Dwight Freeney returns. Photo: Getty Images

It seems whenever the Colts play the Bears, there is always something historic about the occasion.

Week One: Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium (The Lube)
Kick-off time: 9:00 PM Eastern
Broadcast: NBC

This game marks the grand (regular season) opening for Lucas Oil Stadium, the coolest, most badass stadium in football. The stadium really is a thing of beauty, and a proud sports landmark for the great sports state of Indiana. For Chicago fans, "Indiana" is almost a four letter word. The Indianapolis Colts destroyed the Bears in the Super Bowl and onetime Bears interception thrower Rex Grossman was spawned in Bloomington, Indiana. Heck, Rex himself almost constitutes a four letter word in Chicago.

For this game, once again injuries stand at the forefront of the story. Once All-Pro DT Tommie Harris is hurt again, and once all-world safety Mike Brown also has injury concerns. Though Chicago sports greatness at linebacker, and their defensive ends are a solid bunch, their defense is drastically different when Harris and Brown are hobbled or absent. For the Colts, they will be minus their two best interior linemen in OC Jeff Saturday and OG Ryan Lilja. both are out until roughly Week 6. Peyton Manning will play in his first game since the playoffs last year. He sat out all training camp and preseason recovering from minor knee surgery.

It's annoying that injuries continue to frame and shape this small rivalry, but it is what it is.

Between the two, the Bears have had the most off-season turnover, with their offense sporting the most dramatic results. Gone are last year's starting WRs Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammed. Former starting RB Cedric Benson is out of football, mercifully. Rex Grossman was benched in favor of Purdue alumn Kyle Orton, who is a big Peyton Manning fan himself. Devin Hester is now a starting WR. Rookie Matt Forte, much respected by the Stampede Blue crowd, is the new running back. This offense has drastically different personnel than when these two teams last met, and it will be a challenge for the Colts.

It's almost like the Bears are a totally new team, and to beat this new team, here are BBS's world famous (and often dead friggin wrong) keys to the game:

• Kick to Devin Hester. Yes. Do it. Kick to him. Make him field it. Then, hit him. HARD! Darrell Reid hard. Kick it as best you can and your coverage units should do what the team pays them six figures to do. If they can't, they suck and the team should not be kicking in the first place. The Colts special teams have played very well in preseason, and Adam Vinatieri has boomed his kickoffs consistently 2 or 3 yards deep into the endzone. The key for punt coverage is Hunter Smith cannot out punt his coverage. Give them time to get down there and smack Hester. It's also important to be physical with Hester when he plays WR. Hit him early and often, and it will affect his ability to return punts and kicks later on.
  
• Run the ball. The Colts nearly ran for over 200 yards against the Bears in Super Bowl 41. Indy brought back Dominic Rhodes this past off-season, and it was Rhodes who ran all over Chicago's defense that day in Miami's Purple Rain. The Bears might try and bring pressure up the middle with their linebackers. Though they play Tampa 2, Bears coach Lovie Smith likes to blitz more than his mentor, Tony Dungy. To counter this, delayed draws and stretch runs can offer big openings, allowing Rhodes and Joseph Addai to gain big yardage. This will soften Chicago's pass rush and open them up to play action passes in the second half.
• Attack Kyle Orton. The Bears will game plan to Orton's strengths. He is more of a leader than Grossman, having just been named team captain. Orton is also better under pressure than Grossman. He doesn't have Grossman's arm, but he can make accurate throws. Pressuring him early can throw off any rhythm, forcing him to make throws he is not comfortable doing. That means turnovers. Forcing Orton into turnovers is very key. Chicago does not seem to have the kind of offense to come back from a big deficit. They will want to run Matt Forte and control the game with precise throws. Early pressure will neutralize that.   

You'll be surprised to note that I disagree with WCG. There are no "gimme" games in this league. This is not college football. Anyone can beat anyone at anytime in this league. That's why it is so great. Chicago does not need to play perfect to beat Indy. Things like turnovers, penalties, and bad officiating can turn the game for any team. Chicago has a solid defense and great special teams. If their offense can play mistake-free football, they will be a tough team to beat.

This game also marks the return of Dwight Freeney and Marvin Harrison from injuries last season. Look for them to make an immediate positive impact.

Like Fredo, I was once weak and alone in the world. Then, my blogfather, WCG,  took me under his wing and helped me out. So, whenever I get a chance to pick the blogfather's mind, I take it. Of course, he still wishes bodily harm to me that my team crushed his in Super Bowl 41, but it's cool. I consider it tough love. And I don't plan on taking any fishing trips with him.

And without further ado, here are 5 Questions with Windy City Gridiron:

BBS: Last time we did this, both our teams were in a very historic Super Bowl. Last year, neither got back there. What have the Bears done this off-season to get better and make their way back to the Super Bowl? 

WCG: Last time we met the Colts were eating Hester's dust, then things kinda went the wrong way for us.

Not much is your answer. We declined to address our issues at QB. We declined to address our issues at offensive line. We declined to address our issues at wide receivers. We have resigned most of our key players, like Urlacher, Harris and Hester. We did ditch Benson and pick up Forte and Jones I think that will be a big deal for us.

BBS: Kyle Orton beat out Rex Grossman for the starting QB job this off-season. Based on the positive reviews out of camp that players like Chad Henne received, and based on the now uncertain status of first round pick Chris Williams, do you think Chicago should have drafted a QB last April?

WCG: They absolutely should have taken a QB, but not at Chris Williams' place. A first round QB might give us hope for the future, but he wasn't going to turn us around this season, so I have no problems with them not addressing that, but to see Henne, Brohm and the like go by round after round did grind my gears a bit. Then again Caleb Hanie has looked good, so what the hell do I know? If I would GM I'd address issues we need, maybe that is not how you are supposed to run a team.

Matt Forte working hard at Bears camp. Photo: DailyLife.com

BBS: Lots of love at Stampede Blue for Tulane RB Matt Forte. How have Bears fans taken to him? How has he looked in preseason?

WCG: He hasn't given us any reason to sell our Neal Anderson jerseys just yet, but he has looked promising. He is running hard and with intent and that is a vast improvement from what we have. He has been centimeters away from breaking a few in preseason. I think once our offensive line has sorted themselves out he is going to a keeper. I think by years end Matt Forte and Kevin Jones, assuming he stays healthy, could be one of the top producing running back duos, if our line can be anything close to consistent.

BBS: The last two years, both our teams have been besieged with injuries. In 2006, both teams overcame those injuries. Last year, they didn't. Do you think the Bears have added enough depth at certain positions (like safety and DT) where if injuries hit them again they can overcome?

WCG: Some places yes others no. Safety seems to be a place where we are always drafting and we always get guys ready to step in. We have had significant contributions the last 4 years by rookie or 2nd year safeties. From top to bottom I don't know if anybody has a better defensive line than the Bears. Ogunleye, Harris, Dvoracek, Brown, Anderson, Harrison and Idonije. Problem is two of them Harris and Dvorcek can't stay on the field. I think with rookie Harrison and Idonje moving around we have the needed depth there.

The same cannot be said about the offensive line. We severely lack what we need. Then when we do attempt to bring in depth, like Dan Buenning, we bring in a guy is coming off his own injury issues. If we were to lose guys like Kruetz, Garza or Tait, we would be toast.

BBS: And finally, what does Chicago need to do to beat the Colts Sunday night?

WCG: Aside from play perfect? This will be Manning's first real game time back from injury and he doesn't have his center. The Bears need to come hard and often. We have the horses to do it. We have big time speed and power on our defense. I don't know how easy it is to rattle Manning, but I have seen him get a little flustered when he is consistently pressured. I hate to say go man to man in the secondary, because that could be scary with your receivers, but bring the lumber early. Corner blitzes, linebackers, safeties whatever you have bring it, get in his face.

Oh yea and we need to learn to tackle.

There you have it! Straight from the bear's jaws. For more info on the Bears as we lead up to the game, check out our friends at Windy City Gridiron. Just don't take any fishing trips with them.

It was only a mere 19 months ago that the Colts thumped the Bears in the Super Bowl, a year in which the Bears were clearly led by a top-flight defense.  They even won a few games, even when Rex Grossman tried his damnedest to lose it for the Bears.  Brian Urlacher was a feared MLB, and Tommie Harris was one of the best DT in the NFL. 

In 2006, the Bears finished 3rd in Points Allowed, and 5th in Yards/Game.  Obviously an elite defense, and that was without Harris and Mike Brown for the majority of the season.  Their Preseason Rankings, while mostly irrelevant, had them at 20th in Yards/Game and 10th in Points Allowed. These are middle of the road, but again, are mostly irrelevant, since there are lots of plays run by players who'll never see an NFL game that counts. 

In 2007, the Bears finished 16th in Points Allowed, and 28th in Yards Allowed.  Again, they had a few injuries (Brown, again, Vasher the big ones), but still no where close to being an elite unit.  They gave up 123 rush yards/game, which was 24th in the league.  As a point of reference, in the Preseason they finished 3rd in Yards Allowed, but 28th in Points Allowed.  That is a wide difference, but again, in the Preseason, take it with a grain of salt.

That brings us to the 2008 Preseason for the Bears.  They faced the Fearsome Foursome of QBs: Brodie Croyle, Charlie Frye, JT O'Sullivan, and Brady Quinn, and they finished 32nd in Yards Allowed, including 27th against the pass, and 31st against the run.  As a point of reference, the Colts finished 30th against the run, and they played backups and 3rd stringers for 3/4 of the Preseason.  The Bears finished 30th in Points Allowed.  These are not stats for an elite defense.

I watched a good portion of their game against the Browns, and in the first half, at a minimum Urlacher and Lance Briggs played, so it wasn't like they didn't play their starters.  And the Browns were running at will against them.  Quinn didn't need to throw the ball, as Jason Wright was shredding their defense on the ground.  Now the Browns have a very good O-Line, but their skill position starters did not play at all in the game.  And they put up 10 points in the 1st quarter against the Bears 1st Team Defense.

I was reading an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, and Brad Biggs is asking the same question I am:

The Bears would have you believe there's a switch somewhere that they'll get around to flipping this week. You know -- the one that turns on their defense now that the regular season has arrived.

He then mentions who their Week 1 opponent is, and what has happened since they last time they faced #18:

The last time the Bears took on Manning and the Colts in prime time, things didn't turn out so good, and it's fair to say the defense has been in a bit of a tailspin ever since.

On the Bears current depth chart, they have 8 starters on defense that played in the Super Bowl.  That isn't a big turnover at all, especially in today's NFL.  And they all played in the Preseason.  And they were the worst in the NFL. 

I think we are going to see a heavy dose of Joseph Addai, Dominic Rhodes, and Mike Hart on Sunday night.  Not only will we need to get Peyton into a rhythm, but we should be able to run all over the Bears defense.