- Chicago Bears visit the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday late game
- San Francisco won their opening game of the season at Dallas Cowboys
- Chicago beaten by Buffalo Bills 23-20 at Soldier Field during week one
- Jay Cutler has to show more leadership to be one of the best quarterbacks
- Colin Kaepernick's dual threat causes defenses all kinds of problems
- The 49ers defense is in transition, but Justin Smith is amazing
It is always
difficult for a team in the NFL to start positively when they’ve got a
new head coach. The Chicago Bears, since losing Lovie Smith, have had a
massive transition. Last year was a difficult year because of people’s
thoughts towards Jay Cutler. I think he’s the key to this team and it’s
about how consistent he can be and whether he has got the weapons to be
successful.
I
like Cutler but, from an outside perspective, I think he needs that
extra level of leadership - something like an Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady
gives a team. If you look at Peyton Manning, he is the leader of the
Denver Broncos, and once you’ve got a quarterback who can establish
leadership then it makes it easier for the offense. I don’t think Cutler
has that presence or persona. He can throw the ball, but if he wants to
be a dominant force then he needs to be a bigger leader.
Vernon Davis catches a touchdown pass during the San Francisco 49ers' 28-27 win over Dallas Cowboys
Colin Kaepernick, pictured handing off to Frank Gore, provides a threat with both his arm and legs
If you look
at the 49ers, in my eyes Colin Kaepernick is not the best quarterback in
the league. But San Francisco have given him probably the best set of
options.
He
has got good receivers in Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree –
regardless of what Richard Sherman says. He’s also got a decent tight
end in Vernon Davis and a good running game led by Frank Gore.
Also,
with Kaepernick’s ability to run the ball as well, the defense has to
draw up another play in the book to stop that. Not all quarterbacks like
to move outside the pocket and run the ball.
The Chicago Bears suffered a 23-20 defeat by the Buffalo Bills in their opening game of the season
Jay Cutler came under fire last season but has retained his place as the starting quarterback for the Bears
If
the Bears are playing the New England Patriots and Brady, it will be a
completely different game. All the defense has to do is make sure they
are where they need to be to catch the ball. But with the 49ers, not
only have they got to be wary of the running game and the passing game,
they’ve also got to realise that they have to contain Kaepernick because
he is a weapon.
In
the San Francisco defense, Justin Smith is awesome – I wish he played
for the London Warriors. I can’t believe how powerful he is. I watched
the game against the Cowboys on Sunday and he is just something else.
With the Cowboys, three of their last four first-round draft picks have
all been offensive linemen, so we are not talking about dodgy offensive
linemen. But Smith literally ripped them apart and is quite a dominant
force.
It’s
difficult in transition and the 49ers have a couple of rookies in their
defense. Rumour has it that Jim Harbaugh has lost the locker room, but
when you have the reputation that the 49ers have, it is hard to let go
of. They have still got Patrick Willis in there who is an amazing
linebacker and can lead the troops as well. I have no doubt that San
Francisco will make the play-offs.
San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Justin Smith sacks Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo
I thought
the Bears where unlucky to lose to Buffalo in week one. But the thing
with week one is that a lot of teams hold things back in pre-season and
don’t show their hand.
If
you look at the way the Detroit Lions came out on Monday against the
New York Giants, they were just phenomenal. They have got a new offense
in store and their offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi used to be the
quarterback coach for the New Orleans Saints. They are literally running
the Saints offense and it works for the artillery that the Lions have.
Obviously,
with Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson, you can just throw the ball anywhere
and he will go and get it, but they’ve got Reggie Bush to run the ball
and they’ve got numerous tight ends that they’ve brought in to mirror
the Saints offense. It works for their quarterback Matthew Stafford and
he had a great game. They just destroyed the Giants defense on Monday.
Calvin Johnson celebrates a touchdown during the Detroit Lions' thumping win over the New York Giants
On the flip
side, Eli Manning has won the Super Bowl twice with the Giants. But, if
you talk about offensive weapons, slowly over the last couple of seasons
they have taken away the team around him. He’s playing with a handful
of rookie running backs and has got a new set of receivers. He has got a
completely new offense and he struggled.
I
think the Bears will have it tough in their division. That NFC North is
the toughest division in the league with the Lions, Packers and
Vikings. It is ridiculous.
Now
that the Vikings have settled on a quarterback and are taking the ball
away from Adrian Peterson, that they have got confidence in the troops
they’ve got around Matt Cassel. They’ve given Cassel confidence and let
him play his game instead of undermining him by giving the ball to
Peterson all the time. Now they’re willing to throw the ball, it makes
defenses think: ‘Adrian might not get the ball, so we’ll have to go
cover two instead of cover four.’
San Francisco will play their first competitive game at their brand new Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara
Sunday
night’s game will be the first at San Francisco’s brand new Levi’s
Stadium. I’ve not been yet - I’ll probably be there for Super Bowl 50 -
but by all accounts it is absolutely stunning. I have a friend who has
been there who said it is amazing.
I
just hope it starts to build a reputation like Candlestick Park did
because I remember watching American football late at night during the
1980s on Channel 4. They were those muddy games where the 49ers were
playing the Giants or the Cowboys. Old school fans will miss those muddy
shirts in the play-offs.
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