2. Linebacker Play

There wasnt much not to like about the linebacker play from Sunday night, and everyone was in on the act.

Personally, I harp on Hawk a ton because of his passive-like nature in attacking a play proactively. If Sunday night was any indication of his season to come, I think I might have to find a new whipping boy to pick upon. Didnt make any spectacular plays, but I seen a notable difference in his post snap decisions and the way he filled the gaps. He even penetrated the Bears side of the line of scrimmage a couple of times. I seen shades of the Hawk I seen at Ohio State, I truly hope this is a footnote to his career of sorts.

Chillar silenced any and all talk of why he has earned the right to be on the field the greatest percent of the group. The guy had a complete game and made impacts in all phases of the defense, I am willing to say, past Woodson and maybe Jenkins, he was the key to this defense.

On to Matthews, didnt get to see much of the kid in the preseason, but damn I was impressed tonight. Time after time, the Bears tried to get to the edge of this defense and each time they were met with stellar linebacking play from Kampman, Poppinga and Matthews.

They took the outside of the field away from the Bears running attack. You expect nothing less from Kampman, and pray for that with the experience of Poppinga. But to see Matthews set the edge of the defense time and time again was somewhat of a surprise from a rookie where their excitement may cause them to lose contain.

With the depth of this unit overall and the ability to rotate to allow them to stay fresh late into the contests is going to make a world of difference in the upcoming fourth quarters.

Excited is an understatement.