A Battle of Dunces

Although the Bears/Packers game this weekend was filled with early season drama (especially in my circle as a Mohawk/hair coloring bet was in place, pictures coming) the sheer letdown of both quarterbacks to deliver was somewhat of a disappointment.

After critics sang the praises of Aaron Rogers all preseason, including me, he was unable to sustain drives and almost all of Green Bay's points where directly set up by either their defense or special teams (they should be thanking the Bears long snapper, at the 26 yard line with the lead...really).

Somehow, Rogers performance was greatly overshadowed by Jay Cutlers 4 ints, which seemed like it could have been 7. Also, the Bears only converted 4 of 15 third-down conversions, with a passer rating of under 10 on third-down. Although his receivers did not do him any favors, which Chris Collinsworth was quick to point out...over and over, he still seemed to be trying to do to much throughout the game.

The good news is both defenses looked good, this might have been how bad the offenses where however, and it was only week one. The Bears O-line looked old and slow, Orlando Pace especially seemed about as useful as a boulder for most of the game. The Packers left tackle had one of the most noticeably bad games I have ever seen a lineman have as well getting beaten almost comically play after play.

After escaping with a win, the Packers are set up well for the next two weeks, with games against the bottom feeding Rams and Bengals (who managed to lose to Kyle Orton, so hopefully Aaron Rogers won't have to much trouble). If as predicted they can slide through this section of their schedule it will set up an interesting week 4 match-up with the Vikings who also should be undefeated.

The Bears on the other hand have to recover quickly, because Cutler makes his Soldier Field debut this week against the defending Super Bowl Champs (without Troy Palamalu, but still a top 5 defense). If they can't protect the ball it will be an even longer day for the defense who lost Brian Urlacher, and fans will see a familiar scene from the last several years. The Bears are not good enough to get to far behind in the rankings early in the season and still make a run at a playoff spot, so watch them invest a lot of energy in not just the Steelers but also the Seahawks the following week.

(photo from chargers.com, if Bears fans where starting to hate him, this picture should push those feelings along)