Bears Dominate Vikings

September 30, 2019

If you are a Chicago Bears fan you had to love the past weekend in football. It all started Thursday night, when the Green Bay Packers played the Philadelphia Eagles. With their revamped and vastly improved defense, the Packers gave up 34 points in a seven point loss. The Packers could have tied or won this game with better decisions. With first down and goal from the Eagles 1 yard line, they eschewed the run and threw four incomplete passes. How could they have so little faith in the running game and not to try it in four down territory? The Packers still had a chance to tie the game. With time expiring, quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a rare interception at the Eagles goal line to seal their fate.

On Sunday, The Kansas City Chiefs played the previously undefeated Detroit Lions. The Chiefs Achilles heel is their defense. The Lions put up 30 points. However, the Chiefs offense, probably the best in the NFL, scored 34. The Lions are now 2-1-1.

In a crucial game in the NFC Central Division, the Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings 16-6. This game was not as close as the score may indicate. The Bears dominated this game. The Bear defense is the best in football. The Vikings have boasted the best running game this year. In three games, Dalvin Cook has over 370 yards with a 6.6 average yard per carry. The Bears stopped him for little or no gain on multiple occasions. Cook ended up with only 35 yards on 14 carries. If the Vikings have to rely on quarterback Kirk Cousins, they are in big trouble. The Bears defense is so good, they did this with two starters out. Stalwart linebacker Roquan Smith was replaced by Nick Kwiatkoski who had eight tackles and a strip sack. Akiem Hicks’ replacement, Nick Williams, had two of the Bears six sacks and recovered a fumble. As usual, Khalil Mack was wreaking havoc in the Vikings backfield.  For improving the Bears depth with draft picks and shrewd talent evaluation, General Manager Ryan Pace and his staff deserve kudos.

The Bears started the game without lineman Kyle Long and receiver Taylor Gabriel. On the sixth play of the game, they lost quarterback Mitch Trubisky to injury. The Bears inserted back-up quarterback Chase Daniel.  Unlike Trubisky, Daniel (22 out of 30, 195 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers) was completing passes thrown more than 4 yards. His first drive was capped with a ten yard touchdown pass to Tarik Cohen. The Bears had a 7-0 lead. A second mini-drive led to an Eddy Pineiro field goal. At halftime, the Bears led 10-0.

The Vikings started the second half with the ball, desperately needing to score. The Bear defense created a turnover on their first play. A touchdown would have probably put the game out of reach. However, the Bears had to settle for a field goal and a 13-0 lead. The Vikings would need only 2 touchdowns to take the lead. With about five minutes left in the third quarter, the Bears converted a fourth and three to move Pineiro closer for his third field goal. The Bears led 16-0. This meant the Vikings would need 2 touchdowns with two point conversions to tie the game. For most of the fourth quarter the Bears turned back the Vikings offense. With 2:58 left, the Vikings finally scored. They botched the conversion and for all intents and purposes the game was over.

The only problem I had was the Bears trying to run out the clock. Sending running back David Montgomery up the middle was not working.  Running in space is his forte. One would think by now the Bears would try something different. Because of this, Minnesota got the ball back a couple of times. It didn’t matter because penalties and the Bear defense put them in fourth down and 23 yards plus fourth down and 15 yards for first downs.

Next up is the Oakland Raiders in London. Trubisky is out (which may be a good thing).  No word on the other players not in the last game. This is a game they should win. After that the Bears will have two weeks to get healthy for a Sunday game against New Orleans. Hopefully, quarterback Drew Brees won’t be able to play.

Bears can beat Redskins. Big Deal

September 24, 2019

The Chicago Bears beat the woeful Washington Redskins Monday night, 31-16. This game is more of a reflection on how bad the Redskins are, not how good the Bears are. The Bears committed too many penalties. I stopped counting the many off-side penalties. Once the yardage accepted surpassed 70 yards, I stopped keeping track of this as well. I will get to other troubling things. Suffice to say if they play like this, it could be a long season.

Once again, the defense won this game for the Bears. Three interceptions, two fumbles, and four sacks. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix first interception resulted in a touchdown for an early 7-0 lead. The other turnovers provided the offense with short scoring drives. The Bears led 28-3 heading into the third quarter. Due to an anemic offense, the Bears defense was on the field much of the second half.

 To combat the Bears pass rush you have to get your passes out quickly. Redskins quarterback Case Keenum used this formula with a couple of longer completions that led to two touchdowns. The Redskins were threatening to cut the lead to six at the Bears 20 yard line. Danny Trevathan came to the rescue forcing the second fumble, recovered by Eddie Jackson. If the games are closer, the Bears need to learn how to shut off the quick release passing game. My recommendation would be to have tighter coverage and bump the receivers until they get five yards out. By disrupting routes, it throws off the quarterback’s timing and gives your pass rush more time to get to the quarterback.

Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s passing statistics looked good. He was 25 for 31, for 231 yards. He also had 3 touchdown passes and one costly interception. The offense set up two of these scores. Trubisky used short passes and let the receivers makes plays after the catch. The first drive was 67 yards capped by a three yard touchdown pass to Taylor Gabriel.  Gabriel was the recipient of a one yard touchdown on the second play of a drive that started at the eleven yard line. Gabriel made a sensational catch of a 36 yard pass that was ruled incomplete. The replay reversed the call. Trubisky had his longest reception of the game and Gabriel his third touchdown of the quarter. This was a 63 yard drive. Trubisky had other opportunities but can’t hit wide open receivers over 10 yards out. This not a good omen. My confidence fell even further when he messed up the Bears only scoring opportunity in the second half. Inside the Redskins 10 yard line, a fade pass was grossly underthrown for an interception. Nagy thought he could take some time off the clock and out of Trubisky’s hands by running the ball. David Montgomery had a nice 25 yard run at the end of the game but only averaged three yards on his other 12 carries. Trubisky couldn’t convert third down and four yards for a first down. Free agent signee, Mike Davis had one rush for two yards. Neither back is as good of a runner as the traded Jordan Howard.

The Minnesota Vikings are not the Redskins. We’ll have better grasp of the season after this game. Of concern is the severity of Akiem Hicks’ injury.

Cubs and the Path to the Playoffs

September 19, 2019

While the baseball season is coming to end, the Cubs are trying to return to post season play. With 11 games remaining, the most crucial series of the year stats today.  The Cubs are currently tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the second wild card spot. The Cubs open a 4 game series against the first place St. Louis Cardinals.

Why are the Cardinals in first place? The highest average in their line-up is .284 and they only rank 21rst in Home Runs. The pitching is the reason. The combination of Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Adam Wainwright carry this team. Only the L.A. Dodgers can boast a better top three.

Injuries play a big part in pennant races. The Cardinals have been mostly injury free. The Brewers lost the main cog in their line-up when former MVP Christian Yelich was lost for the season in early September. No other team has been beset by injuries like the Cubs.

Prior to the 2018 season the Cubs signed free agent Brandon Morrow to be their closer. He has been on the disabled list (DL) since June 2018.  Pedro Strop was his replacement and did fine job the remainder of that year. Strop was going to be the closer for2019. An early injury slowed him down and he was ineffective blowing save opportunities. The rest of the bullpen struggled holding on to late inning leads. They signed reliever Craig Kimbrel, who at one time was a premiere closer.  He did an admirable job, but is presently on the DL for the second time. All-star catcher Wilson Contreras has also missed multiple games due to injuries. Pitcher Cole Hamels missed a month with arm trouble and has been awful since coming back. Kevin Bryant is having a good year but hit a bad stretch with a sore knee. The Cubs lost their best player, Javier Baez with a broken thumb September 1rst. He is the heart and soul of this team. His replacement, Addison got hurt Finally, Anthony Rizzo was lost for the season September 10 with an ankle injury.

At the start of the year in my first baseball preview I said if the Cubs could avoid injuries they would win their division. You also can’t afford to lose the season series (8-11) to the lowly Cincinnati Reds .To have any chance to win the division they would need to sweep the Cardinal series. You need to win at least three to stay in wild card contention.

After the weekend the playoff picture could be clearer. The Cubs finish the season he road, which hasn’t been kind to the Cubs this year. However, they have four to continue pound Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers before closing with three more against the Cardinals. The Washington Nationals have the slim lead for the first wild spot. If the Cubs and Cardinals split, the Brewers can take advantage and improve their playoff aspirations.

The American League has a new division winner as the Minnesota Twins ended the reign of the Cleveland Indians in the A.L. Central. The Indians are trying to wrestle a wild spot from the Tampa Bay Rays. The biggest surprise is the collapse of the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees ran away with the A.L. East. The Astros easily won the A.L. West.

On Deck: White Sox and the conclusion of the season

Bears Winning Ugly

September 16, 2019

There are many adjectives to describe the Bears versus the Denver Broncos game. For the second consecutive week, Bears football was boring as both teams combined for only 30 points. Ugly is another apt description with sloppy plays and bad penalties. Maddening watching the Bears offense sputter. Unbelievably wacky final two minutes to decide the outcome. The Bears luckily eked out a victory. A loss would have put them two games behind the Green Bay Packers. The Packers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 21-16.

The Bear defense had a harrowing day but when all is said and done they surrendered only 14 points.  Former Bears defensive coordinator now Broncos coach, Vic Fangio, put together a game plan that caused the Bears some problems. The Broncos were throwing quick release throws to negate the Bears pass rush. Broncos quarterback, Joe Flaco, looked like the Packers Aaron Rodgers. He completed pass after pass against soft Bear coverage. However, when they got to midfield on all but two occasions, the Bears forced a punt. By the fourth quarter the Bears defense looked fatigued from the Denver heat and high altitude. The ineffectiveness of the offense didn’t help keeping them off the field. Toward the end of the quarter the Broncos were at the Bears two yard line when Kyle Fuller intercepted a Flaco pass. As usual, the Bear offense did nothing and punted. The Broncos started a drive with a little more than two minutes left. After converting a couple of fourth downs, they capped the drive with a seven yard touchdown from Flaco to Emmanuel Sanders. Rather than kick the extra point, Fangio decided to go for a lead. The Broncos lost 5 yards on a delay of game penalty so Fangio sent in his kicker for the tie. Bears fans were elated as the kick sailed wide. Alas, the Bears had a dumb off-sides penalty.  With the ball at the one yard line they went for the lead. Flaco again went to Sanders and the Broncos led 14-13 with thirty-one seconds left.

I’ve told people from the day he was hired that Bears coach Matt Nagy was a bad choice. If he didn’t have a great defense and just a good one the Bears would have finished 7-9 last year.  He would not have been coach of the year and no-one would be talking about how he changed the culture.

It took six quarters for the offense to score a touchdown. After a 46 yard run by wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, the Bears were inside the Broncos 20 yard line. They ran it down to a first and goal at the three yard line. This is where Nagy gets stupid. Rookie running back David Montgomery is good in space and makes people miss tackles. You can’t use this ability in goal line situations. Nagy runs him twice for minimal or no gain. If not for the Broncos giving the Bears four new downs on a holding penalty, the Bears may still maybe looking for their first touchdown. Nagy’s offense ran Montgomery into the line three more times before he finally stretched the ball over the goal line.

When Nagy was hired, his main objective was to develop second over-all pick, quarterback Mitch Trubisky. You would think he would much better at this point in his career. He still may turn out to be pretty good. However, instead of Nagy making him a game changer, he is a game manager. With 31 seconds left he had completed 14 passes for approximately 95 yards. Take away his longest pass of 18 yards and he has 77 yards averaging 6 yards per completion. No turnovers and short passes are what managing a game is about.

About those last 31 seconds. The Bears move the ball from their 25 yard line to the thirty-two. The Broncos get called for roughing the passer for 15 more yards. This was maybe a questionable call but most roughing the passer calls are. Trying to get into field goal position, Trubisky fires three terrible incomplete passes. The Bears commit another penalty making it fourth and 15 yards. This is irrelevant because they have time for one play to move 25 yards to be in field goal territory.  Trubisky stepped up in the pocket and completed a 25 yard pass to wide receiver Allen Robinson. The Bears got a time-out with one second left. Rookie kicker Eddy Pineiro came in to line up a 52 yard field goal. Prior to this he had connected on attempts from 40 and 51 yards. With Bear fans holding their breath, he hits the field goal while the clock runs out. Bears win 16-14. Unbelievable, you betcha.

Sour Season Opener for Bears

September 6, 2019

It was a melancholy Thursday night as the Chicago Bears lost their season opener 10-3 to the Green Bay Packers. Before I go into detail, here is synopsis of an ugly defeat. The defense played well, while the offense had a possession where they needed 40 yards for a first down.

The defense was extremely good, especially early. The Packers had negative yards on their first three possessions. Bears fans breathed a sigh of relief when rookie kicker, Eddie Pineiro nailed a 38 yard field goal to put the Bears ahead 3-0. However, Pineiro’s good vibe disappeared when his ensuing kick-off went out of bounds. The Packers took over the field position advantage starting at their 35 yard line.

Aaron Rodgers is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.  If he has no pressure, he’ll pick apart your defense. Early in the second quarter he had plenty of time and pulled off what I call the “Jordy Nelson” play, hitting wide open receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling with a bomb deep in Bears territory. His next pass was pulled down in the end zone by Jimmy Graham; Packers 7, Bears 3.

The Bears sacked Rodgers 5 times and limited Green Bay to 10 points. This should be good enough to win most games. Last year the defense would force turnovers where they scored or set up short scoring drives to cover up their putrid offense.

I’m not sold on Coach Matt Nagy. He is in charge of this offense that could only manage three points. I did agree with his plan not to play his starters in pre-season. In hindsight, it may have been prudent to take his offense on a test drive in their second or third exhibition games. They came out rusty and discombobulated. However, Nagy’s play calling and decision making defied his guru status.

Third down, one yard for a first. Last year running back Jordan Howard could get you a first down on a regular basis. They traded him because he didn’t fit in with Nagy’s pass happy offense. They added Mike Davis and drafted David Montgomery. Tarik Cohen is the third running back. They may fit Nagy’s offense but none are your prototypical power runners in short gains situations. Nagy first tries Mike Davis who gets stopped at the line of scrimmage.  Next time Nagy inserts kick returner/wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who rarely is used as a running back. Real good deception by Nagy. Everyone knew he was getting the ball to Patterson who also did not get the first down.  The third time, Nagy eschews the run and calls a pass. Trubisky gets rushed and goes down for no gain.

In the off-season the Bears made a big deal about a potent running attack. Too bad they have a coach who doesn’t know how to install it. The Bears ran the ball 12 times and attempted 45 passes. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky was ineffective. If not for receiver Allen Robinson he would have been worse than bad. Trubisky avoided pressure with a roll-out play where he completed an 11 yard pass reception for a first down. However, Nagy doesn’t call that play again. What is supposed to be Nagy’s forte is not working. One of the main objectives of his job is make to Trubisky better. If Trubisky doesn’t vastly improve, the Bears will have a coaching problem.

When you are down 4 points going into the fourth quarter you can still try to run the ball. Nagy gets impatient with the run. He calls 23 passes and no running plays in the quarter. Just for good measure, they have the ball in range for a 50 yard field goal in perfect kicking conditions. It’s fourth down needing ten yards for a first down. Nagy calls for another pass that falls incomplete and they turn the ball over.

After the game, Nagy does his best former coach John Fox when he said we had good practices. Good practices means diddly-squat! Trubisky talks about the offense as a whole instead of taking accountability for how bad he played. They must turn things around in Denver.

Bears Banking on the Defense and Mitch Trubisky Improving

August 27, 2019

Chicago Cub fans are getting worried; White Sox fans are waiting to see if they promote Luis Robert. Therefore, it’s time to talk about the Chicago Bears. After one more ennui inducing exhibition game, the Bears start the season in earnest September 5 against the Green Bay Packers.

The strength of the Bears is the defense. With a few exceptions, the same cast that stymied offenses last season are back. Pro bowler Akiem Hicks, underrated nose tackle Eddie Goldman and Jonathan Bullard or second year lineman Bilal Nichols round out the front three. They put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and are great run stoppers.  General Manager, Ryan Pace has put together the best line-backing crew in the NFL.  Khalil Mack, arguably the best defensive player, is one outside linebacker. On the other side is Leonard Floyd.  After shedding a hand cast he wore for the first few weeks last season, he was terrific. He looked like he was worth moving up to the number nine overall pick in 2016. I expect him to have a break-out season. Danny Trevathen was an excellent acquisition. He seems to be always around the ball. The other inside man, is last year’s rookie sensation Roquan Smith. After missing most of the pre-season, he led the Bears with 121 tackles. There is just no telling on how good he can be. The secondary is also tremendous. Cornerback Prince Amukamara doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. How many times have you heard his name called getting beaten by receivers? The other corner is all-pro Kyle Fuller. Second year safety Eddie Jackson made the pro bowl.  Newly acquired veteran HaHa Clinton-Dix rounds out the secondary. The only other new comer is 8 year veteran Buster Skrine, taking over for oft injured Nickelback Bryce Callahan.  Having this defense wins games.

Riding the coattails of Vic Fangio’s defense, Matt Nagy was voted coach of the year. If there is any uncertainty, it is his offense. His main objective is to make quarterback Mitch Trubisky being worthy of being a number two overall pick in 2017.  With year two in the same offense, I do expect things to slow down, making him more comfortable. If he vastly improves, the Bears will be tough to beat. Pace has surrounded him with some good receivers. A completely healthy Allen Robinson, speedy Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller. It looks like Tight End Trey Burton will be ready to play. Trubisky will also have pass catchers creating mismatches out of the backfield.  Last year the running game was non –existent in Nagy’s pass happy offense. Traded Jordan Howard was made the scapegoat. Nagy just couldn’t figure out how to use him. He was calling pass plays when he only needed three yards or sometimes even less for a first down. This directly led to last year’s first game loss to the Packers (Aaron Rodgers was another reason). The Bears have added Mike Davis from Seattle and drafted David Montgomery from Iowa State, to join Tarik Cohen in the backfield. With Nagy I expect they will have a big part in the passing attack.

Special Teams could be a problem. They did sign receiver Cordarrelle Patterson to return kickoffs. He averaged 29 yards per return. Tarik Cohen can return punts. However, the kicking game could be a problem.  The present kicker is untested Eddy Pineiro.

The problem with going 12-4 is it makes your schedule much tougher. You face playoff teams in your conference, The New Orleans Saints, L.A. Rams and Dallas Cowboys. The AFC opponents are in the West Division with the high flying offenses of the Kansas City Chiefs and L.A. Chargers, both playoff teams. It will be interesting to see if the Bears can stifle these offenses. If the Bear offense even slightly improves, they should be fine. The key is dominating their division, in which they were 5-1 last year. Circle September 15 on your calendar when the Bears face former defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio’s Denver Broncos.  

Will the Cubs Reach the Playoffs? Will the White Sox Bring Up Luis Robert?

August 19, 2019

Exhibition football games are garbage. Therefore, we’ll talk baseball before delving into Bears related items prior to their next real game.

I know this sounds like a broken record but the Cubs’ struggles on the road continue. They went 4-6 on the road against mediocre competition. I was not paying much attention when the Cubs started the road trip with a four game set against the Cincinnati Reds. Although the Reds aren’t very good, they seem to always cause the Cubs problems. They split the four game series.

The road tour turned into a nightmare when they traveled to Philadelphia to play the Phillies. To illustrate how good the Phillies are, they lost two out of three to the White Sox. The Cubs bullpen is a disaster. In game one they gave up a run in the seventh and eighth innings, wasting a good start by Jose Quintana, losing 4-2. Next night the game was over after Cole Hamels gave up seven runs in the first inning as the Cubs clobbered 11-1. In the ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet department’, game three was the most disheartening of the series. Yu Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings and left the game with a 5-0 lead. The Cubs bullpen gave up one run in the 8^th inning and a Bryce Harper grand slam capped off a six run inning for 7-5 Phillies victory.

The story remained the same against the last place Pittsburgh Pirates as the Cubs blew another save and ended up losing 3-2. Thanks to excellent pitching performances by Jon Lester and Jose

Quintana, the Cubs won the next two games.

The Cubs are now tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place. Playing their few games at home should keep them atop the division. However, there are still road games left and they are tied for most road losses in the league with Miami with 39. Even if they reverse their fortunes on the road, they still will be hard pressed to make it to the post season. The Cubs brass knew the bullpen needed fixing at the beginning of the year. Pedro Strop flopped, Carl Edwards Jr. has been traded and Brandon Morrow is not coming back. Not only will manager Joe Maddon be gone, there will more moves needed to keep the Cubs competitive for the next few years

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Who thought Ivan Nova would be the White Sox best pitcher after the all-star break? In his past five starts he is 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA. The White Sox were just looking for someone to eat up innings and he wasn’t considered as a part of the rebuild. If he continues to perform anywhere near this level, the Sox will be forced to have him in the 2020 rotation. This should not preclude them from going after a pitcher via trade or free agency as they have no depth when it comes to starting pitching.  The back end of the bullpen with Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome have been excellent. The Cubs would be running away with their division with this bullpen. Alas, getting them into the game with a lead has been a problem.  I can’t remember the last time Jace Fry retired the first man he faced, usually a left handed batter. His only job is to retire left hand batters. Evan Marshall has reverted to the real Marshall and is currently having problems. The Sox need to look to acquire some set up relievers.

A major positive, it looks like Eloy Jimenez is starting to figure things out. Finally overcoming his latest injury he is stinging the ball. Although his average isn’t where you would like it to be, he still has 22 home runs in only 88 games. Next year should be very exciting with a year of experience under his belt. . The only problem is he is a butcher in left field. He needs to greatly improve or be a designated hitter for the next 15 years.

I see where Luis Robert had another nice night with two homers. I think General Manager Rick Hahn should reward the fans’ patience during the rebuild. Bring him up in September. He is definitely ready and getting some games in against major league pitching should make it easier to start off well next year.