Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris had this to say about Brett Favre and the Vikings: “They play well up front and they got a daddy (Favre) in the backfield. I felt like a little kid out there with a daddy just beating us up.”

all quotes from chicagotribune.com

According to 670 The Score in Chicago, the Bears recently reached out to CBS analyst Bill Cowher to assess his interest in the team’s head-coaching job should current head coach Lovie Smith be fired.

-The Score’s Hub Arkush claims his source for the report is “impeccable,” despite all of the Bears’ denials. Bill Cowher has previously stated that he would not speak to any teams until the season is over, but perhaps made an exception here. According to Profootballtalk.com, there are “rumors” that Cowher is interested in working for either the Bears or Texans.

I hope this rumor is true, because the Bears need some change and they need it fast. The problem is the Bears owe Lovie Smith $10 million dollars over the next two seasons. They clearly need a new offensive coordinator. Head coach may be to expensive for the Bears management.

The Bears defensive leader, Brian Urlacher, who was injured in week one against Green Bay had lots to say about this years team.

Here is what he said:

“I just wish I could be out there battling, when I go to the facility and see the guys, I feel like I’m in the way.”

“Look, I love Jay, and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him. But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win. Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

“I’m not taking a shot at Jay. I’m not one bit taking a shot at Jay, he throws it better, right? And we haven’t tried to run the ball as much. That’s true.

“But Kyle has won games. His formula works. So I’m not taking a shot at Jay or Kyle.”

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre spoke up about Jay Cutler and his play yesterday, here’s what he had to say:

‘‘I think he’s better [at 26 than I was],’ at this stage, he’s way more advanced. Physically, he’s got all the tools. But mentally, he’s way more advanced and able to see defenses and read things. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want to put it all on your shoulders. And I know that’s what he’s thinking.”

”The comparisons are his arm strength and trying to do too much, but I know this: Trying to do too much and take it all on your shoulders has worked for me. So continue to do what you’re doing. At times, the better decision would be take a sack, throw it away, whatever. After 19 years, there’s been a lot of those what-ifs or should-have-done-this, but the fact is that I’m still here at 19 years.

”There is no doubt that Jay is a heck of a player. This is a stretch that has been obviously tough on him, but keep shootin’ it. That’s what people are afraid of. They want him to be very cautious, and I know that there are some plays that he probably should have been a little more cautious. I can say the same thing about me. But you’ve got to play the game the way that you know how, and that’s why they made a trade for him. So he’ll be fine.”

”I played against those guys for so long, and anytime the Bears would be at .500 or less is a surprise, Lovie’s teams have always been very good. I think they are now. I think once Jay offensively hits his stride and gets some consistency with his receivers and gets on the same page, I think they’re going to be fine.”

”I wouldn’t give him any, anything that he wouldn’t know already,’I obviously have been in that situation at different times in my career. Now, the fact that he went over to a different team, the way it all kind of went down, obviously I’m a little bit familiar with that. I know for Jay, the expectation level obviously was high, as it would have been high in Denver. It comes with a lot of extra baggage being the star quarterback.

”So I’m sure he felt the pressure as we all should at that position to put up big plays and good numbers, but more importantly, wins. You try to do too much. I know Jay a little bit, but I don’t know him all that well, so it would be unfair for me to sit here and say what he’s thinking or doing or whatever. I think they picked him up for a reason. I think he’s damn good, I think he will be good and he’ll be fine. I know he knows that, and I’m sure to a certain extent that’s what Donovan may have been talking to him about at the end of the game the other day.”

”I say, ‘So? Who am I to say Jay’s not having fun or is having fun because his demeanor is different than mine? We all form opinions just by watching someone, the body language, the whatever. It’s obviously unfair. So you make a bad decision, your team loses, or you’re in a tough situation, I don’t see where you should be out there smiling and joking around.

”If they’re 10-0 or whatever, it’s a little bit easier to smile and have a good time. … They didn’t bring Jay in to smile and smack the ref on the heinie or whatever. They brought him in to win games. Not that I’ve ever done that.”

all quotes from chicagosuntimes.com

Here are the Week 12 Bears power rankings from various sites around the web:

ESPN: #23 (Last week: #23)

Analysis, “The Bears have dropped five of their past six games.”

Yahoo Sports: #21 (Last week: #23)

Analysis: “Is it fair to say that Devin Hester and his teammates were exposed Sunday night by Dimitri Patterson and the Eagles?”

Pro Football Weekly: #22 (Last week: 22)

Analysis, “Thank goodness they turned down Costas, focused on football.”

Fox Sports: #23 (Last week: #23)

Analysis, “The most frustrating loss of the week may have to go to the Bears, who again were THISFREAKINGCLOSE to a win against Philly. The theories on what’s wrong with Jay Cutler are flying everywhere: He doesn’t have WRs.”

CBS Sports: #22 (Last week: #20)

Analysis, “Is Lovie Smith in trouble? He might be. Cutler sure hasn’t lived up to the expectations. He needs help.”

Victory needs to be in the Bears vocabulary come tomorrow night. The once 3-1 Bears have lost four out of their last five, and two games they didn’t just lose; they were flat out embarrassed.

This picture in the article shows the Bears’ goal line stand against the Philadelphia Eagles last season on Sunday night. The Bears hung on to win that game, with Matt Forte struggling to get anything going on the ground, but leading the team in receiving yards. That sounds a lot like last week, when Forte had a team-leading 120 yards receiving, but again struggled on the ground.

I’m glad the Bears finally noticed that Matt Forte is a pretty darn good receiver out of the backfield. He gives Jay Cutler another weapon. The Bears defense looked much improved last week, forcing a fumble and intercepting Alex Smith, but that just might have been because the 49ers offense isn’t very good.

Whatever the case may be, Donovan McNabb has lots of weapons on his offense this season. He has TE Brent Celek, who’s leading the team with receptions, young receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, and also has a nice young running back by the name of Lesean McCoy.

The Bears defense should be in for a fight with that bunch, but I think the offense has to prove themselves in this game than any other unit. Jay Cutler has Greg Olsen, Matt Forte, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Johnny Knox, Kellen Davis, and hopefully Devin Aromashodu to get the ball to. We all know how young these group of receivers are, but there other problem is they don’t have much size.

This game is basically the Bears’ season. If they win, they go to 5-5, and if they lose, they fall to 4-6 and have much slimmer hopes at claiming one of the wild card spots in the NFC. I know the Bears shouldn’t be watching other games before they have even played theirs, but some of the games this weekend are important for the Bears’ chances at the playoffs.

The Eagles, Falcons, Packers and Giants are all 5-4, and the 49ers are 4-5. Good news is the Falcons and Giants play each other, the 49ers and Packers play one another, and we of course play the Eagles. So, if we come out with the victory tomorrow night we could be in good shape in the standings.

Key Matchup:

The Bears offense needs to take advantage of the Eagles banged-up secondary, who will be without Quintin Demps, Ellis Hobbs, and possibly Sheldon Brown. Jay Cutler needs to take some deep shots to speedsters Johnny Knox and Devin Hester a little bit more than usual.

Good News:

Al Afalava will be returning this week after missing last weeks game with a shoulder injury. Olin Kreutz who missed practice until Friday with a back injury will play tomorrow night, as well as Tommie Harris (knee).

Bad News:

The Bears will be without Kevin Payne for the second straight week. He was being used as the safety in certain situations this season. Without Payne Josh Bullocks, who started last week in San Fransisco, will get some more playing time.

Tight end Desmond Clark will miss another game with a bad back. He was injuried early in the game against San Fransisco, but could not finish. Clark is the best blocking tight end the Bears have. This means Kellen Davis will take over at the second tight end spot, and he is not a very good blocker.

Players to Watch:

1) Tommie Harris – He showed some signs of his old form last week in San Fransisco. Maybe he can show up big against the LeSean McCoy-led running game of the Eagles.

2) Greg Olsen – He needs to be a target on every drive, especially in the redzone. Olsen should find himself putting up some big numbers come Sunday night.

3) Charles Tillman – He only has two interceptions this season, but he is a master at taking the ball away from teams another way: forcing fumbles. Except to see Tillman flying around all night.

Keys to the Game:

1) Protect Jay Cutler. The Eagles have a pass rusher by the name of Trent Cole, who has seven and a half sacks this season. You have to contain him.

2) Get Matt Forte going, no matter what it takes, and it doesn’t have to be in the running game as we saw last week. Get him the ball in the open field and see what he can do with it.

3) Contain speedsters Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson.

Prediction:

Bears 27, Eagles 20

Bear Down!

Kahlil Bell, who the Bears signed to the practice squad in September has been promoted to the 53-man roster due to lack of depth at the running back position.

The Bears today announced that Garrett Wolfe will be out for the season with a lacerated kidney and during the preseason they lost Kevin Jones to an ankle injury.

The 5-11, 212-pound Bell ran for 1,741 yards and 17 touchdowns and averaged 4.4 yards per carry over his four-year career with the UCLA Bruins (as pictured).

Bell has being seeing some reps with the first team offense this week, just to see what he can do. He will most likely contribute only on special teams for now and be the third string running back behind Matt Forte and Adrian Peterson.

This is what Bell had to say about his first opportunity to play:

“I’m just happy to be here, it’s been a dream since I’ve been a little kid to be at this level. If I get the opportunity to contribute, I’ll be living the dream.”

Final Thoughts:

I like this move by the Bears, I think bringing in a young runner, who is familiar with your system is a good idea. I hope Kahlil gets a shot to get a carry or two during the last eight games of the season.

Garrett Wolfe, a third round pick in 2007 out of Northern Illinois has landed on the injured reserve for the second straight season.

Wolfe suffered a lacerated kidney in the November 8th blowout against the Cardinals. Wolfe had 22 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown so far this season, averaging 15 yards per carry. He also had nine special team tackles in the eight games he appeared. Wolfe had 21 tackles on special teams last season and was a real leader on the unit.

With the loss of Wolfe, Adrian Peterson will see a lot more work on special teams and maybe a carry here and there.

Look for the Bears too try to snag a runner off of another teams practice squad, who has some special teams experience. If not they’ll likely promote Kahlil Bell from their own practice squad or add free agent RB Maurice Hicks to help contribute immediately.

We’ll see what the Bears will do in the coming days, but this is a bad loss for the Bears special teams which ranks fourth this season. Wolfe was also looking like a solid contributor on offense, but we’ll have to wait until next season to see him on the field again. Wolfe joins Kevin Jones as the second running back to land on the injured reserve.

“He’s a different type of receiver. He’s a different target for me.” Those are the words that Bears quarterback Jay Cutler used to describe 6′2″ wide receiver Devin Aromashodu.

I simply call him the other “Devin”, because his last name is so hard to pronounce, but seriously Jay Cutler is right, Aromashodu is a different target for him. Cutler needs a big guy out their other than Greg Olsen catching passes. His current set of wide receivers, Hester (5′11″), Bennett (6′0″), and Knox (6′0″) are the shortest receiving combo in the league and their considered midgets among league averages. Cutler needs that type of receiver he has been lacking all season, the one who can provide a mismatch. The one Cutler can just throw the ball up to him and he can catch it because he is that much taller than the defender.

I’m just saying up to this point the Bears offense hasn’t been very good, why not make a change? They can start using more four receiver sets, or they can let Hester and Knox focus more on returning kicks and punts.

Aromashodu may not be the answer to the Bears offensive woes, but I’m sure he can help. Jay Cutler had a guy named Brandon Marshall in Denver, yea he is 6′4″ and is a very talented wide receiver. The Bears current receivers, Hester, Bennett and Knox are talented, but they just aren’t experienced enough right now to get the job done. I think in the long run they can be a very deadly trio, but they need a change and right now would be a good time to make it.

Giving Jay Cutler a big target other than Greg Olsen (6′5″) is probably the best idea the Bears can have. Everyone forgets that the other “Devin” actually was the third receiver coming into Week 1, but he went down with an injury and rookie Johnny Knox stepped in.

The Bears offense should be better with this change, but the way Ron Turner has been calling plays these days especially in the red zone, I don’t know how much it can actually help. The only change that was good to see last Thursday night, was having Matt Forte catch more screen passes, something this team should have been doing all season.Let’s see if this change, if they listen to me, will make us better.

Devin Aromashodu please help the Bears out. Thanks.