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Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Cowboys-Bears Preview.
By JEFF MEZYDLO (STATS Senior Writer)
Before the Dallas Cowboys can eye a rematch with the rival that knocked them out of first place in the NFC East, they need to bounce back against a Chicago Bears team that's also coming off a rough Thanksgiving Day showing.
Looking to remain undefeated away from home, the Cowboys' only focus must be on avoiding a fourth straight defeat to the Bears on Thursday night.
A 33-10 loss to Philadelphia on Thanksgiving not only dropped Dallas (8-4) out of first in the division, but also from playoff position in the conference. The Cowboys trail the Eagles by a game, and though they're tied with Seattle and Detroit for the last wild-card spot, they don't hold the tiebreaker over either.
The Cowboys visit Philadelphia on Dec. 14, but there's a hurdle to clear before that.
"We got to get focused on beating Chicago," coach Jason Garrett said. "We have to learn from (the Eagles) game, build on the good stuff, correct the bad."
The bad outweighed the good and the result was a third straight home defeat for Garrett's team. Dallas was held to 267 yards - its second-lowest total of the season - and 93 on the ground. Although NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray's 1,427 yards are 381 more than his closest pursuer, he managed a season-low 73 and a touchdown on 20 carries.
Tony Romo threw for 199 yards with no TDs, two interceptions and absorbed four sacks.
Defensively, the Cowboys yielded a season-high 464 yards, including 256 on the ground, and allowed the Eagles to record first-quarter scoring drives of 80 and 88 yards.
"No excuses," defensive tackle Jeremy Mincey told the team's official website. "We just gotta get better. Sometimes it's good to get a good old fashioned butt-kicking to get you going again."
Now it may play to the Cowboys' favor to leave town. Dallas, which went 1-3 during December in two of the last three years, is trying to go 6-0 away from home for the first time since 2007. Romo has 12 touchdowns and only one of his eight interceptions while posting a league-best 122.0 passer rating away from home this season.
Including a 31-17 win over Jacksonville in London that was recognized as a home game for the Jaguars, the Cowboys are averaging 30.4 points on the road compared to 21.4 at home, where they're 3-4 and haven't scored more than 17 in each of the last three.
"I think, for me, I think that turns me on a little bit - to come into someone's house and hear the boos and all that," Murray said. "I think it's a great thing.
"We've just got to focus, and have more patience, especially on the road, and not make many mistakes. I think we'll be fine."
Romo threw three TDs without a pick and Murray ran for 146 yards on 18 carries during last season's 45-28 loss at Chicago, where the Cowboys trailed 24-14 at halftime and allowed 490 yards to a Bears team led by then-backup quarterback Josh McCown.
That Bears defense ranked last in the league in allowing 161.4 rushing yards per game, but this season's unit is 10th with an average of 105.5 allowed.
Chicago's Matt Forte ran for 102 yards and caught seven passes for 73 and a TD in that contest. After LeSean McCoy burned the Cowboys for 159 rushing yards last week, they must certainly be aware of Forte, whose 1,478 yards from scrimmage rank behind only Murray (1,770) and Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell (1,689).
"He's almost half of their offense if you put it all together," Garrett said. "Very versatile, very productive, and they use him really well - similar to what Philly does in using their backs a lot of different ways.
"So you know I think teams who do this challenge you and you have to make sure to be on the screws in defending it."
Forte, however, equaled a career low with five rushing attempts that produced six yards in last Thursday's 34-17 loss at Detroit. Only three times this season has Forte carried 20 or more times compared to last year when he did it on six occasions.
Chicago's 23.1 rushing attempts per game rank 28th, and its average of 93.2 yards on the ground is 26th. The Bears managed 13 rushing yards against the stingy Lions as they opted to use more short passes and screen plays to attack the league's top run defense.
Forte, however, knows the Bears (5-7) must keep it on the ground to succeed in the final month of a disappointing season.
"It's of the utmost importance, especially if we're playing outside, with the weather and stuff," he said. "You can't just sit back there and throw 50 passes a game and expect to win."
Even though it's won two straight at home, Chicago has underachieved in its second season under offensive-oriented coach Marc Trestman, averaging 6.7 fewer points than the 27.8 that was second-most in the NFL in 2013.
The Bears are allowing 28.1 points per contest, 1.8 fewer than 2013, but likely not enough of an improvement to avoid missing the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
"I think with the guys we have and character and integrity of the guys, I don't think anybody's going to quit," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "I think the coaches won't let us, they're not going to quit on us."
Bears reasons for absent run game against Lions unclear then and now.
By John Mullin
NFL Team Rushing Offense Statistics - 2014
Rushing Yards Leaders
| RK | TEAM | ATT | YDS | YDS/A | LONG | TD | YDS/G | FUM | FUML |
| 1 | Seattle | 379 | 2023 | 5.3 | 52 | 14 | 168.6 | 6 | 1 |
| 2 | Dallas | 365 | 1744 | 4.8 | 51 | 9 | 145.3 | 7 | 5 |
| 3 | Houston | 390 | 1609 | 4.1 | 46 | 8 | 134.1 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | Baltimore | 347 | 1581 | 4.6 | 52 | 14 | 131.8 | 4 | 2 |
| 5 | Philadelphia | 370 | 1562 | 4.2 | 53 | 11 | 130.2 | 9 | 5 |
| 6 | Kansas City | 336 | 1549 | 4.6 | 48 | 16 | 129.1 | 9 | 4 |
| 7 | New Orleans | 322 | 1516 | 4.7 | 67 | 12 | 126.3 | 5 | 3 |
| 8 | NY Jets | 321 | 1501 | 4.7 | 71 | 8 | 136.5 | 7 | 3 |
| 9 | Cincinnati | 360 | 1494 | 4.2 | 89 | 14 | 124.5 | 4 | 1 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | 326 | 1417 | 4.3 | 81 | 5 | 118.1 | 5 | 2 |
| 11 | San Francisco | 347 | 1378 | 4.0 | 28 | 6 | 114.8 | 8 | 5 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 303 | 1374 | 4.5 | 67 | 9 | 114.5 | 3 | 1 |
| 13 | Miami | 293 | 1370 | 4.7 | 40 | 8 | 124.5 | 7 | 4 |
| 14 | Cleveland | 377 | 1367 | 3.6 | 35 | 15 | 113.9 | 6 | 3 |
| 15 | Indianapolis | 327 | 1344 | 4.1 | 49 | 8 | 112.0 | 10 | 5 |
| 16 | New England | 332 | 1331 | 4.0 | 43 | 10 | 110.9 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Washington | 309 | 1316 | 4.3 | 30 | 11 | 109.7 | 5 | 1 |
| 18 | Denver | 323 | 1314 | 4.1 | 37 | 8 | 109.5 | 5 | 1 |
| 19 | Green Bay | 312 | 1307 | 4.2 | 37 | 9 | 108.9 | 5 | 2 |
| 20 | St. Louis | 306 | 1287 | 4.2 | 89 | 10 | 107.3 | 5 | 2 |
| 21 | Carolina | 323 | 1238 | 3.8 | 26 | 6 | 103.2 | 5 | 3 |
| 22 | NY Giants | 338 | 1208 | 3.6 | 23 | 10 | 100.7 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Jacksonville | 277 | 1179 | 4.3 | 41 | 7 | 98.3 | 6 | 4 |
| 24 | Buffalo | 307 | 1178 | 3.8 | 53 | 5 | 98.2 | 3 | 2 |
| 25 | Atlanta | 290 | 1166 | 4.0 | 55 | 9 | 97.2 | 3 | 2 |
| 26 | Chicago | 277 | 1118 | 4.0 | 32 | 6 | 93.2 | 6 | 1 |
| 27 | Tennessee | 262 | 1060 | 4.0 | 38 | 6 | 88.3 | 4 | 2 |
| 28 | San Diego | 312 | 1048 | 3.4 | 52 | 5 | 87.3 | 5 | 0 |
| 29 | Tampa Bay | 264 | 999 | 3.8 | 54 | 5 | 83.3 | 3 | 2 |
| 30 | Detroit | 294 | 980 | 3.3 | 33 | 8 | 81.7 | 4 | 1 |
| 31 | Arizona | 291 | 897 | 3.1 | 22 | 6 | 74.8 | 3 | 2 |
| 32 | Oakland | 235 | 870 | 3.7 | 90 | 4 | 72.5 | 7 | 3 |
Why is Chicago number 26 in rushing out of 32 teams? This is totally unacceptable.
Coaches, coordinators and players communicate during games. Indications in the aftermath of the Bears’ 34-17 embarrassment in Detroit, however, raise the question of whether anyone is listening to anyone else.
The Bears handed the football to Matt Forte, ranked No. 3 in the NFL for yards from scrimmage and tied for sixth in rushing yardage, exactly five times in the Detroit game. The plan was to use screen passes in particular to spread the No. 1-ranked Lions defense out early and then attack with the run. Forte was in fact targeted nine times, fourth among Bears pass-catchers but the Bears called 51 drop-backs vs. seven carries by backs.
“You can’t just sit back there and throw 50 passes a game and expect to win,” Forte said. "Their front four were pinning their ears back. They didn’t have anything to do but pass rush. They’re not respecting the run and then if you play fake, they’re not going take the play fake because you haven’t been running the ball."
Most mystifying perhaps, Forte had just one carry the entire second half, that one coming in the third quarter after the Bears had drawn to within a touchdown at 24-17. That was one possession after the Bears came out for the second half and ran a 12-play drive for a field goal; all 12 of the snaps were pass plays and 11 were from shotgun formations.
Bears head coach Marc Trestman said Monday that the Bears can execute any of their runs from the shotgun. Three of their six rushing attempts in the first half did come from the shotgun but the plays netted a combined seven yards.
Whether Jay Cutler was checking out of run calls, which he has done in the past, or the calls were as lopsided as the final tally was not readily clear.
"There were more than what showed on tape,” offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer said.
Kromer dubbed a query on why the Bears stopped running the ball when down just 10 points “a good point, and I think in the future, [running in that situation] will happen.”
Trestman reiterated a point he has made in the past.
“One of the things we know we have to do is we have to attempt to run the ball more," he said. "As I told the team, we don't have to run the ball for seven yards a carry. Running the football has a residual effect on a lot of different things. It helps your movement game; it helps your play-action game. It does all those things. It gives your guys a chance to come off [the ball]. We all know these things. And so we'll try to do more of that.”
The unanswered question, 12 games into his second season as Bears head coach, is that knowing those things, as Trestman said he does, why at this point that is not happening. The on-field point man sounded as befuddled as anyone.
“Just because you’re ranked in the top [defensively against the run] doesn’t mean you don’t try it,” Forte said. “That would be like the defense, if we were ranked No. 1, them just laying down, ‘Well they’re ranked No. 1 so we’re just not going to play defense today.’ You have to make an effort to do that.”
Anyone that is a Bears fan or knows anything about the Bears history understands that we were known for a strong defense and tremendous running game. Now we have neither and are pass happy????? We know the league is changing to a passing league, however, if you look at the successful teams, they have an awesome running game. Look at the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles; their passing games succeed because of their ability to run the ball. Mike Ditka would have never let Walter Payton participate in a game without utilizing his talent, Why is Trestman afraid to run Matt Forte? If anyone knows the answer, please enlighten us. Bears coaching staff, we welcome your explanation, comments and input. Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica blog editor, Marion P. Jelks.
Bears must turn to younger players, look to the future.
By Sam Householder
Now that the 2014 season is for all intents and purposes, done, the Bears need to evaluate their roster and see which young players can be a part of the core moving forward. Do they have any building blocks on the roster already?
Good teams build their roster from within; they draft players and develop them into starters and contributors and then they can reward them with contract extensions, and usually they are more likely to be team-friendly that way.
For the Bears this hasn't always been the case. Whether it was inept drafting or failure to develop talent, the Bears as an organization have had to rely on high-priced free agents or trades in order to fill the larger holes on the roster and boost the team.
While good teams do add free agents (The Patriots with Darrelle Revis or the Packers with Julius Peppers), they usually do it to add to a core of their own players when they are looking for something to put them over the top in a quest for a championship. The Bears have had to do it out of necessity.
General manager Phil Emery has gotten better in the drafting department, just last year two of his draft picks (Kyle Long and Alshon Jeffery) were voted to the Pro-Bowl.
While Jerry Angelo had some draft hits, the youngest player he draft to be voted to a Pro-Bowl was Matt Forte (2008 pick). Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman made Pro-Bowls in recent years (2011 and 2012, their last, respectively) but they were in their ninth and tenth years by that point.
When Marc Trestman was brought in, Emery said that he believed that Trestman was a teacher and along with his staff, would help develop the players that Emery brought in.
And in a lot of cases, it's happened. Alshon Jeffery blossomed under Trestman and new receivers coach Mike Groh, Kyle Long was a rookie Pro-Bowler under the tutelage of Aaron Kromer and is quickly becoming one of the elite guards in the league. Jon Hoke, a Lovie Smith holdover, has helped Kyle Fuller adjust to the pros. Matt Forte got back to the Pro-Bowl after missing a season.
Say what you will about the wins and losses but this regime has helped harvest some young talent for the Bears and now, with four games left to go in a disappointing season, it's time to see which other young players might be worth keeping.
Young players like Cornelius Washington, Christian Jones and Al Louis-Jean have seen increased playing time due to injuries, but that needs to continue now to see if they are developing into players that can compete for starting roles next season.
That goes for players like Demontre Hurst and Jon Bostic, two players that have struggled at times this season. The coaching staff needs to see if they are trending in the right direction or if linebacker and nickel back are going to be added to the offseason priority list (if they aren't there already). Brock Vereen is another guy who has been pressed into play and some analysts seem split on whether he can develop into a contributor or if he'll be destined to special teams/back up duty his whole career.
If the players play poorly and allow big plays, so what? The defense is already playing poorly and the playoff race is over.
The Bears know what they have in an Alshon Jeffery, but let's see them rotate in Marquess Wilson more and spell Forte with Ka'Deem Carey more often, and maybe even more in Senorise Perry on offense a bit.
This is already happening a bit, as over the last two or three games Washington has seen an increase in snaps as well as rookie DTs Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson. Sutton played 52 snaps against Detroit and has been seeing more playing time than second-rounder Ferguson, but it's time for the Bears to see what they have in both these guys and get them more than the 20 or 30 some snaps they are usually seeing.
Charles Leno has played in place of Eben Britton as the extra tackle in max-protect; the offensive staff should keep that going as well.
Throw these rookies out there and see what they have; it's time to see if the Bears are developing their own talent and, if they blow it up, who should stick.
Which young players are you excited about? Whom do you think should see more playing time?
Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica would love for you to express your thoughts in the comment section at the end of this blog. Go Bears!!!
Los Angeles mayor claims NFL's return to the city is 'highly likely' next year.
By Ben Rohrbach
Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti thinks the city is this close to landing an NFL franchise. (Getty Images)
The rumblings in recent years that the NFL could finally return to Los Angeles have escalated over the past several months and became a full-fledged tremor over the weekend, when L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti told the San Francisco Examiner that the likelihood of a franchise moving to his city was "highly likely."
In an effort to continue the revitalization effort downtown, former Walt Disney Company chief executive officer Michael Eisner has reportedly been regularly lobbying the NFL on behalf of Garcetti and the Anschutz Entertainment Group, and they are optimistic about landing a team as soon as next year.
The city recently granted AEG — owners of both the Los Angeles Kings and the Staples Center, where the L.A. Lakers and Clippers play their home games — an extension through April to lure a team to the city before potentially breaking ground on a new downtown stadium. The Examiner listed the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams as the NFL's three most likely candidates to relocate.
Los Angeles hasn't fielded an NFL franchise since the Rams and Raiders left following the 1994 season. While Garcetti remains confident the league's absence from the nation's second-largest media market is nearing an end after two decades, Eisner couched the mayor's excitement a bit.
"It's not my decision," he says. "At the end of the day, it's not the mayor's decision. The owners decide."
...
"It just felt to me that if we could pull this off, particularly in the downtown area, that the renaissance of Los Angeles ... could be enhanced," he said.
Downtown L.A. isn't the only potential landing spot for an NFL franchise. Several suburban communities have also been rumored to be seeking a team, and Rams owner Stan Kroenke's recent purchase of a stadium-sized lot in nearby Inglewood, Calif., only served to exacerbate those suggestions.
Regardless of where Southern California's next professional football franchise would call home, it doesn't appear the owners would hold up a move to a market where the NBA's Clippers just sold for $2 billion.
Any team requires 75 percent approval from the league's 32 owners to relocate and two-thirds of the owners to sign off on a new stadium. However, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suggested last year the NFL would "love to be back in Los Angeles." Likewise, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of the absence of football in L.A., "The owners don't mess much up ... but we haven't gotten this one right."
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blues-Blackhawks Preview.
By KEVIN CHROUST (STATS Writer)
The last time the St. Louis Blues visited Chicago, they saw their promising 2013-14 season come to a close in the Western Conference quarterfinals after acquiring a high-profile goaltender to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
It was the latest game in a rough stretch at the United Center, something they'll try to end Wednesday night, and they'll have another big-name goalie joining the team against the surging Blackhawks.
Martin Brodeur participated in his first full practice with the Blues (16-6-2) on Monday, signed Tuesday and will join St. Louis on the second stop of a four-game road swing. He's expected to play on the trip with Brian Elliott out with a lower-body injury.
"It feels great," Brodeur told the team's official website. "I really appreciate the opportunity for me to be here the last few days. It definitely worked out real well. I'm excited for this fresh start."
Jake Allen, though, will face the Blackhawks (15-8-1) for the first time in his career as the Blues try to end an 0-5-0 stretch in Chicago, during which they've been outscored 19-6. Three of those losses came in the playoffs with Ryan Miller in goal.
The Blackhawks have been about as hot lately with three straight victories and wins in eight of 10. A 4-1 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday completed a 5-1-0 trip, and they return to a three-game home winning streak.
"Halfway through the trip we were kind of on the bubble, right around a playoff spot, and we talked about trying to gain ground and gain momentum going into the second 20 games," said center Brad Richards, who scored twice against the Kings. "We did a great job of that. We had big tests against good teams and we piled up five out of six, which is huge."
Richards has three goals in the last two games after managing three through his first 22 with his new team.
Plenty of Chicago's success is due to the club finally coming around offensively after working through early season inconsistencies. The Blackhawks have averaged 3.70 goals in past 10 games after averaging 2.43 through 14 contests.
They've been consistent all season defensively with a league-best penalty kill (91.3 percent) that's thwarted 11 straight chances over five games. They're also among the league leaders at 2.00 goals allowed per game.
That defense will be called upon to deliver in front of Antti Raanta, who will start in net after coach Joel Quenneville ruled No. 1 goaltender Corey Crawford out due to a lower-body injury suffered off-ice. Raanta is 1-2-0 despite a 2.03 goals-against average this season and lost 3-2 at St. Louis in his last start Oct. 25.
St. Louis isn't far back at 2.04 and began its trip with Saturday's 3-2 shootout win over Minnesota. Allen made 36 saves and David Backes' third-period goal send the game to overtime as the Blues improved to 4-0-1 since dropping consecutive games in Boston and Montreal.
Allen has started the last two after replacing Elliott in a 3-2 shootout loss to Ottawa on Nov. 25, and both starts have resulted in wins.
"I thought after two games, our goalie kept the game where we needed it to be," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We found a way to win points."
Allen has leveled out some after a dominant start, but he's still 8-2-1 with a 2.16 goals-against average.
Kris Versteeg scored for Chicago in the October loss. He had two assists against the Kings and has 11 points in his last seven games with a jump in ice time while playing with Richards and Patrick Kane.
Brad Richards has found a home with Blackhawks.
By Tracey Myers
Chicago Blackhawks Brad Richards (91). (Photo/John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports)
Brad Richards wasn’t going there.
The Blackhawks center was asked about the great chemistry and productivity he and linemates Kris Versteeg and Patrick Kane have, but he wasn’t willing to get too excited.
“I don’t want to say a lot,” Richards said after scoring two goals in the Blackhawks’ 4-1 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday night. “I don’t like talking about those things. When you do, weird things happen.”
He was, however, comfortable talking about his comfort level with the Blackhawks. That’s gotten progressively better since he joined his new teammates in September. Off the ice, he’s gotten to know people and the Blackhawks’ way of doing things. On the ice, he’s found his game again.
Richards has six goals and 10 assists for the Blackhawks this season, with four points coming in his last two games. Three of those points were goals – one vs. Anaheim and two vs. the Kings – as he, Versteeg and Kane wrapped up their stellar and point-laden Circus Trip. For Richards, these are good and more comfortable days.
“Every day it feels more like it’s my team,” he said following Saturday’s game. “It takes a little bit to feel you’re part of everything, on the ice and off the ice. You’re trying to make friends, get to know people, [figure out] why is this happening, what’s going on here? Every day you realize things.”
Richards had plenty of new on his plate when he first got here. There was adjusting to the team and coach Joel Quenneville’s way of doing things. Then there was the off-ice acclimation, from a new city to a new baby boy. As Richards said earlier in the season, life was “a little bit all over the map, but everything’s good.”
Still, it was a lot at once. General manager Stan Bowman expected Richards’ adjustment to take some time.
“It’s not easy,” Bowman said. “Brad’s commented on it: he’s come into a pretty mature group of guys. When I say mature, [I mean] most of this team’s been together for a long time so they know how to play together as a group, they know what the coaches want, and he’s walked in and it’s all new to him. There was an expectation that it would take a bit of time for him to get familiar with how we play, some of his line mates. But I agree, he’s certainly played his best hockey in the last 5-10 games.”
Corey Crawford said it isn’t hard to see Richards is feeling more comfortable.
“Just look at the score sheet. He’s shown it. But he’s been smart with the puck, too. He’s putting it in the right areas,” Crawford said. “Every time a new guy comes to a team there’s a little bit of an adjustment that needs to be made. Maybe it’s come a little quicker than people thought, but that line has probably been our best right now.”
Richards is more at home, on and off the ice. He’s found chemistry with Versteeg and Kane. He’s a happy husband and father. The comfort level has been reached.
“We all want to be perfect from Day 1. Sometimes it doesn’t happen,” Richards said. “I’ve been around long enough to know it’s a long season. Right now I’m getting a lot of help from my teammates, my linemates, and it’s feeling a lot more like home.”