Dan
01-09-2006, 01:02 AM
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Dan’s Bear Den Part 2:
Recap of the 2005 Regular Season
By Dan
Here is the second of my articles about the Bears, in this article; I will recap the Bears’ 2005-06 season. I will talk about the keys to the season, give some statistical info on the season and recap the games. I will also look ahead to the playoffs and talk about the keys to beating Carolina. I’m excited to see what will happen in the playoffs, they have potential to go far.
http://www.pigskinheaven.com/gallery/files/7/chi_13430.jpgThe Bears have had a season with lots of highs and lows. The keys to the team have been the running game, the offensive line and the defense. The Bears were able to establish the running game and play great defense, the biggest problem was establishing the passing game. I pick Thomas Jones as the Bears’ MVP for the 2005. It may seem that the MVP should come from the defense, but Jones has been the key to the Bears offense, without him, the Bears wouldn’t have much of an offense, but the defense has been a true team effort.
Here are my grades of the different positions on the Bears.
Quarterback B- Kyle Orton filled in respectable well when Grossman was hurt and Grossman is a huge improvement
Offensive Line B+ They’ve been anchored very well by Olin Kruetz and have survived a number of injuries
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2004/writers/peter_king/09/20/mmqb/p3_lovie_all.jpgRunning Backs A Thomas Jones and Adrian Peterson have played great and the fullbacks have done well also
Tight Ends B Good for the most part, solid season for Desmond Clark
Wide Receivers B- Bernard Barrien’s return has helped solidify the receiving corps, Mushin Muhammad had a solid year, but dropped too many passes
Defensive Line A Alex Brown, Adawale Ogunleye, and Tommie Harris had outstanding year
Linebackers A All three have been outstanding, lead by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Brian Urlacher
Secondary A- Except for one game, they played outstanding, got some big plays
Next I will do a statistical summary of the Bears’ season. According to my power rankings, the Bears had a rating of 16.5, 7.6 wins ranking, 6.7 margin ranking, and 2.2 quality of victory ranking. The Bears’ leading passer was Kyle Orton with 1869 yards and a 59.7 passer rating. Their leading rusher was Thomas Jones with 1335 yards, and the leading receiver was Mushin Muhammad with 64 catches for 750 yards.
Next I will recap each game of the regular season from the Washington game in week 1 season to the Minnesota game in week 17. I will give some info on the game and a recap of the game
In week 1, the Bears played a tough game against Washington, but lost 9-7, three false start penalties killed their chances of winning. Kyle Orton struggled in his first NFL start.
In week 2, the Bears beat Detroit 38-6 with Kyle Orton and Thomas Jones having big games
In week 3, the Bears defense had their worst game of the year, losing 24-7 to Cincinnati. Chad Johnson had an outstanding game and scored 2 touchdowns.
Week 5, following a bye week cost the Bears another tough loss, this one 20-10 to Cleveland. The Bears had a chance to win until the 4th quarter, but gave up 2 late touchdowns. Their chances didn’t look very good at that point.
The Bears returned to the win column in week 6 with a 28-3 win over the Vikings, with a big second half to break the game open.
The Bears struggled through a difficult 10-6 win over Baltimore in week 7. Kyle Orton threw the games only touchdown late in the first quarter.
In Week 8, the Bears took control of the North Division with a win over Detroit. They took a game lead and had swept the season series and thus had the tie-breaker. They won 19-13 in overtime on an interception return by Charles Tillman.
In week 9, the Bears pulled out a 20-17 over New Orleans in Baton Rouge with a last second field goal by Robbie Gould. They struggled, but managed to beat a team they needed to beat
In week 10, the Bears won a hard fought and wind-swept game against San Francisco that featured the play of the year. As the half expired, the 49ers attempted a 52-yard field goal and it fell short and Nathan Vasher returned it 108 yards for a touchdown. The Bears gained momentum for the second half and dominated the rest of the way.
http://www.chicagobears.com/uploads/photos/perm/main/FCGLGNODNICH/haynes_panthers.jpgIn week 11, the Bears proved they could beat a contending team defeating the Carolina Panthers 13-3. They held the Panthers to their lowest point total of the year up to that point, which had been 20.
The Bears extended their winning streak to 7 by beating Tampa 13-10 in week 12. The game got off to a great start when the Bears recovered a fumble at the 1 yard-line on the third play of the game, which lead to their only touchdown of the game.
Week 13 saw the Bears win their 8th in a row beating Green Bay 19-7. The Bears were lead by their defense, with the only touchdown coming on a Nathan Vasher interception return.
The Bears winning streak came to an end in week 14 with a 21-9 loss to Pittsburgh on a great game by Jerome Bettis. They remained in first place by 1 game over Minnesota.
Week 15 was a pivotal win over Atlanta by a score of 16-3. Rex Grossman replaced Kyle Orton at halftime and played an outstanding second half. Michael Vick played the worst game of his career for the Falcons.
In week 16, the Bears won 24-17 over Green Bay in Rex Grossman’s only start of the regular season. It was also the only game that the Bears won primarily by offense. With the win, they clinched a division title and a first round bye.
The Bears lost a meaningless week 17 game against Minnesota 34-10 with the starters playing little if at all. The Bears got off to a good start with the starters in the game, but struggled for the rest of the game.
It’s hard to say how far the Bears can go in the post-season. If they can protect Grossman and control the Panthers’ running game, they should be able to beat the Panthers. I guess time will tell how far the Bears can go.
Dan’s Bear Den Part 2:
Recap of the 2005 Regular Season
By Dan
Here is the second of my articles about the Bears, in this article; I will recap the Bears’ 2005-06 season. I will talk about the keys to the season, give some statistical info on the season and recap the games. I will also look ahead to the playoffs and talk about the keys to beating Carolina. I’m excited to see what will happen in the playoffs, they have potential to go far.
http://www.pigskinheaven.com/gallery/files/7/chi_13430.jpgThe Bears have had a season with lots of highs and lows. The keys to the team have been the running game, the offensive line and the defense. The Bears were able to establish the running game and play great defense, the biggest problem was establishing the passing game. I pick Thomas Jones as the Bears’ MVP for the 2005. It may seem that the MVP should come from the defense, but Jones has been the key to the Bears offense, without him, the Bears wouldn’t have much of an offense, but the defense has been a true team effort.
Here are my grades of the different positions on the Bears.
Quarterback B- Kyle Orton filled in respectable well when Grossman was hurt and Grossman is a huge improvement
Offensive Line B+ They’ve been anchored very well by Olin Kruetz and have survived a number of injuries
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2004/writers/peter_king/09/20/mmqb/p3_lovie_all.jpgRunning Backs A Thomas Jones and Adrian Peterson have played great and the fullbacks have done well also
Tight Ends B Good for the most part, solid season for Desmond Clark
Wide Receivers B- Bernard Barrien’s return has helped solidify the receiving corps, Mushin Muhammad had a solid year, but dropped too many passes
Defensive Line A Alex Brown, Adawale Ogunleye, and Tommie Harris had outstanding year
Linebackers A All three have been outstanding, lead by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Brian Urlacher
Secondary A- Except for one game, they played outstanding, got some big plays
Next I will do a statistical summary of the Bears’ season. According to my power rankings, the Bears had a rating of 16.5, 7.6 wins ranking, 6.7 margin ranking, and 2.2 quality of victory ranking. The Bears’ leading passer was Kyle Orton with 1869 yards and a 59.7 passer rating. Their leading rusher was Thomas Jones with 1335 yards, and the leading receiver was Mushin Muhammad with 64 catches for 750 yards.
Next I will recap each game of the regular season from the Washington game in week 1 season to the Minnesota game in week 17. I will give some info on the game and a recap of the game
In week 1, the Bears played a tough game against Washington, but lost 9-7, three false start penalties killed their chances of winning. Kyle Orton struggled in his first NFL start.
In week 2, the Bears beat Detroit 38-6 with Kyle Orton and Thomas Jones having big games
In week 3, the Bears defense had their worst game of the year, losing 24-7 to Cincinnati. Chad Johnson had an outstanding game and scored 2 touchdowns.
Week 5, following a bye week cost the Bears another tough loss, this one 20-10 to Cleveland. The Bears had a chance to win until the 4th quarter, but gave up 2 late touchdowns. Their chances didn’t look very good at that point.
The Bears returned to the win column in week 6 with a 28-3 win over the Vikings, with a big second half to break the game open.
The Bears struggled through a difficult 10-6 win over Baltimore in week 7. Kyle Orton threw the games only touchdown late in the first quarter.
In Week 8, the Bears took control of the North Division with a win over Detroit. They took a game lead and had swept the season series and thus had the tie-breaker. They won 19-13 in overtime on an interception return by Charles Tillman.
In week 9, the Bears pulled out a 20-17 over New Orleans in Baton Rouge with a last second field goal by Robbie Gould. They struggled, but managed to beat a team they needed to beat
In week 10, the Bears won a hard fought and wind-swept game against San Francisco that featured the play of the year. As the half expired, the 49ers attempted a 52-yard field goal and it fell short and Nathan Vasher returned it 108 yards for a touchdown. The Bears gained momentum for the second half and dominated the rest of the way.
http://www.chicagobears.com/uploads/photos/perm/main/FCGLGNODNICH/haynes_panthers.jpgIn week 11, the Bears proved they could beat a contending team defeating the Carolina Panthers 13-3. They held the Panthers to their lowest point total of the year up to that point, which had been 20.
The Bears extended their winning streak to 7 by beating Tampa 13-10 in week 12. The game got off to a great start when the Bears recovered a fumble at the 1 yard-line on the third play of the game, which lead to their only touchdown of the game.
Week 13 saw the Bears win their 8th in a row beating Green Bay 19-7. The Bears were lead by their defense, with the only touchdown coming on a Nathan Vasher interception return.
The Bears winning streak came to an end in week 14 with a 21-9 loss to Pittsburgh on a great game by Jerome Bettis. They remained in first place by 1 game over Minnesota.
Week 15 was a pivotal win over Atlanta by a score of 16-3. Rex Grossman replaced Kyle Orton at halftime and played an outstanding second half. Michael Vick played the worst game of his career for the Falcons.
In week 16, the Bears won 24-17 over Green Bay in Rex Grossman’s only start of the regular season. It was also the only game that the Bears won primarily by offense. With the win, they clinched a division title and a first round bye.
The Bears lost a meaningless week 17 game against Minnesota 34-10 with the starters playing little if at all. The Bears got off to a good start with the starters in the game, but struggled for the rest of the game.
It’s hard to say how far the Bears can go in the post-season. If they can protect Grossman and control the Panthers’ running game, they should be able to beat the Panthers. I guess time will tell how far the Bears can go.