Bears v. Titans

It was nice to get a easy win before things get tough in the next few weeks with the 7-1 Texans and the 6-2 49ers.  I'm not sure what you can say after a defensive/special teams performance like that.  Other than dominating and wow.

Defense

This was Charles Tillman's game with a team leading 9 tackles to go along with a ridiculous 4 forced fumbles.  Brian Urlacher still showed he could make headlines with 7 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 interception for a touchdown.  But back to Tillman, I'm not sure how you force 4 fumbles in a game, but these were all legit forced fumbles and not some accidental elbow.  It definitely is the most dominant performance by a defensive back and maybe a defender I have ever seen.  When he got the last one in the fourth quarter, it was like this is getting ridiculous.  Anyway, Tillman probably just punched his ticket back to the Pro Bowl this year.

Special Teams 

Special Teams played well and scored the game's first points on a blocked punt by Sherrick McManis and recovered for a touchdown by Corey Wootton.  Hester set up the next touchdown, by almost bringing it back to the 8 yard line for a nice Matt Forte touchdown.  By the way, that TD was great with the whole team pushing Matt Forte across the line.  You can see the video below.  Back to special team, Robbie Gould also had a solid 3 for 3 day, not that it was needed.

Offense

That leaves the only unit that perhaps needs more polish.  As seen in the video above, the offensive line looks pretty good when moving forward, but gets in trouble when moving backwards, pass protecting. Cutler was sacked 3 times and there was a safety called on a J'Marcus Webb penalty in the endzone.  The offense did look good in the run averaging 4.4 yards per carry, which includes a few Jason Campbell kneel downs.  (By the way, I guess Lovie instituted the mercy rule after the 10 minute mark of the fourth quarter by having Armando Allen run the ball every single time, even on the Titans 10 yard line on fourth down.)  On passing plays, the pocket always seemed to close early on Cutler.  Whereas early in the season, Cutler may have been holding the ball for too long, it was apparent in this game that the pocket constantly constricting.  Cutler and Marshall did connect on three pretty impressive pass touchdowns to put this game into cruise control.  Watching these connections only shows hints at the potential the Bears have to put together a pretty decent offensive unit with threats on the ground and through the air.

Final Thoughts

Well the time is now.  With the Texans and Niners coming up in the next two weeks, we'll find out what this Bears team is all about.  Since the beginning of this season, we knew time was running out and the window was closing on this aging defense.  While it hasn't shown on the field too much, we can all assume that these defenders if not this year than in the near future are going to be past their primes.  These next two weeks will tell us what we can expect against two of the league's best.

I honestly believe this team has the talent to win a Super Bowl.  While in past seasons, I thought the Bears could get lucky and go on a hot streak, like the Giants did last year, I believe team has the talent to be true Super Bowl contender.  If they play up to it, is a different question.  Unfortunately, I'll miss all if not most of the game next week, so I'll have to wait to watch the Niners game.