September 16, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson (39) throws his arms up after the referees ruled no touchdown against the Washington Redskins during the first half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

The Bears face the Rams on Sunday in what’s become a pretty critical game this early in the season for the Chicago Bears.  After a disappointing loss to the Packers which has Bears faithful questioning the quarterback, the head coach and the team as a whole, the Bears need a strong showing to right the ship and calm the masses.

The Rams look to be better than previously advertised, as Jeff Fisher has the young Rams starting to believe they can be winners right away and don’t need a lengthy rebuilding project to get back to their elite status of the late 90′s. To help us get some insight from the opponent’s side of the fence, we’ve enlisted the help of Nathan Kearns from Ramblin’ Fan for our weekly 5 Questions.  Once you’re done reading our Q&A, head over there and check out my answers to his questions.   (more…)

August 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) calls a play against the Oakland Raiders in the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

A major scare happened for the Detroit Lions  yesterday while playing in Oakland and no it wasn’t the Raiders fans.  Matthew Stafford watched in horror as his left hand blew up on the sideline after Dave Tollefson drove him  to the ground after an incomplete pass. While falling to the ground Tollefson helmet and Stafford’s left hand collided.  It looked very bad for Stafford with bandages and a brace being applied, but the team and the city were relieved when X-rays were negative.  Stafford was 8-10 for 68 yards before the injury, and he is not expected (like almost every other regular starter in the NFL) to play in the last pre-season game but should be ready for their opening game versus the St Louis Rams on September 9th.

Stafford wasn’t the only injury the Raiders inflicted upon the Lions.  The Raiders roughed up two cornerbacks in Bill Bentley and Chris Houston. Bentley has a shoulder injury while Houston has an ankle injury.  Running Back Kevin Smith left the game with what looked like a serious ankle injury, but his X-ray’s like Staffords were negative.  A lot of injuries but all of these players without any setbacks are expected to be on the playing field week one.

The scariest part of the game really should be that Mikel Leshoure has not established anything so far in the pre-season.  Even though he is suspended for the first two games, Leshoure is able to practice and play in the pre-season. He has dressed for the pre-season, but he has hardly played or impressed,  and when he’s been given the ball it hasn’t been very productive. Leshoure carried 5 times for 1 yard and had 1 catch for 6 yards.  The Lions have a lot of hope that he will be RB1 after his suspension, but his pre-season production diminishes that anticipation!

It was BEARly worth mentioning, but they are our rival!

DA BEARS

Dec 20, 2010; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre (4) lays on the ground after getting hit during the second quarter against the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

The writing is on the wall in Minneapolis or actually it’s been handed in to the NFL office today! The Minnesota Vikings plan on being a terrible team in 2012, and they have the paperwork to prove it!

The Vikings are the fourth NFL franchise (Miami, Tampa Bay, Oakland) to ask for a reduction in ticket manifest at the Metrodome so that they can avoid home game blackouts this season.  The official capacity for the Vikings  is 64,000 but they will only have to sell out 54,ooo to lift any blackout bands this season.  When was the last Minnesota blackout? The answer is 1997.

The Vikings front office can spin it anyway they like citing poor non division match-ups this season against Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and St. Louis Rams, but the experts have predicted a long winter in Minneapolis, and the front office verified these experts by asking for the new rule relief!

The lose lose situation for the Vikings is that any ticket sold over the 54,000 mark has to be shared 50% with the rest of the league instead of the normal 34%.  If the Vikings are really bad, they may be asking for the blackouts anyways?!?

It’s BEARly worth mentioning, but they are our rivals!

DA BEARS!!

Marc Bulger's relationship with Mike Martz makes him a great fit for the Bears (Photo: AP/Finley)

With as many hits as Jay Cutler took last season, it was a miracle that he finished the season in one piece and we never saw Caleb Hanie take any meaningful snaps.   Now that the Rams have released longtime quarterback Marc Bulger, it would make all of the sense in the world to bring him in to be Cutler’s backup.

Bulger spent time with Mike Martz and knows his system cold, making him a valuable asset for the Bears as they adopt Mad Mike’s voluminous playbook.  (Yes, voluminous is a word.  Look it up!)

One thing I haven’t heard much about is the other side of the coin.  To us, it makes perfect sense, but what about Bulger?  What makes sense for him?   Maybe wearing a baseball cap and holding a clipboard until the unthinkable happens to Jay Cutler is not how he plans to spend the “golden years” of his NFL career.

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The offense looked good coming out of the blocks early, with Jay Cutler stretching the field with some deeper throws.   Then, the Bears jump-started that broken down bus that they got off of running and actually moved the ball on the ground.  A little bit.  They toted the rock 38 times for 120 yards – barely over 3 yards per attempt.

On the other side of the ball, the Rams offense was in way over their heads, even against the banged up Bears defense.  It seemed like the Bears did a decent job holding Steven Jackson in check, but when you look at the final stats, he totaled 112 yards on 28 carries.  Jackson is a complete BEAST and is truly the only thing going for the Ram offense.  Kyle Boller is really bad and consistently missed easy throws.  Let me thumb through my notes and see what else jumped out at me.  (more…)

So we’re on to lucky Week 13 and the luck comes in with the pitiful  St. Louis Rams coming to town to face off against our humbled 4-7 Chicago Bears. The Bears started 3-1 and have gone 1-6 since while the Rams have only been able to muster 1 win all season.

There’s not much left to say about the season.  If the Bears somehow manage to lose this game, Lovie Smith and company might as well go jump in Lake Michigan because they’ll be sleeping with the fishes.  Let’s get right to the Keys to the Game:

Action Jackson

No big secret here – the Rams offense goes through this guy.  Steven Jackson is a beast and the only good thing going for the Rams.  With Marc Bulger on the bench and Kyle Boller at the controls, the Rams offense shouldn’t post much of a threat otherwise.

The Bears are already shuffling their defense around to bring the surer-tackling Kevin Payne into the lineup at Danieal Manning’s expense.

(more…)

You know it’s bad when the news geeks are laughing at you.

With this latest resurfacing added to the re-work in September after the U2 concert and s o far the park district has dropped a half a million dollars on sod.  A few more of these sod jobs and the Bears could almost afford to fire their head coach.  (more…)

New Orleans -13.5 at Rams – A Dome is a Dome is a Dome.  The spread is under the dreaded 14 because it is an away game and people got burned by picking New Orleans last week against Carolina (i.e. Me).  Don’t fear the big points this week – keep pounding New Orleans.  It will pan out in the long run.

Broncos -3.5 at Redskins Having a hard time figuring this one out and that usually scares me away from a game.  The Broncos are coming off two losses and it is time to right the ship.  Playing a woefully awful team is the way to do it.  I’m not letting that hook (.5) scare me away on this one.

Ravens -10.5 at Browns Typically would stay away from a “bad blood” rivalry, but this time around, the scales are too heavily tipped Baltimore’s way.  For crying out loud, the Bears beat Cleveland by 24 – you don’t think that Baltimore’s Defense will shut down the Brownies?  Think of it like this: how many points will Cleveland score?  Most – probably 10.  Do you think that Baltimore’s offense can put up 21 or more points?  Well then, load up.

Season Total 19-18