Alex Smith. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Reporting Josh Liss
(WBBM) As the Bears travel to San Francisco in a key NFC matchup on Monday night, analyst Tom Thayer has a message about the 6-2-1 49ers.
“They are beatable,” Thayer told WBBM Newsradio’s Josh Liss. “I think everyone has to respect their opponent, but I think they also have to respect the Chicago Bears.
LISTEN: Tom Thayer on with Josh Liss
“When you look at this football team, they don’t have the experience at the quarterback position in which (the Bears) had to face with the Houston Texans. (Matt Schaub) had a lot of experience and time with his team. Alex Smith has time and experience with his team, but he just doesn’t have the quarterback qualities that they look at in some of the better quarterbacks around the league. I think the Bears have to go in and feel confident that their defense can create a stalemate of slow down this offense.”
With Jay Cutler likely sidelined from a concussion, the Bears will look to back-up quarterback Jason Campbell to take the reins.
“Jason Campbell was the template for Cam Newton before (Newton) even came on the scene,” Thayer said. “Jason Campbell has great athleticism, he sees above the line. He has great arm strength. You may have to simplify the game plan by a percentage or two, but you have to do what Jason Campbell does well – that’s get outside the pocket, that’s use play-action to get the defense off-balance, so Jason Campbell definitely has a lot of strengths that you can build a game plan off around.”
