NFL: Picks from week 2

It didn’t take long for the Lions to build a big boy offense around Matt Stafford. Why couldn’t the Bears do it for Jay Cutler? (US Presswire)

Despite it being Bears-Packers week, I don’t have the enthusiasm that I would normally have for a game of this magnitude. If the Bears can force turnovers, make the Packers play dumb (like in week 3 last year), force at least 3 turnovers & find a way to kidnap Aaron Rodgers before 3:15 Sunday, they’ve got a good shot. I’m only half kidding about the last part, but I’m already at a frustrated level with this Bears team.

As the saying goes, you’re never as good as your best game, and never as bad as your worse game. I get that, but last week’s performance by Mike Martz and the offensive line still pisses me off. How can we possibly be at the “better have the talk with Martz” point already?” It’s week 3 for Christ’s sake! Last week’s disaster still stings, and it brings a larger point into focus.

Tell me, why is it that the Bears offense always looks like they are playing uphill and with 9 players? I’m sick of it. I know the real answer, but that is coming in my state of the organization post next week (that’s a tease, kids). For today, I want to focus on just how abysmal the Bears offense always is. It’s bad enough that they play 2 on 11, but Cuts has been sacked 11 times already in two games. And by my math, he’s on pace to get sacked 729 times this season. Sweet.

Look at how quick the Detroit Lions built an offense around number 1 overall pick Matt Stafford. They drafted a real wide receiver, Calvin Johnson & a legit threat at tight end, Brandon Pettigrew. And by legit, I mean a real ass weapon who teams have to account for. You know, basically the opposite of Kellen Davis. They drafted Gosder Cherilus to help shore up a hideous offensive line. And guess what? He didn’t come to his first training camp with a pre-existing back injury like Bears bum Chris Williams. They also drafted Jahvid Best and Mikel Leshoure (who’s hurt, but will be a real player once he’s healthy next year).

It’s not overly complicated, right? You find a star quarterback, and put the necessary weapons around to him to help you look smart for drafting (or in the Bears case, trading for) the hardest position in sports to fill. Not the Bears.

Why would they surround a guy they gave a $30 million extension with players who can actually make a play for you? It’s because they don’t know how. Never have. The day a wide receiver shows up at Halas Hall looking anything remotely like Calvin Johnson, I may faint. But hey, why not keep trying to convert kick returners into number receivers. It worked so well for the…um…um… That’s right, it never works, Jerry.

Sure, they Lions stockpiled a shit load of high picks in each round from being so atrocious for decades on end, but you have to hit on them. And we know that’s not always a sure thing. The Bears have had enough chances to land a legit receiver and lineman who aren’t crippled. It just shows their incompetence and ignorance. They are ignorant in the fact that they assumed Cutler could mask their flaws of finding blue chip lineman and receivers who are taller than 5’11.

So, as you watch Aaron Rodgers sit in the pocket Sunday and have all day to throw, it’s because Ted Thompson rebuilt an aging offensive line that was equally as bad as the Bears three years ago. When you see the best quarterback in the game throw to the best group of wide receivers in football, it’s because Thompson finds guys like Randall Cobb with the 64th overall pick. Jerry Angelo, meanwhile, took Dan Bazuin with the 62nd overall selection in the ’07 draft. Yes, Bazuin is out of football. That was an awesome pick though.

It’s shit like this that makes the Bears health so vital. They have drafted as if they were on crack from ’05-present and are in the process of ruining the prime of Jay Cutler’s career. Talent wins in pro sports, and despite always playing the Packers tough, the Bears aren’t in the same stratosphere talent wise as the defending champs. The pick: Packers -4.

Here are the rest of my week 2 picks. Home team in CAPS…

Niners +3 over BENGALS

Patriots -9 over BILLS

Texans pick over SAINTS

EAGLES pick over Giants

BROWNS -3 over Dolphins

TITANS pick over Broncos

Lions -4 over VIKINGS

Jags +4 over PANTHERS

CHARGERS -15 over Chiefs

RAIDERS +3.5 over Jets

Ravens pick over RAMS