Chicago Bears 2008: Karma or Coincidence?

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Karma or Coincidence? Bears host Philadelphia So far in this early part of the 2008 season, the Chicago Bears (1-2) have experienced the good and bad side of karma. The good side was when the Bears sought and got revenge against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 for their Super Bowl XLI loss. The bad side was the two narrow defeats against the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—teams that possessed former Bears on their roster that were traded away from Chicago. Now with Week 4 on the horizon, the Bears could possibly be facing karma again when they square off against the 2-1 Philadelphia Eagles. Last year, the two teams played in Philly, which resulted in a come from behind 19-16 victory by the Bears in the final two minutes of the game. Eagles quarterback, and Chicago native Donovan McNabb, along with the rest of his team, wouldn’t want anything more than to come into Soldier Field and do the same to Chicago that was done to them one year ago. Chicago will be facing yet another tough defense; perhaps the toughest thus far. Philadelphia leads the NFL in both sacks (13) and in run defense, allowing only 45.7 yards per game. The Bears offensive line will have to be extra alert in protecting Kyle Orton against an Eagles defense who recorded nine sacks last week against the Pittsburg Steelers. This o-line will also have to set the tone for the running game, and hope that rookie Matt Forte can continue his dominance on the ground. Forte currently is the fourth leading rusher in the NFL with 304 yards, and leads the league with 73 rushing attempts. Chicago’s passing attack made some strides last week, and seems to have veteran Brandon Lloyd as their primary receiver. Lloyd racked up 124 receiving yards and a touchdown last week, with the majority of the yards coming against one of the best cornerbacks in the league, Ronde Barber of Tampa Bay. Hopefully Lloyd will have a repeat performance against yet another great corner in Asante Samuel. A question mark looms over the status of Devin Hester. The former Miami Hurricane didn’t play in last week’s loss, and up to this date still hasn’t participated in practice. Hester, as well as Lloyd, will be very much needed in stretching the field so that the likes of Forte and tight ends Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen can get passes underneath. Though the Eagles’ offense seems to be banged up, Brian Urlacher and the rest of the Chicago defense still need to bring their A-game and cause havoc for 60 minutes. McNabb, who has a QB rating of 102.8 and is fifth in the league in passing yardage with 838, did suffer a contusion to his chest last week, but is slated to play for the Eagles. As for Eagles’ Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook, his status for Sunday night’s game is unknown, due to an injured ankle. Tommie Harris and the rest of the Bears defensive line, along with a blitzing Urlacher and Lance Briggs, should overwhelm the o-line, especially if Eagles guard Shawn Andrews is still hampered with a back injury; as well as Eagles tight end L.J. Smith, who has the same injury. > Buy cheap Chicago Bears apparel through Pro Football Fans & get the 2008 NFL scores here as well. Is it karma or coincidence? No one will ever know. The only thing that’s certain is that head coach Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears have to figure out a way to display more consistency on both sides of the ball, and take advantage of good situations. But if both of those things are accomplished by the Bears and they still lose, maybe karma will dictate the outcome of the Bears season; or maybe just all of the success in Chicago’s sporting world has gone to the Cubs and White Sox. By Clyde A. Speller ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent

Karma or Coincidence? Bears host Philadelphia