We Got It For Cheap

With the improved play of the offensive line over the past four games, there's an impressive side note to the way they're constructed. The two tackles that they've been running with during their win streak, J'Marcus Webb and Lance Louis, are both seventh round draft picks, making relatively low salaries for their positions. Now this could say as much good as it does bad about the way Jerry Angelo drafts. One on hand, he's gotten great value out of two late round draft picks who ended up being starters at important positions. But on the other hand, the Bears are starting two seventh rounders because of their failure to adequately address the issue sooner. But as much as I dislike the way Angelo runs this organization, I will certainly give him due credit for hitting on two draft picks that are usually throwaways that never make the 53 man roster.

J'Marcus Webb has quietly improved since the beginning of the season. While the 2010 seventh round pick struggled early with false starts, holds and flat-out whiffs against speedy pass rushers, he's improved in all of three of these areas over the past four games. He had one illegal formation penalty vs MIN, but no penalties in the next three games. He gave up a sack vs DET on a play where Cutler held on to the ball too long.

There were times earlier in the season where he looked like he didn't know which rusher he was supposed to block, leading to open season on Jay Cutler. And while he's still prone to the occasional fuck up, he seems to have a much better understanding of his assignment on every snap. Now he needs to prove that he can continue these improvements going forward before anyone will believe what the Bears have been telling us... that he could be the starting left tackle for the foreseeable future. Whether or not he can do that remains to be seen, but a starting left tackle that only is only costing you $405,000 when the average salary for a starting offensive lineman is about $1.27 million is a great bargain.

Lance Louis has been the Bears best offensive linemen in 2011. After starting the season at right guard, he's performed admirably filling in at right tackle for the injured Gabe Carimi. The 2009 seventh round draft pick has been pivotal to the Bears running success this season. Louis has very quick feet and decent size to get out in front of Matt Forte and occupy blockers. His athleticism also helps him prevent edge rushers from getting around and creating pressure on Cutler. With Carimi now on Injured Reserve, Louis will need to hold down the right tackle position for the remainder of the season.

Although he projects to move back to RG for 2012 and beyond, Lance Lou is going to need to continue his high level of play for the Bears to sustain the moderate success they've had on the offensive line. And making just $480,000 this year and $565,000 next season, he provides another good value for a starting offensive lineman. Hopefully Louis can continue to improve and be one of the o-linemen that the Bears can build with going forward.

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@1stdownroywill

Let's Double Up

Since we last checked in with Roy E Williams, he's picked up another 2 first down celebrations. Week 7 saw Roy Will make his biggest impact so far this year, picking up 4 catches for 59 yards and his first TD for the Bears. Even though he had three first down catches vs TB, I'm disappointed that he only celebrated one of them.

He had a bad drop early in the game but made up for it with a score. On his TD, where we saw first hand that having a big target makes it so much easier for Cutler to hit his guy, you couldn't even tell that Roy scored by his celebration. But he was feeling good after that, so when caught another ball, he picked up his 8th FDC of the year.

Last week vs the Eagles, Williams stayed hot by grabbing three first downs (including two 3rd down conversions) and earning his 9th FDC of the season. Once again, the director of the TV broadcast chose not to show the celebration but we were able to catch a quick glimpse of it. His next two catches are where we're not so sure. It looked like he casually left-handed an FDC on his 2nd catch, but it wasn't enough for the official scorekeeper to credit him. And on his third catch, the cameraman cut away from him way too quickly for us to know if he celebrated or not.

So what should we expect this week versus DET? Johnny Knox is expected to see a higher number of snaps than he has lately, so we'll see if those will be taken away from Williams or Hester. But look for Roy Will to do what he's been doing on a consistent basis and coming out with 3 or 4 catches for 50-60 yards. But the important thing to watch is how many drops he has, because he usually doesn't celebrate on catches immediately following a drop. Williams is in a prime position to reach double digit FDCs on the year, which is probably an escalator in his contract.

Bear Down Roy Will

Roy E Williams Career FDC count: 9

Week 10 vs DET over/under: 1.5 FDCs

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@1stdownroywill

Who Run It?

The gameplan to beat the Lions is simple... run the fucking ball. In the Bears three losses this season, they're averaging an underwhelming 14.7 rush attempts per game. That number is even exaggerated because they ran 24 times vs Detroit, bringing that average up. In the loss against the Packers, we all remember Martz only giving Forte 9 rush attempts and the New Orleans game was no better with the Bears only attempting 11 rushes all game.
In the Bears 5 wins this season, they are averaging 29.6 rushes for their RBs. The higher the total number of rushes, the better chance they have to win. Of course when you have the lead you have more freedom to run the ball; but the primary reason the Bears won each one of those games is their commitment to the run early. It opens their entire offense, especially play-action.
This offensive line is built to run block much better than it is to pass protect. They have good collection of size with enough quickness to get out in front of Forte and clear it out before he throws it in. When they're able to get the ground game going, it makes it so much easier for them to protect Cutler and give these WRs time to get open. But when Martz goes away from Forte and starts chucking it all over the place, that's when the offensive line gets in trouble. They need to run it early and often to keep this offense playing well. I think it's important that the Bears reach the 25 rush attempts milestone in order to win.
We have to give Martz some credit, though. It seems like he finally gets it... at least for now he does. During this three game win streak, the RBs have averaged 30.7 attempts per game. The question is, 'Will they stick with the run or will Martz get bored and start chucking?' Martz has been very creative with the run plays he's drawn up this season. He still gets to put in his motions that he loves so much and try to confuse the defense. Hopefully that will keep him interested because the only thing that can stop Matt Forte is Mike Martz.

Bears RBs combined rush attempts per game:
vs ATL - 26
vs NO - 11
vs GB - 9
vs CAR - 30
vs DET - 24
vs MIN - 28
vs TB - 31
vs PHI - 33
vs DET - 31
vs SD - 27
vs OAK - 22
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Underground Kingz

You know that feeling when you've been a die-hard fan of an underground band before they blow up and everyone jumps on their bandwagon? Even though these people are appreciating something that you really like, for some strange reason you feel resentment because this exclusive club was just taken away from you. Like you're a bigger fan than everybody else be cause you've been down from day one. I'm not really sure why it happens, we just can't help it. My absolute favorite rap group -- favorite musical act of any kind -- is UGK, or the Underground Kingz. When I tell people that, they usually don't know who I'm talking about and even though I love putting new people on to them, I get this selfish feeling like I appreciate UGK more than anybody else possibly could. It doesn't make sense.

And the same thing happens with sports. Of course the general public loves Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and, very recently, Jay Cutler. Those are the big names so it's easy to just say "that's my favorite player." But me personally, I've always been drawn to the players who don't get the shine that I think they deserve. When I'm at the bar watching the Bears or tailgating at a road game in Cincinnati I like to be wearing a jersey that nobody else in the place has on.

The first Bears jersey I ever got was a blue Nate Vasher and boy, did I rock the shit out of that jersey the year that he went All Pro. The next season comes around and a lot of people had gone out and bought Vasher jerseys during training camp, so my beloved #31 jersey was starting to fall out of favor with me. I couldn't really help it, Vasher was still one of my favorite players at the time, but it just didn't feel the same when everyone else had the same jersey. So I moved on.

The next jersey I copped was even hotter than the first one. I got a blue Devin Hester jersey for Christmas his rookie year, before the Bears got to the Super Bowl. We went to an incredible Super Bowl party in the Gold Coast with 100+ people at this condo. I was literally the only person in the place with a Devin Hester jersey, so you could imagine how buck I was going while he was watching himself make history. The next season? Everybody and their kid was wearing a Devin Hester jersey. So I got an Olsen. Of course the same thing eventually happened, which brings us to today.

Ever since the Bears drafted Earl Bennett, he's been one of my favorite players on the team. Even though the analysts claimed he didn't have a ton of speed, this dude was the all time leader in receptions in SEC history, so I figured he could bring a lot to the table. Even though he didn't see the field on offense his rookie year, I was looking for him to break out in 2009. I even named one of my fantasy football teams "Earl Bennett" that year. And since then, I realized how good of a WR he could become so I've liked him even more. I even get a huge kick out of the Bears playing on Sunday Night Football when he gets to introduce himself with that country ass twang, "Ear' Bennett." Listen for it the next time the Bears play on NBC.

For 2 years now I've been wanting a blue #80 jersey, especially since I can't wear my Olsen anymore, but up to this point, you couldn't find an Earl B jersey anywhere unless you custom made one. Now that Earl had what many are calling a "breakout game" (even though he was really just doing what he does) I will never get a chance to buy one because he's now become this overnight sensation. He was doing his weekly hour with Jeff Dickerson on ESPN 1000 the other night talking about how he's blowing up on Twitter, since he was trending all throughout Monday night and the followers came rushing.

And I'm happy for him; of course I'm happy for him. He's by far the Bears best WR and he deserves all of the attention he's getting, and hopefully this buzz will help him get a little bit extra on the contract extension that's imminent. But now the selfish side in me is bitter that he's gonna be another one of those Bears who even the most ignorant fan talks about. Mostly I'm pissed because this means it's way too late to grab that Earl Bennett jersey, because I guarantee it's gonna be the hot new jersey when training camp 2012 opens. But Earl deserves it because he's a hard worker, a down to earth guy and most importantly, a good ass football player. I hope you enjoy the limelight, Earl, because the Earl Bennett Fan Club just became a movement.

Turn My Swag On

Here at Bear Down Chicago Bears it's widely believed that if you don't have anything to write about Roy E Will, you probably don't have a story worth writing. That's why it's been almost an entire month since the last post. But after Roy's brilliant game against the Vikings this past Sunday, I had no other choice but to get it rolling again. You're probably asking, "What the hell was so brilliant about Roy Will's performance this week?".

Sure, he only had 3 catches for 50 yards and did not find the end zone. But with each one of those catches, he was able to pick up a first down. More importantly, with each one of those first downs he was able to accumulate another FDC, bringing his season total to 7.

Ok, so I'm not 100% sure that he did, in fact, officially celebrate each one of those first downs. The geniuses at NBC decided to change cameras at the exact moment when he was getting ready to swag it out, leaving us wondering whether or not he did his thing. However, knowing Roy Will as well as I do, I can guarantee you he not only managed to pick up his 5th FDC of the year on his first catch, but he went 3-for-3 on the day by celebrating each and every first down that he caught against Minnesota. It was nice to see Roy get some facetime after being somewhat invisible the previous few weeks.

After missing week 2 against the Saints with an injury and being held without a catch in week 3 against the packers, Williams was able to pick up his fourth FDC of the year in a week 4 win against the Panthers. Although he caught another first down against the Lions on Monday Night Football, being the class act that he is, he decided against the celebration as the Bears were well on their way to losing the game.

If you can read trends, you can see that in games where Roy Will has a major impact (ie: celebrates one first down catch) the Bears are undefeated (3-0). Not only are the Bears unbeatable when he picks one up, but when he has 3 or more the Bears are averaging 34.5 points per game and look to be a dominant force. Somebody needs to get word to Mike Martz that Roy E Williams is the impact player that we were expecting, you just gotta put him in a position where he can turn his swag on.

Bear Down Roy Will

Roy E Williams Career FDCs: 7

Week 7 vs TB over/under: 2.5 FDCs

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Draped Up and Dripped Out

Roy Will is coming back from his week 1 injury at a time that the Bears really need him. The WRs created absolutely no separation last week against the Saints. Hester led the Bears with 9 targets but almost all of those passes were forced while he was draped up by the defense. Earl Bennett went down with an injury early as Cutler led him into a big hit from a defender for the second straight week. Johnny Knox was on TV maybe twice all day which shows what kind of impact he had on Sunday. And that's why Roy Williams needs to come back and hopefully step up.

The packers are going to play a lot of press coverage against the Bears and that's not a good thing. Hester and Knox both struggle when they're jammed at the line. Roy E is obviously the Bears' biggest receiver and he needs to prove that he can win battles at the line of scrimmage. I can't say I've ever seen Roy Will beat a jam at the line but since he's adequate at run blocking, hopefully it's something he can do relatively well.

Even if he's draped up by the secondary like the other WRs were last week, he at least provides a bigger target for Cutler. The assumption is that Roy E can win a an up-for-grabs contest with a cornerback who is guaranteed to be smaller than him. If Cutler is forced to throw to a WR that is covered tightly, he would be better off throwing to Williams instead of Hester, Knox or Dane Sanzenbacher because of his size advantage.

With Earl Bennett out, this is Williams' chance to step up and make plays for this team. We already know that Jay Cutler trusts Bennett but the question is whether he trusts Roy E Will enough to throw it to him repeatedly throughout the entire game. He's going to need to earn that trust quickly and he can't leave Cutler hanging like he did in the preseason when a dropped pass resulted in an easy interception. Over the course of the season, if he can turn into a receiver that Cutler trusts he stands to become the beneficiary of a high number of targets.

Whether Roy E Williams is going to step up or not remains to be seen, but he will get his first chance against the packers. With Earl Bennett's impending absence and the likely ineffectiveness of Hester and Knox, Williams' ability to produce against the Bears' rivals can mean the difference between a win and a loss.

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Trill Playas Don't Die

There is absolutely no question what the highlight of Sunday's game was. I'm not talking about Jim Cornelison's incredible rendition of The National Anthem, because that happened before kickoff. The kickoff wasn't the highlight either, even though it officially began BEARS season. And it wasn't when the clock hit 0:00 and the Bears had their first win of the year. Nope. The single greatest moment of the game on Sunday was what we've been waiting for since July 29... Roy E. Williams' first ever 1st down celebration in a Bears uniform.

On his very first catch as Chicago Bear, Williams consummated it with his signature move. Coming into the season, I was curious whether he would give up the first down celebrations. I'll even admit that I was hoping he would give them up after coming to the Bears. But my opinion has completely changed. I am being 100 when I say there was not a single moment on Sunday that we got more buck for at this house than when he celebrated his first 1st down.

It was also an important catch, as it was good for a 3rd down conversion that kept a drive going and resulted in a field goal. Roy Will definitely had an impactful game as his second career first down celebration, or FDC, came on another 3rd down on a different scoring drive. Unfortunately for him, on the third snap of the 4th quarter, he tweaked his groin and exited for the remainder of the game. Fortunately for us, he still managed to pick up his 3rd FDC of the game as he treaded lightly to the bench, wrapping up an impressive display of celebration in his first game with the Bears.

Bear Down Roy Will.

Roy E Williams Career FDC Count: 3

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