FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The thing about *trying* to write a blog..... some times you find that there are tons of things going on to talk about, other times, you go two weeks, a month, etc without having anything to say or making time to try and find something. Since I tend to have more to say during baseball season than any other time of the year, I decided it was time to try and find something else to talk about now that we're nearing the end of the line for the 2008 season, and my two favorite teams don't look to have an October run in their future. Everyone loves football, and I'm allowing myself to enjoy the Bears 1-0 record for at least a week, so I figured talking about the Bears game to game is going to be my go-to subject. And here is a look back at week 1. The good: Kyle Orton looks like a QB that has improved over the last two years. He seemed to provide a little spark late last year, but at that point the season was basically over, and you always wonder about guys playing well when the team really doesn't have anything to play for. The guy will never be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but he might turn out to be serviceable. Forte got off to a good start, and with him, Kevin Jones, Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe, the Bears might have a productive running attack this year. Not much to see with the receiving corps. I think the starts of this area are going to be the two tight ends, and I think Olson could turn out to be a very nice player. Desmond Clark continues to be one on the most underrated TE's in the game. The O-line did its job and opened up holes and protected Orton in the passing game. It does help to have a running back who commits to the play rather than wilting after taking that first hit. Finally, the defense looked like the 2006 version. They did give up more yards than you'd like, but even an off-his-game Peyton Manning is going to rack up some stats in Tom Moore's offense. The bottom line for this unit is that they live and die by creating turnovers, and they got one big one in this game and returned the fumble for a score. The bad: The defense played well, but they didn't dominate the game. The Devin Hester experiment at wide receiver didn't produce much, and the unit as a whole underwhelmed. Aside from Brandon Lloyd, who I expected nothing from, surprised me. Speaking of Hester -- what the heck was he thinking with the delayed run out of the end zone. I'm not too worried about the special teams, but I do worry about some of Hester's celebrity going to his head. Fantasy Football Spin: Nothing in week 1 changed your outlook on this team much. If Forte went undrafted in your league, then he is a guy to target. He is a rookie, though, and it is only one week. Cedric Benson, Curtis Enis, James Allen, Rashan Salaam all had good weeks in their Bears career, too. I don't think Forte will joint those ranks, but it is too soon to tell. Robbie Gould went undrafted in one of my leagues, which surprised me since I live in the Chicago area and most of the people in the league are Bears fans. He is worth a pickup if you need a kicker. This won't shock anyone, but you'd have to be in a pretty deep league to be looking at Orton as a replacement for Tom Brady if you were unlucky enough to own him. Next up: Do we dare dream of a 2-0 start? We do, but I'll personally be happy with a 1-1 start. I'll also be happy to see the Bears secondary tee off on Mushin Muhammad. We can only hope he turns in a game similar to most that he played for the Bears -- meaning he'll drop at least 70% of the catchable balls thrown his way.