5 Q’s With A Bear

I exchanged questions this week with Mike Burzawa of Bear Goggles On. You can read my answer to his questions here. The two teams match up this Thursday night in steamy Miami.

1: How will the Bears offensive line protect Jay Cutler from the Mike Nolan blitz packages?

"Look for the Bears to move Cutler around. He’s been a sitting duck when taking traditional drops, so rollouts and misdirection plays will be the order of the day. The Bears’ offensive line seems to be improving. I say “seems to” because it’s hard to judge based on their recent competition."

2: Defensively, Julius Peppers is a beast, how has he performed against highly mobile QB’s this season?

"The Bears haven’t really faced a highly mobile quarterback this year. Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo come to mind as more elusive quarterbacks, but no one that mobile. Peppers has been having a solid debut season with the Bears even though his sack numbers aren’t there. Peppers will be his usual self and if Jake Long is nursing a bum wing, look for Pep to take advantage."

3: The Dolphins have one of the best WR’s in Brandon Marshall, Cutler’s good friend. How will Chicago’s secondary take him out of the game?

"I’m secretly hoping that Cutler and Marshall light up South Beach the night before and Marshall is too hung over to play. Seriously, though, look for Peanut Tillman to match up with Marshall with safety help from either Chris Harris or Danieal Manning over the top. The best thing the Bears could do would be to get pressure up front to force early or errant throws."

4: The Dolphins will likely run the Wild Cat quite often this week, how will the Bears adjust to that style of play?

"The Bears’ linebacking corp is the best in the business and stopping the Wild Cat will be up to Urlacher and Briggs in particular. The Cover-2 defense stresses that players stay in their gaps and that’s the key to turning the Wild Cat into a Wild Kitty."

5: Who is the unsung hero of the Bears this year?

"I’ve got to give that distinction to defensive end Izzy Idonije. He’s benefiting from Julius Peppers on the other side by leading the team in sacks, knocking down passes (which have directly led to a couple of easy INT’s) and even blocked a couple of kicks. Izzy started off as mostly a special teams player but has carved out a nice niche opposite Peppers."