Wednesday, January 16, 2019

NFL Playoffs: The Thrill is Gone




January 15, 2019

There is nothing better in professional sports than the post-season playoffs. You don’t need a rooting interest to enjoy these games. In hockey, there is nothing more exhilarating than an overtime game. The tension mounts when every rush up the ice could result in the winning goal. This is real hockey. No three-on-three or shootouts.

Basketball has had its share of dynasties. The Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls. The current dynasty is the Golden State Warriors, by far the team of the decade. Although they did lose a championship series to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, they have won two in a row and three of the last four titles. Last year the Houston Rockets got close, extending their series to seven games. The Warriors are a lot of fun to watch.
  
In baseball, a great Boston Red Sox team was the major story of the past season, coasting to a World Series victory. However, the Milwaukee Brewers played a seven-game series before succumbing to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in seven games. In 2017, the Astros defeated the Dodgers in seven games. These games are my personal favorites.

Amidst all the excitement, the real reason for this post is I’m watching the NFL playoffs with a heavy heart.  There are no Chicago Bears to watch. Cody Parkey has ruined my season. I was watching what turned out to be a weekend of football mismatches. The Kansas City Chiefs scored early and often in crushing the Indianapolis Colts. The Chiefs have probably the best offense in football and in this game the defense was particularly good, or maybe it was the Colt offense play calling. The L. A. Chargers hadn’t lost a road game all year. However, they got annihilated by the New England Patriots, who don’t lose on their home field.  I can’t predict a winner of what should be a close game.Another non-competitive and boring game was the L. A. Rams beating the Dallas Cowboys.  The game was not as close as the final score. The best game of the weekend saw the New Orleans Saints overcome a 14-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

The Dream is Over



January 7, 2019

The Chicago Bears had an excellent season, finishing 12-4. This was the third-best record in the conference, netting them home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. But a heart-breaking, gut- wrenching and mind-numbing 16-15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles put a pall on the entire season. General Manager Ryan Pace has done a great job putting this team together with one exception. After unceremoniously dumping Robbie Gould, last year’s kicker Connor Barth was let go before the season ended. Spending big money, Pace signed Cody Parkey, who ranked among the worst kickers this season. His missed a 43-yard attempt for a field goal to win the game hitting the left upright, then the crossbar before bouncing back onto the playing field, knocking the Bears out of the playoffs. I thought they would make a run to the Super Bowl, but my worst nightmare came true when I saw Parkey coming out to try and kick the winning field goal.

Although Parkey was the main culprit, he is not the only reason why the Bears lost. The defense was great all year. On their first possession, the Eagles marched down the field deep into Bears’ territory.  Doing what they had done all year, the defense forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal. With two interceptions, one in the end zone, those were the only three points the Eagles could muster in the first half. However, things changed after the intermission. Trailing 9-3, the Eagles were trying to mount a comeback. On a third down incomplete pass, safety Adrian Amos was penalized for a helmet-to- helmet hit, so the Eagles retained possession. On the next play the Bears committed another penalty for too many men on the field. Two plays later, cornerback Prince Amukamara was penalized for pass interference at the Bears’ 10-yard line. Eagles’ quarterback Nick Foles threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide-open backup tight end Dallas Goedert. Maybe he was wide open because the Bears only had 10 men on the field. With about six minutes remaining, the Bears had the ball at their 22-yard line. On a three-and-out, which consisted of a two-yard loss and quarterback sack, punter Pat O’Donnell got off a terrible kick, giving the Eagles a short field to attempt a game-winning touchdown drive. People have been talking about how great the Bears were in stopping the Eagles three consecutive times on a first- and-goal at the Bears’ two-yard line. That means absolutely nothing when your opponent scores on fourth down. The crux of the matter is the Bears couldn’t get enough pressure on Foles to keep the Eagles from getting to the two-yard line. They did stop the two-point conversion, giving them a chance to win
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Before you give Matt Nagy the coach of the year award, consider this: The Bears scored 15 points. Two weeks earlier in San Francisco the Bears scored 14 points. If you take away defensive scores, you’ll notice in many games the offense didn’t score 20 points. This is your offensive genius?  Against the Eagles, the Bears had good field possession for 2½ quarters and came away with three field goals. If you are close enough to be in Cody Parkey’s range you need to score some touchdowns. To Nagy’s credit, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is getting better. On a go-ahead scoring drive, he completed a 34-yard pass to wide receiver Josh Bellamy and a 22-yard touchdown to wide receiver Allen Robinson (10 receptions, 143 yards). In the closing minutes to put the Bears in field goal range he made two big throws to Robinson. The reason he only needed two throws was a terrific kickoff return by Tarik Cohen. Question to Matt Nagy: In the biggest game of the year, why wasn’t Cohen in on all the other kickoffs?

The Bears are a young team that should get better. Hopefully the offense improves and everyone stays healthy. Who knows if it might have been different with safety Eddie Jackson and nickel back Bryce Callahan helping in the coverage of Eagle receivers? With a tougher first place schedule can the Bears get back to the playoffs? Here’s hoping the Bears get another chance to compete for the Super Bowl. The outstanding 1985 Super Bowl champs never appeared in another.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

About The Chicago Bears...

January 1, 2019
The Chicago Bears capped a spectacular season with an impressive 24-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. A Vikings, win would have earned them a spot in the playoffs with the first game against the Bears. The Bears’ win ensured them that they wouldn’t have to play a third game against the Vikings this season right after losing to them.

I don’t think anyone predicted the Bears would win 12 games this year. After hiring Coach Matt Nagy, he and General Manager Ryan Pace said to temper expectations. Nagy was brought in to develop quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Pace signed free agents on offense to assist Nagy’s efforts to revitalize the offense. Toward the end of the exhibition season, they traded for All-Pro defenseman Khalil Mack. . All of a sudden, expectations were raised, although still most thought they wouldn’t go 12-4. Adding Mack to a good defense made this an elite defense, which is the biggest reason for the Bear’s turnaround from worst to first.

The defense had another great game against the Vikings. While the Bears’ offense was clicking, the Vikings went three-and- out on their first five possessions. The defense would give up only 10 points. The defensive line caused Viking’s quarterback Kirk Cousins to have a terrible afternoon. The defensive pressure on the quarterback is part of the reason the Bears lead the league in interceptions.

In a hostile environment against one of the league’s premiere defenses, Mitch Trubisky had one of his best performances. His numbers may look pedestrian (18-26 163 yards); however, he was error- free and good when he needed to be. The Vikings are the best team in preventing opponents’ third-down conversions at 28 percent. Yet, the Bears were 8 for 14. Trubisky completed seven passes for first downs and ran for another. On the ground, the Bears had their best rushing game of the year. Running back Jordan Howard looks like he has regained his old form with 21 carries for 109 yards, including two first-half barreling touchdowns. This accounted for 13 points as woeful kicker Cody Parkey, who barely made his first extra point, kicked his second attempt off the goal post. After the Vikings cut the lead to 13-10, the Bears took nine minutes off the clock and Tarik Cohen ran it in for a 3- yard touchdown. Instead of sending Parkey in for the extra point, Nagy decided to go for two. He is excellent in these situations as the Bears converted on a pass to reserve linebacker Nick Kwiatktski.

 The Vikings’ offense floundered the rest of the game, causing heated conversations between Cousins and his receivers on the sidelines. The Bears tacked on a field goal for good measure. The focus of the offense has been the progress of Trubisky, but kudos go to the offensive line for giving him the protection he needs. The offensive performance bodes well for the playoffs.

When the Bears beat Minnesota on a Sunday night in a game for first place, I started to think playoffs. After beating the L.A. Rams on a Sunday night, I was thinking maybe they could make a run in the playoffs. The Bears open up at home, where they are 7-1, against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. Under backup quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, the Eagles have a three- game winning streak that propelled them into the playoffs. Not to worry: the Bears are 9-1 in their last 10 games. The Eagles have not faced a defense like the Bears. The Bears who, won’t need Trubisky to be great, but just efficient. I think the Eagles don’t score more than 13 points