing in a new stadium would have gotten the Colts rev'd up but it didn't look like it. It's a long season and if the real Colts that we know come around in the next few weeks I know we'll be fine. I just wanted to get out to a good early start again....
• So we lose Addai and Dallas tonight. We were already down Saturday and Lilja. Now it's starting to feel like last year...
• Big 3rd down pickup by AG
• One thing I can't figure out is why we haven't made the Bears pay for having their LBer's play so close to the line. I know Dallas is out but we need to make them pay for playing up and close to the line...
• Game over...too much rust not just on Peyton but on the whole team. Didn't come to play tonight. It almost seemed like everyone just expected Peyton to come in a do it all for them. It takes everyone doing their job to win and not everyone was doing their jobs well tonight. Including the coaches. We didn't have a good plan on either side of the ball. We didn't make the Bears pay for the the strategy they employed. Frustrating!!!
• Back to my point about making them pay for playing the LBs close to the line. They were running back on the snap on almost every play, so it seems like some quick running plays up the middle or even some draw plays to make them second guess their committment either way. We just played into their hands all night. Bad game plan, no adjustments, nothing to really be happy about. At least I didn't have to pay to be there. I feel even better now about selling my season tickets for this year. Bad over priced seats to watch this would just be TOO painful.
• One other thing. The other team plays too, and give credit to the Bears. They were more physical tonight on both sides of the ball. The more physical team usually wins, and that was true tonight. The Bears D is tough again, and their offense looks much better getting rid of a horrible QB and RB and replacing them with a QB that won't hurt thm and a RB group that is pretty decent.
• Good Job Bears....let's hope the Colts take this loss and learn from it. We need to play better and bring our A game every week. Good night and thanks again to DZ and DS for letting me fill in for them tonight. I have deeper respect for them as this is a lot harder then it may seem. The game moves fast when you are trying to type comments. I'll look forward to DZ and DS's comments and thoughts from the Luke.