Chicago Bears Tickets

The Chicago Bears hoped that a healthy defense and respectable offense would be enough to reach the postseason in 2008, but they came up short yet again.

The offense was a huge problem as usual, and it didn't help that quarterback Kyle Orton missed time with an ankle injury.

Quarterback should not be the problem in 2009, as the Bears traded Orton and draft picks to the Denver Broncos to acquire budding star Jay Cutler. Cutler should make this team better immediately, but you have to wonder who they plan on having him throw the ball to.

While Cutler is a talented guy in his own right, one of the reasons he was so successful in Denver was wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, along with tight end Tony Scheffler. Those guys gave him fantastic targets to throw the ball to, and he also had a fantastic running game adding balance to the offense.

Chicago will take on the AFC North and NFC West this year, which is good and bad news. The AFC North will feature two difficult games against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, but Cincinnati and Cleveland should be beatable.

As for the NFC West, that's terrific news. Outside of Arizona, there are major question marks with all of those teams. It's widely considered the worst division in football.

Outside of their own division and the AFC North and NFC West, the Bears have to host the Philadelphia Eagles and play at Atlanta. They certainly didn't get any breaks with those two matchups.

Still, the Bears can't complain too much with ten of their games coming against the NFC North and NFC West, two very suspect divisions.