FanHouse RobbieGould

On the strength of hard-hitting defense, Jay Cutler's right arm and Robbie Gould's clutch kicking, the Chicago Bears won their home opener in an extremely tough fight with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers outgained the Bears 308 to 275 in a gritty defensive battle. They had 21 first downs to the Bears' 17. They, unlike the Bears, were able to effectively run the football. In the end, though, the Bears won on the strength of something the Steelers lacked: the ability to hit a big field goal.

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Expectations in the Windy City are sky-high, coming off an offseason in which the Bears acquired who should be their first franchise quarterback in ages: Jay Cutler. He's doing photoshoots, selling jerseys with ease and playing well in preseason games. Can it translate into a playoff run ... or more?

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
First Chicago Bears team with a franchise quarterback since face masks were invented. A message to non-Bears fans from Bears fans: Don't bring us down. If you want to make fun of us for being a bit overzealous about Jay Cutler, then maybe you should take a gander at the load of crap the Bears have been using at quarterback. From Cade McNown to Moses Moreno to Chad Hutchinson to Peter Tom Willis to ... whatever. You get the point. Let us also remember that having Cutler doesn't necessarily make everyone fantasy gold automatically. The tremors are more real than fantasy.

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It's been over a month since we last posted positional fantasy football rankings, so it's time to run our second version. Plus, we added some staff. This is now an average ranking from eight Fantasy FanHouse writers. To view the early version of our kicker rankings, click here.

I'll beat the dead horse here, because I feel like it is my duty. Please don't draft a kicker until the last round and never pay more than a dollar for one in an auction. It's just not worth it because of the turnover from year to year. Check this out:

Top three kickers in '08: Gostkowski, Akers, Carney
In '07: Crosby, Bironas, Folk
In '06: Gould, Kaeding, Scobee
In '05: Rackers, Feely, Graham

I could use a lot more data to continually hammer the point home, but it would be a waste of time. So, uh, yeah. Don't waste a pick until you have to.

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Among the most tired arguments against fantasy football are that people playing it need to "get a girlfriend" or "get a life." First of all, as an avid fantasy football player, I'd like to point out that my wife probably wouldn't appreciate it if I got a girlfriend. Secondly, when seven well-known NFL players play, how can you really question if it's "cool" while comparing it to Dungeons and Dragons? Just get over yourself and try it before knocking it. It's fun.

Mini-rant aside, NFLplayers.com held an 8-team draft last week, pitting Leon Washington, Roy Williams (Cowboys WR), Ronnie Brown, Robbie Gould, Matt Forte, Cato June and DeAngelo Williams against one lucky fan. Let's see how they did.

FanHouse's crack squad of savvy fantasy football personnel put our five heads together and amassed consensus rankings for non-keeper, standard scoring leagues. We'll update as the season gets closer, but this is our "incredibly early yet still fun" version.

Last season, the consensus top two picks pretty much anywhere you looked were Shayne Graham and Nick Folk. Folk's average draft position was utterly insane -- going as high as the 10th round in some leagues. Folk ended up 23rd in kicker points, while Graham ended up 30th.

Even though I'd rather outlaw the kicker from fantasy for life, I can't make you do that, but I will say absolutely do not draft one until the last round. This position should be an afterthought because there is simply too little predictable method to the madness.

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As we near a full day since the Chicago Bears' season came to end, it's becoming easier to think rationally about the season as a whole instead of wanting to -- as Limp Bizkit once sang -- break stuff.

Really, yesterday was a microcosm for the entire Bears' 2008 season.

The early 10-0 lead was the unexpected win in Indianapolis. Giving the lead away was the Bears' three blown games early in the season. The late surge was the three-game winning streak, where us fans were given hope, and the awful onside kick by Robbie Gould teamed with Tommie Harris' offsides penalty and the allowed first down were losing a game when a win would have placed the Bears in the playoffs. Yep, the Cowboys and Bucs lost, so a Bears victory would have placed them in the playoffs.

Alas, it was not to be. If we can take a few steps back and be honest fans, we need to realize that this team didn't deserve to make the playoffs. There are too many weaknesses to justify a 10-6 record and playoff appearance.

I have to just keep telling myself how much I love this team, because they are torturing me this season. I know I'm not alone. Last night's game should have been so much easier. The Packers were reeling big-time. Yeah, you do have to assume they are gonna show up to play spoiler in the rivalry game. Bravo to them for being professional enough to play with pride like that. They deserved to win the game, as they outplayed the Bears in nearly every facet. In the end, though, two huge special teams plays swung the pendulum in the Bears favor, and clutch-kicking Robbie Gould put the icing on the already frozen cake.

The Bears offense was dreadful. Just dreadful. The defense played admirably when you consider how many bad situations in which they were repeatedly put. The most notable example of this being a blocked field goal -- by Alex Brown -- to send the game to overtime after a ridiculous horse-collar five yards out of bounds by Adrian Peterson after terrible kick coverage.

If you'd like the Packers fan point of view here, I've got Bruce Ciskie on the horn:

The way the Bears completely outplayed the Saints in building up a 21-7 lead and then nearly lost the football game would have been fitting. This is a team that has continued to show the ability to play like an elite team in the NFL, while also showing the ability to give away games and play like a mediocre squad.

You have a team who dominated Indy in Lucas Oil Stadium and handled a hot Philadelphia team at home. They piled up 48 points against the Vikings. They played right with the mighty Titans with their much-maligned backup quarterback (Rex Grossman, as if you needed me to tell you).

On the flip-side, you have a team which nearly lost at home to the Lions, was summarily embarrassed in Green Bay and Minnesota, and has blown three easily winnable games.

Last night, the Saints nearly joined the rest of the NFC South in garnering a win against the Bears when they had no business doing so.

That's the thing with this Bears team. When you watch them every week, you see -- about 60 percent of the time at this point -- that there is an elite team hiding in there somewhere.

The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, Fantasy FanHouse is examining what you can expect from the fantasy relevant players on each team.

Chicago Bears

The Opposing Defenses: vs. JAX (14th against pass, t19th against run), vs. NO (24th against pass, t19th against run), vs. GB (5th against pass, 27th against run)
The skinny: Playing three games at home is nice, and none of them are especially good run stopping defenses. You know what the Bears want to do, and that is run the football with Matt Forte. He's even performed beautifully against rock-solid fronts -- like the Vikings. They'll need to mix in the pass as well, though, and at least the Week 15 game should be a good opportunity for that.
The must-start: Matt Forte
The likely-starts: Greg Olsen, Robbie Gould
The spot-starts: Kyle Orton, Devin Hester
The no-starts: Rashied Davis, Desmond Clark, Brandon Lloyd
The D/ST: They are a great start against the sad Jags offense, which happens to be visiting in a second consecutive road game on a short week. Lick your chops if you own the Bears for this week. The Packers and Saints don't pose especially good matchups, so you may have to look elsewhere. Still, both games are at home and you know the Saints outside in the cold doesn't exactly bode well for them, historically.