MVN - Most Valuable Network

Pass Happy in the Windy City?

As the Broncos travel north to take on the Chicago Bears, the injury bug is shaping up in an unusual way.  Denver is razor thin at the running back position, with Travis Henry likely to miss yet another game with a knee injury.  Selvin Young, as well as special teamer Paul Smith, are also questionable to play with injuries.  Preparing for the worst, the Broncos brought back a familiar name in Kyle Johnson to pad depth.

On the other hand, the team seems to expect that Javon Walker will be back, although he is also listed as questionable.  With Jay Cutler coming off arguably his best game of his career so far—and doing it without Walker—the traditionally run-heavy Denver Broncos might have to air it out more often.  With the Bears’ Nathan Vasher also expected to miss another game with a groin injury, it could just be another reason to air it out.

Whatever the calls are, a road trip to the defending NFC champions is never fun, even if the Bears are having an off year.  A victory over Chicago in front of most of the nation will go another step in continuing this team on an unpswing.

BEARS OFFENSE

Rex Grossman was benched midway through the season in favor of a famous (or infamous?) name in Broncos history, Brian Griese.  However, due to a shoulder injury, the Broncos and Griese won’t have the pleasure of facing off against each other, and it will be Grossman that the Broncos’ defenders will be challenged with.

Grossman has had plenty of potential, but has been cursed with criticism for poor decisions throughout his pro playing time.  With Champ Bailey and Dre’ Bly roaming out there, Grossman will have to be extra cautious when he lets the ball fly.  Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian are two solid starters, but depth at wide receivers looks suspect with the likes of Mark Bradley and Rashied Davis not making much ground thus far this year.  This could allow for John Lynch to assist in double teams against either Muhammad or Berrian to prevent the big play.

The Bears have a stout offensive line, led by the perennial Pro Bowler Olin Kreutz and supported by underrated players such as Roberto Garza and John Tait (the latter of who has experience against the Broncos from his Kansas City Chiefs days).  They will make things tricky for the Broncos to penetrate the backfield, and will do whatever they can to open up holes for Cedric Benson and the other Adrian Peterson.  This will be a key game for the linebackers to make the right decisions to back up the defensive line in stuffing the running backs and pressuring Grossman.  In particular, I will be keeping an eye out on Ian Gold, who did not have a good game against Tennessee last week.

BEARS DEFENSE

Although Walker may play, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is limited in his abilities.  As such, I would expect that the Bears’ other normal starting corner (Charles Tillman) would take most of the plays against Brandon Marshall, and for Danieal Manning to get some help from the safeties against Walker if he can break out.  If either Walker or Marshall could demand double teams, it will only open things up for Brandon Stokley and the tight ends.

While the injuries tend to favor the passing game, the offensive front has to be able to both protect Jay Cutler and still establish the running game.  The Bears feature an aggressive 1-gap style defensive front, led by a player the Broncos once targeted in the draft in Tommie Harris.  He has been limited with injuries, but is expected to play and as such should be treated as if he were 100% healthy.  With Harris and ends Adewale Ogunleye, Mark Anderson, and Alex Brown poised to attack, look for several two tight end sets and for the fullback to be key in sealing off tacklers from pursuit.  With linebackers like Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs out there, this should be obvious.

At running back, it will be curious to see who the Broncos throw at the Bears if Young can’t play.  Will Andre Hall follow the natural progression up the chart and get his first start?  Will the signing of Johnson shift Cecil Sapp over to running back?  Or will Mike Bell, the forgotten man from last year’s impressive rookie season, finally break out of the inactive list?  Whatever the case, be prepared to hear plenty from the pundits on Denver’s habit to generate running backs out of thin air.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2007 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.