Joniak's Journal: Bears Revved Up To Face Cardinals
By Jeff Joniak--
(CBS) -- The Bears (0-1) host the Cardinals (1-0) on Sunday at noon at Soldier Field. Here are my thoughts heading into the game.
First impression
The best line of the week and most important is that the Bears are disappointed but not discouraged after Week 1. In fact, it appears they are revved up by coaches who have a great deal of belief in them, and vice-versa.
Arizona is an interesting opponent. Defensively, the Cardinals dial up pressure. They blitzed Drew Brees on 17 of his pass attempts, intercepting him once and sacking him twice. Prepare for that to happen again Sunday against Jay Cutler. On the flip side, Brees completed five passes of 20-plus yards against the Cardinals, including 283 yards after the catch, second-most in the league in week one. Last season, the Cardinals were 28th in the NFL in allowing 62 completions of 20-plus yards, 11 for touchdowns. This is something to watch in terms of the Bears' passing game.
Second thought
For Bears coach John Fox and his three coordinators, Sunday's meeting with the Cardinals amounts to a division game based on 2014. Vic Fangio's 49ers were beaten in Arizona in Week 3, one week after the Bears beat the 49ers. Then in Week 17, Fangio and his defense held the Cardinals to 17 points in a three-point 49ers win. In Week 5, Fox's Broncos, with Adam Gase as offensive coordinator and Jeff Rodgers as special teams coach, demolished the Cardinals, 41-20. There's a lot of familiarity with Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, and the chess match should be interesting.
Third degree
You often hear Fox talk about getting to know players on his new Bears team and how they play. He knows very little right now about linebacker Jon Bostic or where his instincts are at in the new defense.
A variety of ailments have converged to sideline the third-year pro, giving him zero traction in his bid to impact the defense as an inside linebacker in the new 3-4. In the offseason, Bostic had a shin/hip/back issues that lingered into training camp, and now he is dealing with an ankle injury. He missed the opener, returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis, then missed Thursday's practice, leaving him potentially unavailable for Sunday's game.
The Bears' leading tackler last season shows burst and pop when healthy, but his continued absence makes him difficult to evaluate in the new system. He was coached at Florida by current Texas coach Charlie Strong and Detroit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and he was excited about working in a similar scheme now with Vic Fangio.
Fourth-and-short
Bears guard Matt Slauson is somewhat an optical illusion. With one of the best beards in football, paired with bald head and tattoos on a 6-foot-5 frame carrying 320 pounds, Slauson has that "biker" look. And if you didn't know him, he might appear to be unapproachable.
He plays with a nasty edge on Sundays but is one of the nicest guys to talk to on the team. Nothing in his life has come easy, and his story is complex. He's the subject of Sunday's audio version of Joniak's Journal in the second hour of WBBM's "Countdown to Kickoff" and "Bears Game Day Live" on Fox on Sunday morning.
Jeff Joniak is the play-by-play announcer for the Bears broadcasts on WBBM Newsradio 780. Follow him on Twitter @JeffJoniak.