Dec 30, 2012; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans cheerleader entertains fans during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at LP Field. Titans won 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Titans are up next in our Reader’s Mock Draft Series.  Hopefully, you’ve been following along every step of the way, but if you need to quickly catch up, here is where we are at the moment.  There are still a lot of top prospects available.

The Titans had a rough 2012 as Chris Johnson continued to struggle, befuddling teammates and fantasy owner alike.  The Titan tried to address some of those concerns by adding Andy Levitre, the top guard available in Free Agency.  They cut Matt Hasselbeck and brought in Levitre’s Bill teammate, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to back up/compete with Jake Locker.  They let Jared Cook depart to the Rams but brought in veteran wide receiver Kevin Walter to go along with Kendall Wright and  give Locker a couple of targets.  They also added former Bears guard Chris Spencer.  Will that keep them from going after a guard like Chance Warmack?  Do they add a top cornerback like Xavier Rhodes or Desmond Trufont or a safety like Kenny Vaccaro?  Every team could use a pass rusher or some bulk to their defensive line.  (more…)

Aug 27, 2011; Nashville,TN, USA; Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman (33) breaks up a pass from Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (not pictured) intended for Tennessee Titans wide receiver Damian Williams (17) during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-US PRESSWIRE

In the 11th meeting in their history, the first place Chicago Bears (6-1 overall, 2-1 road) will visit the Tennessee Titans (3-5 overall, 2-2 home) at LP Field at noon on Sunday.  The all-time series is tied up at five games apiece with the Titans winning the last meeting 21-14 at Soldier Field in 2008.  The Bears offense has gross(man)ly changed since then, and Jay Cutler/Brandon Marshall should be salivating to feast on a Titans team that has given up 421.3 yards per game and 32.1 points per game this season.

The Bears defense will have its hands full with a resurgent Titans RB Chris Johnson, who has racked up 385 yards rushing in his last three games.  Henry Melton, Stephen Paea and the Bears defense should be up to the task.  On the season, they have allowed only one rushing touchdown and allow a league low 77.9 rushing yards per game.

The Titans will be without their second-year stud QB Jake Locker, but Matt Hasselbeck, who is familiar with the Bears from his days in Seattle (4-1 regular season, 0-2 playoffs), will continue to take over the reins.  The last time he faced the Bears was in the playoffs after the 2010 season.  He lost the game, but threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns (all in the fourth quarter).  Don’t expect him to shy away from the deep ball or to try to dink-and-dunk his way down the field.  The Titans have plenty of weapons in WR Nate Washington, WR Kendall Wright, TE Jared Cook and WR Kenny Britt (if he is healthy).

Let take a look at some more numbers you should be aware of before this Sunday’s game.

20:  Rushing yards by the Titans in their last meeting with the Bears in 2008. (RB Chris Johnson had 14 rushes for a total of 8 yards.)

21:  Number of games in Johnson’s career that he has had at least 100 rushing yards and at least one rushing touchdown.

2:  Number of rushing plays over 20 yards given up by the Bears defense this season.

59:  Number of combined punts (36), lost fumbles (7), and interceptions thrown (16) by Bears opponents this season; second highest total in the NFL. (Arizona Cardinals opponents have 61.)

35:  Number of combined punts (27), lost fumbles (2), and interceptions thrown (6) by Titans opponents this season; lowest total in the NFL.

139.3:  Average rushing yards per game given up by the Titans defense this season.

26.4:  Average starting yard line when Bears take possession of the ball this season (best in NFL).

19.6:  Average starting yard line when Bears opponents take possession of the ball this season (second best in NFL).

2:  Number of Bears wide receivers under head coach Lovie Smith who have caught more than 60 passes in a season (Muhsin Muhammad in 2005/Bernard Berrian in 2007).  Brandon Marshall currently has 50 receptions.

2006:  The last time that the Bears recorded at least one sack and one takeaway in each of their first seven games.  They have at least one sack and one takeaway in every game and at least four combined sacks/takeaways in each game this season.

274:  Consecutive extra points made (including playoffs) by Robbie Gould, dating back to Week 14 in 2005 (NFL record held by Matt Stover with 451).

74:  Bears point differential in the second half of games this season.  The Bears have scored 121 second half points while holding their opponents to 47 points.

72.2:  Bears third down conversion percentage (13-18) with three yards or less to go this season.

46.7:  Bears opponents third down conversion percentage (14-30) with three yards or less to go this season.

90:  Consecutive games played with at least one reception by Marshall (NFL record held by Jerry Rice with 274).

10:  Total points scored by the Bears offense on their first drive of the game through seven games this season.

63-16:  Bears record under Lovie Smith in games when they lead or are tied going into halftime.

14-42:  Bears record under Lovie Smith in games when they trail going into halftime.

393 and 17:  Number of minutes and seconds of Bears football that has been played since they last gave up a rushing touchdown (Donald Brown in the second quarter of Week 1 against the Colts).

The two most important things to look out for in this game are the Bears getting off to a fast start and the Bears defense stopping Chris Johnson.  The Titans defense is one of the most porous in the NFL and if the Bears offense can’t take advantage of that, they have bigger problems on their hands than we thought.  A few Bears scoring drives early in the game could seal the Titans fate.

We all know that Johnson can throw up a clunker every once in a while (45 total rushing yards in his first three games this season), but he can also take over a game.  Simply put, the Bears defense will need to control the run game, and they can control the Titans offense.

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!!

New Orleans -11 @ Tampa Bay – The Saints haven’t exactly been marching me to the real or fantasy bank lately, but sometimes you have to keep riding the wave. There are some teams that you just have to play all year because in the long run, you’ll end up on the positive side. I’ve chosen the Saints to be that team.

Seattle +10.5 @ Minnesota – This is just more of a hunch than anything. Minnesota is on cruise control. Every once in awhile when that is happening, something out of the blue comes up to rattle your confidence. The Seahawks will keep this one close – around a touchdown – so I’ll take the points.

Tennessee +4.5 @ Texans – These teams are both steadily improving. I am actually looking forward to watching this game because I think it is going to be a close one. Tennessee has picked up with my old favorite at the helm (Vince Young) and my fantasy WR stud Andre Johnson will be on the other side. In a coin toss game – I’ll take 4.5 points.

Eagles @ Bears +3 – Man oh man – this one has a weird positive feel to it. All things point to the Bears getting crushed – and the line is 3? This game has the feel of the Bears rising up out of the ashes to extend our hope for one more week. The Bears win this one and then go and lose a stupid one in Minnesota. That’s my guess, so I’ll go with it.

Season Total 20-20

Ironically, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had been in Adams’ box earlier that day.  The 86-year old owner made this public comment:

“I need to apologize for my actions yesterday near the end of the game,” he said in a statement. “I got caught up in the excitement of a great day, but I do realize that those types of things shouldn’t happen. I need to specifically apologize to the Bills, their fans, our fans and the NFL.

“I obviously have a great deal of respect for [Bills owner] Ralph Wilson and the history we have shared. I also understand there will probably be league discipline for my actions and I will accept those.”

Privately, Adams asked, “How was I supposed to know someone would catch that on film?  You mean people have cameras on their phones?”

So how does this nugget find it’s way on a Chicago Bears blog?  Well, you can thank ESPN’s Adam Schefter and this tweet:

Yesterday – not one of Bud Adams’ better decisions. One of his best was in 1961 – drafting Mike Ditka.

DA COACH!!!  Any self-respecting Dita-phile has an autographed copy of his salute:

Da Coach flipping the bird.

BEAR DOWN!!!

I was out in Seattle with Boomer and it was quite the fun-filled weekend. My favorite quote, from an unfortunate homeless Seattle man, “Brett Favre, he’s a Viking now, he’s got the horns, HE’S THE DEVIL!” Well, onto Week 4.

When I looked at this week, I got another one of those queezy feelings in my stomach. If I were in Vegas, I’d probably drop my wagers a little this week. But for those compulsive types out there: (more…)

But while we wait for Favre’s legacy to be edited predictably once again—how long before a bookmaker releases odds on Favre becoming a Viking?—Wednesday’s development immediately created a ripple effect felt in Chicago.

Without Favre, none of the three quarterbacks on the Jets’ roster— Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge—has played a full season. Expect the front office to be aggressive in pursuing a starter for new coach Rex Ryan. As the Bears know from seeking a veteran to compete with Kyle Orton, the most acceptable, available options are dwindling by the day.

So the already thin quarterback market just got a little thinner.  Add the Jets to the long list of teams looking for help under center.  For added excitement, they pick #17, one slot ahead of the Bears for anyone that thought the Bears might entertain the idea of taking a QB with their first round draft pick.  With earlier news that Chris Simms favors a return to the Titans and the signings by David Carr and Luke McCown, I’m glad that Jerry Angelo finally decided to target this offseason as the right time to stabilize the QB position for the Bears.  W