As goes McNabb so go the Skins

[30gut]

Imo the passing game is gonna be the key to the game; specifically the short passing game.
Schematically the Bears defense is similar to the Colts except the Bears are more Tampa 2 then Cover 2 and according to a Bears beat writer they've been playing more man to man of late.
When they're playing their T2 Its gonna be tough to get the ball downfield against them.
Against the Colts McNabb was under enough pressure that Kyle seemed to switch from his traditional down field 5-7 step drop heavy passing game to a more 3 step drop game to take some of the pressure off the OL. (something 'ol Mike Martz might want to think about)
The Colts secondary gave up the short stuff and McNabb moved the ball with typically short rhythm WCO passes.
McNabb's performance (sans interception) is an encouraging development b/c the short passing game might end up being even more important then it was last week.
Its very likely that our run game will struggle to move the ball and our pass protection might not be able to give McNabb enough time to take the usual deep drops (5-7 step) to exploit the intermediate voids in the Bears defense.

The passing game was also aided b/c the Colts chose to give Armstrong a huge cushion for most of the game so the hitches and slants were open all game.
If the Bears have done there homework i expect the same cushion, if not i could see Armstrong taking one of their DBs downtown if the get matched up man-to-man especially Jennings a journeyman CB pressed into the line-up due to injury.
The match-up of Armstrong on Jennings will go a long way in determining the outcome of the passing game.

What's your opinion

[SirClintonPortis]

I agree for the most part. McNabb is going to have to stay disciplined and take the checkdown if they give it to him. I love it that we're taking chances on deep plays more often, but he still has to be more smart about when to lanuch it.
We also could try using Cooley or Davis to exploit matchups agains their LBs

[artmonkforhallofamein07]

It will be interesting to see if we use Davis a little more now.

Through out this year we really have not targeted him, after all the talk about 2 TE sets. We do run them, but Davis is used primarily in blocking schemes. I see him alot in the running game. It seems as though we are wasting talent there by not using him more in the passing game. We may want to think about making a trade in the offseason to get some value out of him, and get a couple of picks.

I do agree though our short and intermediate passing game has to be on target and if we can somehow get our running game going again this week it would help tremedously!

The key to this game is getting pressure on Cutler and forcing mistakes, and converting mistakes into points.

AND scoring more points than the Bears is always a good way to win a game!

[30gut]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

I agree for the most part. McNabb is going to have to stay disciplined and take the checkdown if they give it to him. I love it that we're taking chances on deep plays more often, but he still has to be more smart about when to lanuch it.
We also could try using Cooley or Davis to exploit matchups agains their LBs

I hope that Cooley/Davis can win their matchups but i don't view our TEs as having the advantage. Briggs and Urlacher are faster and just as athletic if not more so then Cooley/Davis its a tough match-up for them.

Originally Posted by artmonkforhallofamein07

It will be interesting to see if we use Davis a little more now..........Through out this year we really have not targeted him, after all the talk about 2 TE sets. We do run them, but Davis is used primarily in blocking schemes. I see him alot in the running game. It seems as though we are wasting talent there by not using him more in the passing game.

I'm surprised by the design and the focus on the passing game.
I figured it would be geared more to targeting the Cooley-Davis combo.
But thus far Davis is not a featured part of the passing game and i agee its a mis-use of talent. I'm surprised we can't find away to replace Sellers targets/drops with targets for Davis.

We may want to think about making a trade in the offseason to get some value out of him, and get a couple of picks.

I still think he's too valueable to trade.
We would never get equal value for him and e provides assurance that we can continue running the same offense if Cooley gets hurt.
But, hopefully there start finding ways to use him in the passing game.

I do agree though our short and intermediate passing game has to be on target and if we can somehow get our running game going again this week it would help tremedously!

If we're sharp in this facet of the game there won't be a game that we can't win.

[SirClintonPortis]

Briggs is hurt with ankle injury and listed as questionable. Urlacher has a groin injury and listed as probable.