…..

So much for a defensive struggle.  With temperatures in the 20s, occasional snow flurries and swirling winds, two of the best defensive teams in football channeled their inner Arena Football-selves as the Bears defeated the Jets 38-34 in a good old fashion shootout.  The stats tell the story: 715 total yards, 40 first downs, 5.8 yards per play.  Not what anyone expected from two of the top eight defenses in the league.  In the end it was a huge third quarter from Bears quarterback Jay Cutler that proved to be the difference as Chicago moved within one win (or one Philadelphia loss) from the #2 seed in the NFC Playoffs.  Next week’s game at Green Bay is going to be crazy but this Sunday’s affair was everything it was billed up to be and more, truly a fun game to watch no matter which team you rooted for.

• As I said, Chicago walked away winners because their franchise quarterback had his best quarter as a Bear following a disappointing first half.  Jay finished the first half with a QB rating of 43.2 and his pick-six in the second quarter turned an early Bears lead into a 14-10 deficit.  Well, whatever he did at halftime worked.  Jay came out absolutely on-fire, completing six of seven passes for 117 yards and three touchdowns in the third quarter.  This is the first time I can remember Cutler bouncing back from a poor start to turn in a great effort.  That’s been one of my biggest criticisms of Jay - finally we are starting to see some long-awaited progress from the Chicago quarterback.
• The halftime adjustments didn’t stop with the offense.  Rod Marinelli took a defense that was getting shredded and made corrections that resulted in them getting less-shredded.  It still wasn’t pretty but anything was better than the 24-point second quarter the Jets hung on Brian Urlacher and Co..  The Jets were able to run the ball throughout the game but that didn’t matter much because of the break-neck pace the game was being played at.  New York had to make plays down-field to keep up and they weren’t able to against the Bears secondary.
• Please re-read #8 on this week’s preview.  I’ve been wrong on a lot this season but did I nail that “we won’t kick to Devin Hester”/”fuck it, let’s kick to Hester” point or what?  Devin had exactly zero return yards in the first half so naturally the Jets decided the best return man in the history of the NFL couldn’t hurt them.  So they boomed a punt down the middle of the field in the third and BAM, 32-yard return.  Then they kicked off to him and BAM, 40-yard return.  Both of those returns set-up Chicago touchdowns.  These coaches really just cannot help themselves.

Continue reading “There Was A Fire Fight! Bears 38, Jets 34” »

Part 1 is complete.  The 2010 Chicago Bears have won the NFC North following Monday night’s win over the Vikings.  Yes, those same Bears many (myself included) predicted would finish third behind Minnesota and Green Bay will end up on top.  Hell, some dickheads even thought the Bears would finish behind the Lions.  I had this team winning five games - little did I know they’d double that number with two weeks to go.  Fuck me for doubting, fuck the national media for ripping us for not being a true threat and fuck the rest of the NFC North.

Now it’s on to bigger and better things; namely, if the Bears can win out they will hold on to the #2 seed in the NFC and have a first-round bye.  Even a 1-1 finish (likely) with a Philadelphia loss (unlikely) would get the job done.  But that’s for next week.  Right now, it’s all about the division title and how the Bears were able to beat a depleted Vikings team in one of the funniest looking football games of all time.

• This shit was hilarious.  Have you ever seen players slide so much in your life?  It legitimately looked like they were playing football on a skating rink because, well, they were.  By the end of the night I was used to it but that first time I saw two guys slide eight feet out of bounds, I almost spit up my kung pao chicken.  That’s what goes down in the WAM household on cold, snowy ass nights.  Bears football and kung pao chicken.
• I cannot, CANNOT, believe Brett Favre actually started this game…but nothing shocks me about the fact that he couldn’t finish the first half.  Favre has been a ticking time bomb the last few weeks just dodging bullets and his time has finally run out.  Corey Wootton almost killed Favre - if the whistle didn’t blow it might have been worse.  Goodbye, Brett.

Continue reading “Division Champs!! Bears 40, Vikings 14” »

(Editor’s note: this story is written under the assumption that the Matt Flynn-led Packers will lose on Sunday night at the white hot Patriots)

First…

The above disclaimer is crucial.  If (when, I guess) the Packers lose at New England on Sunday night, the Bears are one win away from a playoff birth.  That means the only thing separating Chicago from a post-season appearance for the first time since the 2006-2007 season is the 5-8 Minnesota Vikings.  This game looked devastating just three weeks ago - Monday Night Football in the Metrodome against a Brett Favre quarterbacked team with nothing to play for except to spoil seasons.  Now?  Eh, not so much.  The Metrodome roof collapsed so the game will not be played in one of the loudest, hardest to win-in stadiums in the league.  Brett Favre’s streak is over and his back-up is out for the season so that means rookie Joe Webb will be making his first NFL start.  The only unknown is how the Vikings decide they want to finish the season.  They completely laid down last Monday night in Detroit against the Giants - will they grant the Bears the same favor and allow a division rival to clinch a playoff birth on their watch?

…And 10

Continue reading “This Is It…Bears-Vikings Preview” »

TORONTO — Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah will have surgery Thursday to repair a torn ulna collateral ligament in his right thumb, the team announced.

Noah, who was in the starting lineup Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors despite the injury, is likely to miss 8-10 weeks. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Bulls beat the Raptors 110-93 for their seventh straight victory.

“I feel like it’s just tough not playing at a high level,” Noah said following Wednesday’s game. “It’s hurting and I’m playing and I’ve got to take anti-inflammatories every time I play. I can’t practice. I have to get right. I have to get right and get back to this team. I’m going to miss playing with the guys. It’s frustrating because I feel like we have a chance to be really, really good. And I’ve never been in a situation where we’re winning like this. But I know in the long run, this is what needs to be done.

Lose your starting center for 8-10 weeks of course.

How old is that chick? Honestly, she looks like she’s 10. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though, typical Lakers fan, getting her ass beat  by a 10 year old girl.

PS

How about that bald guy just taking it all on. Guy didn’t even flinch. Like get out of my way girls I’m trying to check out the Luvabulls.

(Editor’s note: Title courtesy of Bill Simmons’ Twitter feed)

It’s the start of the 4th quarter right now but I figured I might as well get this recap out of the way.  Sunday’s game between the Patriots and Bears was all, ALL, Patriots.  As a Bears fan, I’m disappointed of course but I’m not panicking.  We came out flat, fell on our faces and were down 21-0 so fast it was hard to believe.  Guess what?  Oh well.  That’s right, oh well.

New England clearly is the best team in the league at this point and they played like it on Sunday.  But you know what else happened on Sunday?  Green Bay lost, Aaron Rodgers got concussed and guess who they play next week?  Yup, they travel to play the same New England Patriots who just beat their last two opponents by a combined score of 81-10 (assuming nothing changes from this 36-7 current score).  And the fucking dome in Minnesota collapsed so next week’s game probably will be played somewhere else.  Tough games for Philly and the Giants upcoming too.  So all is not lost - in fact, the Bears picked a good week to lose.  And there’s something to be said for being completely dominated: they can’t play the “we were close and had a few bad breaks” card so complacency has to be eliminated.  They got fucked hard and everyone has to buckle down and work a little harder.  This team has bounced back already this season after two back-t0-back losses against Seattle and Washington and Lovie Smith has proven to be a motivator inside the locker room.  If we didn’t have leaders like Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and Olin Kreutz, I would be terrified but this team is capable of rallying back.  They’re going to need a major rebound with tough games the rest of the way.

• When your team is so handily dominated, it sounds tough to throw out a “what if” but fuck it.  There was one play early on that the Bears didn’t make that may or may not have helped keep this one closer for a while.  I’m talking about Chris Harris’ near interception in the end-zone midway through the first quarter.  Brian Urlacher tipped a Tom Brady pass and it looked like Harris had a chance to make the pick but couldn’t reel that one in.  The next play was a Patriots touchdown and the route was on.  Maybe if Harris catches that ball the Bears lose by 14 and not 30.  Maybe not.  Either way, Harris definitely had a chance to make an early impact play and whiffed.

Continue reading “Bizarro Super Bowl XX, With Snow - Patriots 36, Bears 7” »

First…

Who the fuck thought this game could actually be defined as “potential Super Bowl preview”?  By now we know the Bears have been a surprise but their opponent on Sunday fits into that same category in a way.  2010 looked to be a partial rebuilding season for the New England Patriots.  Tom Brady was entering his second full season following a knee injury, there wasn’t a “good” running back on the roster and the defense was incredibly young.  But Bill Belichick has rallied the troops (big surprise, right?) and now the Pats look the best team in the league following a 45-3 beat-down of the snack-eating Jets on national television.  Sunday’s game means more to the Bears than it does to New England and that, coupled with the fact the game is in Chicago, should be enough to keep this one close.

…And 10

1. It begins and ends with Tom Brady.  Michael Vick won Comeback Player of the Year in Week 6 and was running away with the MVP award a month ago.  But in the last seven weeks, Brady has turned the MVP into a two-man race with an epic run.  He’s completed two-thirds of his passes for 1,826 yards, 17 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions.  He just followed up his perfect QB rating on Thanksgiving day with a 148.8 effort on Monday Night Football against one of the league’s best defenses.  Superlatives aside, this is the best Brady has played since his record-breaking 2007 season. Continue reading “Super Bowl XLV Preview? Bears-Patriots & More” »

The White Sox agreed to a 3 year/$37.5 million deal with fan and clubhouse favorite Paul Konerko.  The best way I can describe this deal is “fair.”  Konerko probably could have got $15 million from a club like the Orioles and the White Sox probably could have played hardball and tried to only give him a two year deal since he turns 35 in a few months.  In the end, PK once again gave us a hometown discount with a lot of deferred money and will most likely get to retire in the black and white uniform that he wants to.

This deal was an absolute must in order to compete with the AL Central champs up in cake eater land.  I’m really excited about the 2011 White Sox….we have a mix of speed, power, and great starting pitching.  I still think Kenny has a trade up his sleeve and will unload a starter to get some bullpen help and reduce payroll.  Either way, the front office went all in and increased the payroll in a bad economy….now it is up to us to fill the seats and support the team.

For the time being its back to freezing cold weather….just 4 months until Opening Day.

Phew.  That…was…close.  Chicago narrowly avoided a disastrous loss at the hands of the Lions Sunday but hung on to win 24-20, improving their record to 9-3 and maintaining their lead in the NFC North.  Nothing about this win was easy.  Understanding the importance of this game (a must-win), I sweated out the first 58 minutes - I’m sure all my fellow Bears fans had the same unenjoyable time.  Honestly, the Bears played pretty good but so did Detroit.  That was the hardest part: it’s one thing to play a bad team close because of turnovers, penalties or a big play or two but when you are just being pressed by a 2-9 squad in every facet, that can be disconcerting.

But I’m not going to look at Sunday’s effort in a negative light at all.  This was a classic trap-game - a big win last week and a huge game against New England next Sunday sandwiched by a road test against a familiar opponent that hasn’t won a division game in four years.  The Lions had their third-string quarterback playing and were without one of their defenders.  Chicago had every reason to come out flat (which they did) but when push came to shove, the Bears found a way to win.  Good teams can win with their B- game and the Bears certainly did that on Sunday.

Continue reading “Survive & Advance - Bears 24, Lions 20” »