Sayers implied during a booster banquet back in May that Urlacher may be too old to boun
ce back from a wrist injury and that the Bears haven't done a good job of improving the franchise. For obvious reasons, Urlacher was enraged by the comments and called out the Bears legend, asking rhetorically how many championships and playoff games did Sayers win in his short-lived tenure.
The answer is none.
Urlacher hasn't won a Super Bowl either, but has a handful of playoff wins under his belt. The ninth overall pick by the Bears in the 2000 NFL Draft could be headed towards another postseason appearance with the way the Bears have been playing early on in 2010. Chicago is the only undefeated team in the NFC at 3-0 and are coming off Monday night's 20-17 win over the NFC North- rival Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.
Urlacher turned the tide in Chicago's favor by stripping Packers receiver James Jones of the football in the game's final minutes to set up Robbie Gould's eventual game-winning field goal with four seconds to go.
Chicago, which donned throwback uniforms to honor the "Monsters of the Midway" teams of the 1940's, improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2006, the year the franchise lost to Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLI.
"On a night when we honored the Monsters of the Midway, it was good to see a team play 60 minutes of ball," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "When you're down a little bit, you have a chance to show your character. We have great leadership on our football team and the guys weren't going to be denied."
Cornerback Tim Jennings displayed some of that character Smith was alluding to when he stepped in for Zackary Bowman in the first quarter to play with the starting unit. Jennings recovered James' loose ball in the waning moments of last night's win and credited the defense -- including Urlacher -- for making a big play when he missed the tackle.
Expect to see Jennings and Bowman battling for playing time over the next few weeks.
The Bears, who took advantage of 18 penalties for 152 yards by the Packers, played well on offense as well and shut down Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews. The 2009 Pro Bowler had recorded three sacks in each of the first two games of the season, but was did not have one on Monday. Even though Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was sacked three times, right tackle Kevin Shaffer did a solid job on Matthews, as did Frank Omiyale at left tackle in place of the injured Chris Williams.
The biggest score of the night didn't come from the offense, as dangerous return man and wideout Devin Hester returned a 62-yard punt for a touchdown. He posted 11 kick return touchdowns in his first two NFL seasons from 2006-07, but had been shut out the past two years.
Remember, Hester returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a score as well. He and his teammates will try for an encore performance on the road against the New York Giants this Sunday.
PACKERS: The Green Bay Packers didn't shoot themselves in the foot Monday night at Chicago, they took a bazooka to it.
In their first NFC North showdown of the season, the Packers still had a chance to win despite committing a franchise-record 18 penalties for 152 yards, including a costly holding call on tackle Mark Tauscher which negated a Jermichael Finley touchdown in the third quarter.
Linebacker Nick Barnett had an interception nullified later on, with Green Bay having grabbed a 17-14 lead on an Aaron Rodgers touchdown run with less than seven minutes to go in the game. However, rookie linebacker Frank Zombo was flagged for roughing the passer after his helmet hit the Bears' Jay Cutler under the chin just as he threw the ball. Zombo had earned his first start in place of Brad Jones, who was out with a knee injury.
"It's disappointing...to give away a game like this," Barnett said. "We're not Santa Claus. We're not in the business of jumping down your chimney and letting you have a game."
Green Bay had just eight penalties in their first two games, both wins.
There were many more miscues for Green Bay, which still had a chance to win a game plagued by poor decisions and untimely penalties. Wide receiver James Jones sealed the Packers' fate, however, when he was stripped of the football by Urlacher in the final minutes of the contest. The fumble helped the Bears take the lead for good and pushed Green Bay one game behind in the division standings.
Chicago improved to 3-0 while the Packers, favored by many to represent the NFC in this year's Super Bowl, fell to 2-1. The teams won't meet again until January 2 at Lambeau Field.
Maybe by then Green Bay will be more disciplined and have its special teams in order after Hester scored on a 62-yard punt return, his first of that kind in more than two years.
"We have to go watch this film and be very critical of ourselves, kick ourselves in the mouth, and come out and be very hungry for the next game," added Barnett, who finished with only one tackle.
Speaking of hungry, Finley has been feasting on Rodgers' passes to the tune of 265 yards on 17 receptions through the first three games. The tight end has recorded consecutive 100-yard receiving games and finished with nine catches for 115 yards Monday night.
Green Bay seems to always have a go-to tight end, as Brett Favre established solid connections with the likes of Mark Chmura and Bubba Franks in past seasons. Finley is becoming that guy for Rodgers.
The Packers hope to be more disciplined this weekend versus division-rival Detroit in their second home game of the season. The Lions enter that bout riding a 22-game road losing streak, so the odds are in the home team's favor.
VIKINGS: The Minnesota Vikings have plenty of unanswered questions and will have more than enough time to think about them during their upcoming bye week. It also wouldn't be a shock if Brett Favre uses the time off to contemplate his future with the team.
Just kidding.
Favre and the Vikings are coming off a much-needed win, their first of the 2010 season, against Detroit following tough back-to-back losses to begin the campaign. The shaky offense found some solidarity for once in running back Adrian Peterson, as the All-Pro ran for a season-high 160 yards and a pair of scores on 23 carries this past Sunday. Peterson put the finishing touches on what was an improved showing by Minnesota with an 80-yard touchdown run and helped hide another subpar outing from Favre.
Peterson is averaging just over 150 rushing yards in his last two games.
Despite having Peterson, struggling to move the football has been an issue for Favre and the offense. He has just two touchdown passes to six interceptions and has been picked off multiple times in consecutive games. Favre, who threw three interceptions in a close loss to Miami in Week 2, was picked off only seven times all last season. He didn't throw any at home in 2009, but has five at the Metrodome already in the new campaign.
It's been well documented that Favre hasn't had all the tools around him like he did a season ago, but that's no excuse for the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer. With Sidney Rice, his favorite target in 2009, still nursing a hip issue and Percy Harvin playing through a hip problem of his own, the productive offensive unit from just a year ago has been grounded. Now tight end Visanthe Shiancoe is dealing with a leg injury suffered in the win against the Lions.
Head coach Brad Childress is counting on his players to heal and adjust during the upcoming bye.
"For us it comes at a good time, with guys that are a little more beat up than we'd like to see them this early," Childress stated. "It allows some freshness to occur both mentally and physically. We have a 13-game stretch to finish the season that will allow us to be able to get into a routine and hopefully build momentum as we go."
Childress also saw his center, John Sullivan, go down with a nagging calf injury against the Lions and replaced him with Ryan Cook. He was part of a line that allowed two sacks on the afternoon, one shy of the previous week and one more than Week 1.
If only Minnesota's offense can play as tough as the defense has through the first three games. The unit held the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints to 14 points in a season-opening loss, did the same against Miami in Week 2 and cooled off a suddenly-hot Lions offense this past Sunday.
Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen only has one sack so far, but his presence alone is opening more holes for his teammates. The secondary received a boost as well on Sunday, with corners Cedric Griffin and Chris Cook back in the fold for coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Frazier's unit can use a breather to prepare for a Monday night showdown with the New York Jets on the road set for Oct. 11.
LIONS: Starting a season 0-3 is nothing new for the Detroit Lions, but losing 22 straight games on the road doesn't happen quite often for any team.
Detroit fell to 0-2 on the road this season following Sunday's 24-10 loss at Minnesota in which the team was victimized by a faulty run defense. Now the Lions are headed to Green Bay's Lambeau Field, a venue they haven't tasted victory in since George H. W. Bush was President. Detroit last won as the guest at Chicago back on October 28, 2007 and haven't beaten the Packers on the road since the 1991 season.
"Our record doesn't indicate it, but I think we have a lot of pieces in place to be a good football team," Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said. "You're not seeing all those pieces in place on the field right now. We haven't been at full strength. You have to be resilient in this league."
Schwartz went on to say that winning breeds confidence and generating points has been a major issue. The two aspects go hand-in-hand at the NFL level, since putting up points usually results in wins. Despite scoring 32 in a Week 2 loss at home versus Philadelphia, Detroit is averaging 12 points a game in its two road losses.
The Packers don't have a dominant ground attack like Minnesota, but do have one of the most potent passing games in the entire NFL led by Pro Bowl quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Lions center Dominic Raiola said after Sunday's loss to the Vikings that this team has enough playmakers to be good and that talent is no longer an issue in the Motor City. Perhaps a return of a few banged-up players, including running back Kevin Smith, is what the Lions need.
Smith has not played this season after spending much of his summer recovering from a torn knee ligament, and is eyeing a return to the field this Sunday in Wisconsin. When Smith is ready to handle some of the workload, he'll be sharing carries with rookie Jahvid Best, who's taken over nicely as the team's feature back. Best, however, suffered a toe injury against Minnesota and ran for only 26 yards on seven carries.
That's why the timing of Smith's possible return is crucial.
"He's getting a lot closer," Schwartz said of the third-year pro. "Kevin's been chomping at the bit and he's ready to go. But sometimes you need to look at it objectively. He's a lot closer now than he was in preseason."
In other injury news, Lions offseason addition Nate Burleson did not play Sunday because of an ankle issue, but vies to return against the Packers. The wide receiver has two catches for 23 yards in two games with his new team.
Posted by: Shawn Clarke
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