Tag: Chicago Bears (Page 13 of 49)

      Thanks to defense and special teams, Packers clinch playoff berth

      January 2, 2011 /
      Chicago Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler (bottom) is sacked by Green Bay Packers’ Erik Walden (93) and Clay Matthews (52) in the second half during their NFL football game in Green Bay, Wisconsin January 2, 2011. REUTERS/Darren Hauck (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Here are three quick-hit observations from the Packers’ playoff-clinching 10-3 win over the Bears.

      1. Packers’ defense and special teams comes up huge.
      With their playoff hopes on the line, Dom Capers’ defense was outstanding. The Packers held the Bears to a lone field goal while limiting their offense to just 227 total yards, which includes 117 through the air. They also forced two turnovers (which was big because their offense also turned the ball over twice) and picked off Jay Cutler in the closing seconds to preserve victory. Green Bay’s special teams were excellent as well. Tim Masthay and the Packers’ punt coverage team held Devin Hester to just two returns for 35 yards and a couple of Masthay’s punts backed Chicago up inside the 10. Tramon Williams also broke off a 41-yard punt return in the third quarter that put the ball at the Bears’ 44-yard line. Up to that point, Green Bay was held scoreless and its offense had been completely shut down. The Packers blew an opportunity to score a touchdown on that drive, but they did walk away with a field goal to tie the game at 3-all. On a day when Aaron Rodgers was largely held in check outside of one enormous completion to Greg Jennings in the second half, the Packers needed a big effort from their defense and special teams and that’s exactly what they got.

      2. Did Smith do the right thing by playing his starters?
      It doesn’t matter now because the Bears escaped without suffering any injuries, but how risky was it for Lovie Smith to keep his starters in the game even though the outcome didn’t matter? Chicago clinched a first round bye on Tuesday night when the Vikings beat the Eagles, and after the Falcons defeated the Panthers earlier in the day the Bears were locked into the No. 2 seed. But Smith decided to start players like Cutler and also never took them out. Again, the proposed question is moot because the Bears left Green Bay injury-free but Smith’s decision will be a topic of discussion on Monday’s sports radio shows in Chicago. I guess you kind of have to hand it to Smith and the Bears for trying to stick it to their biggest rivals.

      3. What’s next?
      With the win, the Packers knocked the Giants and Bucs and will now play at Philadelphia next weekend. The Packers have already beaten the Eagles on the road but that was in Week 1 when Kevin Kolb started and was a disaster in the first quarter and a half. The Packers may have caught a break because Michael Vick was injured on the first play against Minnesota on Tuesday night. By the time he’s ready for the Wildcard game, he will have had two weeks of rest but it’ll be interesting to see if his injured quad limits him as a runner. The Eagles are also coming off two-straight losses, so they’re reeling a little bit. If Green Bay’s defense plays as well next week as it did against Chicago, it may set up a return trip to Atlanta in two weeks. (The Packers lost to the Falcons earlier this season.)

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 16 COY power rankings

      January 1, 2011 /

      The way things are looking, you’re on this list if you still have your job or expect to at the end of the season, because lots of heads are rolling already.

      1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—The model of efficiency, and despite mediocre team stats (11th offense, 27th defense), the number that matters is 13 wins.

      2. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—Who didn’t think the Chargers would trip the Chiefs up from behind?

      3. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Nobody picked the Bears to finish higher than third in the NFC North, did they? And yet they have a shot at the #1 seed in the conference.

      4. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—So his team had a bad game against Minnesota. Big Andy stays on this list for his handling of the QB situation alone, but also for winning big games despite injuries.

      5. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—When Raheem said he wanted to win 10 games, everyone laughed, and now he is laughing at them. Well, almost.

      6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Even though they lead the crappy NFC West at 7-8, this is just a remarkable story. You think the Giants had wished they didn’t let this guy go?

      7. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Started slowly, but you know nobody wants to face these guys in January.

      8. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—Still sitting pretty for the #1 seed in the NFC.

      9. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—No reason to take either guy off the list.

      10. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers—All those injuries and a late-season resurgence have the Pack in prime position.

      External Sports, NFL

      Are the Bears and Jets’ defenses overrated?

      December 26, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit thoughts on the Bears’ wild 38-34 win over the Jets in Week 16.

      1. Are the Bears and Jets’ defenses overrated?
      Not to take anything away from Jay Cutler (who has played well for most of the season) or Mark Sanchez (who has played well for most of his last two games), but what happened to the defenses for these two teams? The Bears came into this game with the 30th-ranked offense and Sanchez was playing with torn cartilage in his shoulder. Yet you would have sworn that this was an Arena League game with the way both teams went up and down the field. In the Jets’ embarrassing loss to the Patriots on Monday night a few weeks ago, their pass rush was non-existent. It was the same case on Sunday, as their front seven failed to lay a hand on Cutler in most situations. New York’s vaunted secondary was brutal in coverage as well, and the entire defense had a poor day tackling. In the past two games, the Jets have allowed 700 total yards, which is a concern to say the least (especially now that they’ve managed to back into the playoffs again). The Bears defense was no better, as it allowed Sanchez to complete 24-for-37 pass attempts for 269 yards and a touchdown. Granted, Chris Harris came up with a huge interception to seal the game for the Bears late in the fourth quarter, but Lovie Smith can’t be too pleased that his defense gave up 393 total yards of offense. With the way both teams played on Sunday, it makes you wonder whether these defenses are living off past reputations.

      2. Teams still haven’t learned not to kick to Hester.
      It’s amazing how teams foolishly believe week after week that they’ll be the ones to negate what Devin Hester can do in the return game. And I blame the kickers, because no coach that wants to retain his job is ordering his team to kick to the former Miami product. Jets coach Rex Ryan said earlier in the week that the Jets wouldn’t punt to Hester, but Steve Weatherford did it anyway. After successfully playing keep-away in the first half, Weatherford booted a line drive right to Hester in the third quarter, who returned the gift 32 yards to New York’s 32-yard-line. He caught a 25-yard touchdown three plays later to give the Bears a 31-24 lead. Later in the third quarter, he returned a kickoff 40 yards to set up a Cutler touchdown pass to Johnny Knox. The impact that Hester is having this year is eerily similar to the one he had when they went to the Super Bowl in 2006. Given how much more explosive the Bears are offensively than they were back then, teams that could play Chicago in the postseason better figure out a way to keep it out of his hands.

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      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 15 COY power rankings

      December 25, 2010 /

      December is when coaches lose jobs or gain big contract extensions for winning big games. And it’s crunch time for coach of the year hype…..

      1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—Sure, the Pats were exposed against Green Bay. But like usual, the Hoodie’s teams find a way to win.

      2. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—He almost dropped five spots for not throwing that challenge flag on an obvious reversal, but he’s still here for two reasons—his teams know how to win, and he had the balls to name Mike Vick as his starting QB.

      3. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—No reason to move Mikey from the 3-spot after disposing of the Seahawks in hostile Seattle.

      4. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—Now the Chargers are breathing down his neck; but hey, he probably feels good that Josh McDaniels is watching games from his couch now.

      5. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Did anyone think the Bears could score 40 points against the Vikings on a frigid December night? Lovie’s defense and Mike Martz’ offense continue to gel and look scary.

      6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Yes, they are 6-8 and might win a division. But the fact remains the Rams have equaled their win total from the past three seasons combined, and Spags told his team they can win the Super Bowl if they reach the playoffs. Ridiculous, but true.

      7. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Still hanging on to a possible playoff berth, but either way, a huge turnaround in 2010.

      8. Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars—Gambled and lost in Indy, but still tied for first in the AFC South.

      9. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—Two hard-hitting teams are two of the best teams in the NFL

      10. Rex Ryan, New York Jets—Backs up against the wall? No problem for this brash leader, whose team did what few teams do—win in Pittsburgh in December.

      External Sports, NFL

      Thanks to Hester and Cutler’s big nights, the Bears clinch the NFC North

      December 21, 2010 /
      MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 20: Quarterback Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings is attended to after being sacked by the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium on December 20, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

      Here are five quick-hit observations from the Bears 40-14 rout over the Vikings on Monday Night Football.

      1. Sweet home, Chicago.
      With their victory, the Bears have clinched the NFC North and are now guaranteed to host at least one game in the playoffs. Regardless of whether you think they’re a dark horse or candidates to be one-and-done, it’s pretty impressive that the Bears one their division this year after everyone predicted the Packers (or the Vikings) to take home the North crown. Granted, Green Bay had a slew of injuries to deal with but Chicago was consistently the better team over the course of the season. The Bears are now the front-runners to clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC because they’ve already beaten the Eagles and thus hold the tiebreaker over Philly. That said, Chicago has two difficult tests remaining in the Jets (Week 16) and the Packers (Week 17 at Lambeau).

      2. Devin Hester is the man.
      As a football fan, I’m glad Devin Hester re-dedicated himself to the return game after trying to focus on his career as a receiver. He’s simply too dangerous a weapon for the Bears not to use on special teams and he proved once again tonight how he can turn a game on its head in the blink of an eye. After staying away from him for most of the night, the Vikings started to kick to Hester in the second half because clearly they wanted to suffer embarrassment (there’s no other realistic explanation). He thanked them by setting the NFL record for kick return touchdowns after returning a punt 64 yards for a score early in the third quarter. This came after he almost brought the second-half kickoff back for a touchdown as well (he was stopped inside the 10-yard-line). Much like he was in 2006 when the Bears went to the Super Bowl, Hester will be a vital piece for Chicago come playoff time.

      3. Brett Favre really should call it a career.
      I’ll admit, I was excited when I heard Favre was going to play on Monday night. As a football fan, I was glad that he would have one more MNF game to go out on and what a better opponent than the Bears? After he threw a touchdown pass to Percy Harvin on the first drive of the game and did his patented Brett Favre fist pump, my excitement grew because it looked like the Vikings were ready to play. But nothing went right for him after that. He wound up throwing an interception on a batted ball and then a Corey Wootton sack ended his night – if not his career. It was a sad reminder that the game has officially passed Brett by and that it’s probably best that he walk away for good. It’s a sad thing watching a legend go out, but Favre’s time is done. It’s not that he can’t play the game anymore, but his body can’t take any more of the abuse. It’s been one hell of a ride, but this has to be his swan song. This has to be the longest year of his career.

      4. It’s frustrating to watch a team give up.
      The Vikings have withered away to nothing. The team that took the field on Monday night had zero pride, zero urgency and zero desire to win. Their appearance in the NFC Championship Game last January feels like it was a decade ago. They need a head coach, a quarterback and a new stadium to boot. Their offensive line is pitiful (nice effort, Bryant McKinnie) and their defense has turned to mush (has somebody posted missing person signs yet for Jared Allen?), too. Once Favre went down you could see that the Vikings had checked out and everyone had succumbed to the fact that Joe Webb wasn’t going to be able to move the offense. Their effort was akin to the free win the Cowboys gave the Packers earlier in the year right before Wade Phillips was canned. The way the Vikings have deteriorated over the course of the year has been rather amazing to watch.

      5. Jay Cutler can chuck the rock.
      His decision-making isn’t always spot on but Jay Cutler can’t certainly throw the football. Granted, he was playing against 11 ghosts but the way he zipped the ball on a cold, nasty night in Minnesota was rather impressive to watch. He looked like he was having some fun out there too, which is kind of ironic given he opposed Brett Favre (the king of “man, does he have fun out there or what!”). Once again, Mike Martz stuck with the short-to-intermediate routs and Cutler only took chances down field when the coverage was right. Otherwise, he took what Minnesota’s pathetic defense gave him and he marched up and down the field the entire night. That version of Jay Cutler can beat anyone.

      External Sports, NFL

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