Thursday: Rejuvenation?

Being a former leader of the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl team, 49ers coach Mike Singletary is looking to defeat his former team as the 49ers and Bears face off tonight. Coach Singletary told reporters that “the Bears will always be a team I love”. However, when preparing for tonight’s game Singletary stated that “now that I have played them a couple times, it’s just a matter of going out there and competing against a good football team and trying to do the best I can”.
The 49ers, (3-5), and the Bears, (4-4), will battle it out at 5:20 p.m., tonight at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. The 49ers are playing off of a four game losing streak and are eager to break the chain. The 49ers are staying positive, even though they are only coming off of a three day rest. The 49ers are looking to control the ball from the opening kickoff and stop Chicago’s strong offense and special teams. Turnovers have been a big problem that the ‘9ers have faced this season and protection is needed for Alex Smith, in order for him to have time in the pocket. While Smith’s passing has been shaky at times, 49er receives need to run quick, smooth routes in order to get open in a timely fashion. This will allow Smith to have more options to work with and will hopefully tire and confuse Chicago’s defense.
The Bears are also coming off of loss, which they faced on Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals. While both teams are hoping to flush their funk, tonight’s game will be a tough one for both struggling teams.

Defense First

Do the struggling Chicago Bears bring hope to the 49ers? If you talk to the 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown or linebacker Takeo Spikes they will tell you that the 49ers have been preparing very intensely for tonight’s game. Even with the talented offense of the Chicago Bears, the ‘9ers defense has gone back the drawing boards and has been organizing numerous strategies that will help them be prepared against the Chicago pass offense. The 49ers defensive coaches have been studying numerous amounts of film with the ‘9ers defense, in order to expose them to Chicago’s offensive formations and routes. Tonight’s game will especially be a test for the 49ers defensive line. The Chicago Bears offensive line has been playing very well. They have been blocking their opponent’s defensive lineman very well, which has created time for their quarterback Jay Cutler to make plays down the field. The ‘9ers defensive line needs to get off of the ball quick and add pressure to Cutler, by penetrating into the back field and putting their hands up to try and block or tip his passes.

Some of the key play makers for the Chicago Bears offense, that the 49ers are going to need to stop and/or limit to very little yards, is running back Matt Forte, tight end Greg Olsen, wideout and special teams specialist Devin Hester, and quarterback Jay Cutler. The Bears rank as the NFL’s 11^th best passing offense. The 49ers defensive backs and linebackers are going to need to have a big game, in order to stop Chicago’s pass first offense. If this is done affectively, the ‘9ers will have a decent shot at a Thursday night victory.