12/19/12

Sea.3,Divisional Round - Despite Valiant Effort, Chicago Falls to Green Bay, 23-26

[Featuring +3 edge to CPU sliders]
The kid from Chico, CA/Season 3 MVP/Offensive POY/Best QB wasn't going to let his team lose, down 20-23 going into the 4th, Chicago couldn't match GB's firepower and despite a commendable effort by Bears backup QB Matt Moore and rookie RB Marcus Laws (subbing in for an injured Matt Forte intra-game), the Pack beat Chicago once again to sweep them this season.

The "upstart" 8-8 New England went on to take on the 12-4 Atlanta Falcons (who knocked out GB, but barely) in the Super Bowl, and the Patriots emerged victorious, giving Brady his 3rd Super Bowl win.

Looking back on Season 3 (UPDATED at Sea.4, Wk.2):
- Is this Brian Urlacher's final season in Chicago? Retired.
- What about Julius Peppers? Kept.
- And Brian Marshall? Kept.
- Matt Moore proved to be an invaluable backup - will Chicago be able to retain him? Struggled in preseason - TJ Yates signed as #2 QB.
- Will Chicago use its higher draft picks on defense, O-line, or receiving corps? Focused on defense, but best pick is B- o-lineman.
- How else might Chicago upgrade its secondary? Not yet.
- Can Cutler stay healthy next season? So far...
- Might Chicago trade Marshall or Peppers for a superstar Safety? Neither; shockingly, after startling emergence of Sea. 4 UDFA RB Bernard Booker from practice squad to starter, the team traded Feature Back/Team Mentor RB Matt Forte to New England for OLB Courtney Upshaw.

12/17/12

Sea.3, Wildcard (Review) & Divisional Round (Preview) - After stunning Arizona, Bears take on nemesis Packers once again


After stunningly making the wildcard round (with a 8-7-1 record), Da Bears with backup QB Matt Moore at the helm once again, managed to stop a resurgent 9-7 Arizona at Phoenix Stadium (led by rookie phenom QB Jake Brewer). Now, they travel to Green Bay to face the team an Aaron Rodgers-led squad that has beat Chicago twice during this season by considerable margins each time.
 

12/13/12

Sea.3, Wk.15 - 9-4 Pack take out 7-6 Chicago

[+3 to CPU slider points]
Packers superstar QB Aaron Rodgers threw all over Chicago (with 2 TD passes to #1 WR Greg Jennings) for a 30-21 win. Matt Moore started his second game for Chicago and while the Bears did recover slightly from a 27-7 deficit, this game was never close and GB usually had a 2-touchdown lead before Chicago slightly narrowed the gap, repeatedly. One of the main bright sides for Chi-town was a goal line fade to #2 WR Alshon Jeffery where he jumped over 2 defenders in the back of the endzone and remained in bounds in a Brandon Marshall-esque goal line fade TD catch (looked a lot like the following catch).

Typical drive for GB:

12/12/12

Sea.3, Wk. 13 - 6-6 Bears defeat 7-6 Vikings

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In this divisional clash, the underacheiving 6-6 Chicago Bears (with Cutler out and backup FA offseason acquisition Matt Moore as starting QB) faced off against NFC North opponent 7-6 Minnesota Vikings at Minneapolis's Metrodome. With about the same OVRs, the Bears managed to "contain" Adrian Peterson on defense (just 98 yards rushing, 5.0 yards per carry, no fumbles). Chicago's offense wasn't as explosive as with Cutler, but another veteran FA offseason acquisition (TE Benjamin Watson) was key to Chicago's 17-6 victory. "Feature Back" RB Matt Forte shouldered the load and rushed for 101 yards with 4.0 yards per carry, and Matt Moore had a conservative 223 yards throwing, an amazingly high completion percentage of 76.8%, and a 123.3 QB rating with 2 TD passes (both to TE Ben Watson as Brandon Marshall drew double-teams both times on his fade routes in the redzone, opening up the middle of the endzone) and no INTs, showing that he was an excellent "Field General" in today's game.

These 3 players' performances were key to Chicago's impressive victory bucking an otherwise lackluster season thus far.

12/3/12

Sea.3, Wk. 2 - Bears defeat Steelers, 17-3

After getting absolutely demolished by the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the Season 3 opener and losing several key players to injury, the Bears traveled to Pittsburgh to take on a Roethlisberger-less Steelers squad. Despite the Steelers' tough D, their offense behind backup QB wasn't expected to do enough against Chicago, and the Bears were the favorites, and indeed they won, 17-6.

Sea.3, Wk.1 - Reigning Super Bowl champ Ravens crush Bears

           
In addition to handling Chicago 30-13, Baltimore injured Bears' starting TEs Kyle Adams (out for season) and Zachary Broder, and starting LT Jason Roberts. The right side of the line is clearly stronger than the left now, and Chicago has signed TE free agents -- 34 year old veteran Ben Watson and 1-year out man Matthew Cooper (71, C).

11/29/12

Season 3 - Offseason starting lineup

TEAM OVR: (vs. 86 OVR last year)
Here's a look at Chicago's starting lineup/rotation and notable backups at each position:
QB: Jay Cutler; Greg Braddock (70, C)
HB: Matt Forte, (R) Tim O'Quinn
FB: Evan Rodriguez 
WRs: Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, (R) Daniel Toombs, Antonio Bryant
TE: Kyle Adams, (R) Zach Boder
LT: Tyler Roberts (2nd Season, 4th round pick)
LG: Chilo Rachal
C: John Greco (2nd season, 3rd round pick)
RG: (2nd season FA acq.) JR Sweezy
RT: Gabe Carimi
DTs: Stephen Paea, (2nd season FA acq.) Kevin Vickerson, Mike Robinson
DEs: Julius Peppers, Shea McClellin
LBs: Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Nick Roach, (R) Jake Scullins
CBs: Chris Armstrong (2nd Sea. 1st round pick), Tim Jennings, (Offseason acq.) Kyle Armstrong
FS: Brandon Hardin, Chris Conte
SS: Major Wright
KR: (R) Daniel Toombs
PR: Chris Armstrong
K: Robbie Gould
P: (Offseason acq.) Chris Kluwe

Season 3 - Offseason Free Agency, Draft Recaps

Unlike the offseason precursor to Season 2, where the highlights of the offseason were (aside from the #1 draft pick, outstanding (and now starting) CB Chris Armstrong) the free agent acquisitions, the Bears made little noise in free agency other than the notable losses (WR Devin Hester, CB Charles Tillman, RB Michael Bush, DT Corey Williams, DE Robert Ayers), the Bears resigned CB Tim Jennings, and franchise-tagged the senior anchor of the defense, MLB Brian Urlacher. Rumors are swirling out of Chicago that if Brian doesn't retire after this year, the team he'll play for next year won't be Da Bears. Urlacher and Chicago couldn't come to a deal, so the Bears used the franchise tag on him. The Bears drafted for both sides of the ball, consistently going for the best players on their board when available for most of the draft.

ESPN's recap of the Chicago Bears Season 3 draft shows that Chicago had an excellent draft this year. While it seems unlikely that the draft has yielded the safety help that Chicago's defense needs, the Bears still made some excellent picks. 
  • With their first pick (28th overall), they chose running back Tim O'Quinn from Houston. Tim shows above average talent, and has exceptional speed, acceleration, carrying, and catching abilities, but has considerable injury risk as well. It's unlikely he'll start over Forte, but instead be the compliment as Michael Bush was, but with fresher legs and potential to start eventually.
  • With their second pick (46th overall), the best player on Chicago's board was Fresno State wide receiver Daniel Toombs. Not necessarily needing another tall WR when having both B. Marshall and now-"Future Star" A. Jeffery in the WR corps, Chicago believes they strongly lucked out on scouting Daniel and finding him at this spot, and Chicago is banking on Daniel's "Deep Threat" role to fill the shoes of Devin Hester in the receiving game and possibly the return game on Special Teams as well. Toombs won't
  • With their third round draft choice (74th overall), Chicago was elated to find another very talented player whom they focused their scouting efforts on, still available. They wasted no time in taking MLB Jake Scullins from Portland St. Analysts heavily praised the move, citing Scullin's above average talent, excellent potential, value in the fourth round, and the expected succession of Brian Urlacher as the future leader of the defensive squad. Scullins' speed is lacking, but his hit power and block shedding abilities made this pick a can't-miss for Chicago's drafting team. Experts expect Scullins, given Chicago's 4-3 defense, not to start immediately of course, but instead to rotate into the linebacker spot during games.

11/16/12

Season 2, NFC Conference Championship - Redskins hang on to win and eliminate the reigning Super Bowl champs, 16-13


Although they'd eventually get blown out in a Maryland-DC rivalry by the Baltimore Ravens 21-6 in the Season 2 Super Bowl, there's no "sophomore slump" for RGIII as he leads his team to an NFC Conference Championship over Da Bears (16 to 13) after powering past the Cowboys in the Wildcard round and the Seahawks in the Divisional Round. The Redskins quadruple-headed running attack (Alfred Morris, Roy Helu, Evan Royster, and of course RGIII himself) all made prominent rushes during this game, and led Washington to victory.

The Baltimore Ravens are the new Super Bowl champions.

11/9/12

Season 2, Week 17 - Most epic 4th quarter comeback ever! Bears (barely) land Wildcard Spot!!!

You wouldn't know it from looking at it pre-snap, but in this game-on-the-line, two-minute drill, hurried-up "Shotgun - Empty Y-Flex - Y Stick" play, Green Bay sends 7 rushers! Quickly reading the tremendous blitz pressure, Cutler gets the throw off in time before the free blitzer disrupts the throw. Mapped out, the play (and reads) look like this:
 #1 WR Brandon Marshall's ("B") stopping his streak route, and then quickly developing and sustaining his improvised block on his corner is extremely key here. Cutler hits a wide open #4 WR Earl Bennett ("Y") on Bennett's shallow out route, but this play doesn't even necessarily make it past the first down marker if Marshall doesn't recognize Bennett has received the ball and then throw a clutch block on his covering corner. The Packers' Y-DB has inside leverage on #2 WR Devin Hester's ("X") medium in-breaking route (pictured far left), and the single high safety has both Bears' #3 WR Alshon Jeffery ("LB") and late-season FA acquisition TE Jeremy Shockey ("A") covered, but the single-centered safety can't sprint laterally to the sideline fast enough to catch Bennett, who blows by Marshall's excellent block on his way to give Cutler yet another fourth quarter comeback, and give the reigning Super Bowl champs a Wildcard berth.

Full highlight video:

11/8/12

Season 2, Week 17 - Packers (11-4) at Bears (10-5) - Match-up of the season for Chicago


Week 17 - It all comes down to this. With too many good NFC teams hunting for a Wildcard spot (10-5 Cowboys, Redskins, Falcons) and with the Packers having already clinched a playoff spot, this game is a must-win for Chicago. It's unlikely that GB will rest their starters, however, as they would like nothing more than to ensure NFC North rival Chicago's elimination from the playoffs...

Notable points heading into this game:
  • Chicago's only notable injury outs are LB Nick Roach and the standout rookie LT.
  • Chicago will be using the previously-unused Mike Shanahan's Washington Redskins offensive playbook.

Other odds and ends in general:
  • Noteworthy losses to FA this past season include DLs Israel Adonije and Henry Melton, CB DJ Moore, TE Kellen Davis, and WRs Eric Weems and Johnny Knox. 
  • Noteworthy FA acquisitions: DT Corey Williams, TE Tony Scheffler (placed on IR at Week 10), and TE Jeremy Shockey.
  • Most outstanding rookie: First round draft pick CB/PR Chris Armstrong.

11/5/12

Sea.2, Week 5 - Winning by the slimmest margin possible vs. Rams (24-23)

Chicago Bears at St. Louis Rams
Nov 4, 20121234F
CHI (4-0)0107724
STL (3-2)1076023
Top Performers
PASS: Jay Cutler -
RUSH: Steven Jackson -
REC: Alshon Jeffery -
Team Stats Comparison
CHISTL
First Downs1312
3rd Down Efficiency7/118/13
4th Down Efficiency0/00/0
Total Yards469313
Passing Yards312191
Rushing Yards5691
Penalties-Penalty Yards00
Turnovers20
Time of Possession17:0422:56
Scoring Summary
Chicago Bears
PASSINGC/AYDSTDINT
Jay Cutler (128.8 QB Rating)20/2831231
RUSHINGATTYDSAVGTD
Matt Forte16493.00
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
Alshon Jeffery78612.2
Brandon Marshall67011.61
DEFENSETACKSACKINTTD
L. Briggs5200
St. Louis Rams
PASSINGC/AYDSTDINT
Sam Bradford (90.4 QB Rating)14/2517110
RUSHINGATTYDSAVGTD
Steven Jackson25753.01
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
Lance Kendricks4317.7
Danny Amendola33110.3
Steve Smith37826.01
DEFENSETACKSACKINTTD
J. Dunbar4010

11/3/12

Sea.2, Wk.5 - BYE Week Recap

Week 1 at the Houston Texans (W, 28-14)
 - Chicago was lucky to win this - the score is very misleading. Chicago's Special Teams (Hester with 2 KR TDs) and Defense (Jennings had a pick-6) helped Chicago win the season opener.
 - The Bears' offense was very poor: Cutler's QB rating was 44.8, with 1 TD and 3 INTs; Texans' RB Arian Foster had better rushing ypc average than Forte; and the Texans had FIVE receivers (including Arian Foster) with more receptions than the Bears top WR, Brandon Marshall.

Week 2 hosting the San Francisco 49ers (W, 24-7)
- Cutler bounces back and carries Da Bears, showing just how dangerous this team can be when Cutler's at the top of his game; finishes with 3 TDs, 1 INT, and a 129.9 QB Rating.
- Forte also has a stellar game, rushing for 101 yards on 23 carries.
- Da Bears have 4 receivers with the most receptions, and Bears WR Brandon Marshall caught all 3 TD passes, had the most receptions in that game at 6. WR Devin Hester had the most receiving yards in the game at 82 yds.
- Chicago's defense stayed strong, keeping the 49ers to a meager 20% conversion rate on third down (compared to Chicago's 57%).

Week 3 at the New York Giants (W, 27-13)
- Another game where the score is misleading. The game was 13-10 for most of it until the Giants tied it at 13 early in the fourth quarter. Then, Chicago's offense springs to life: 14 unanswered points, sparked in large part to a huge Forte break-off run. Forte ends the game with 142 yards rushing on only 17 attempts. Backup RB Michael Bush also ran the ball well and had a run for a TD. Cutler (1 TD, 1 INT) and Eli Manning (0 TDs, 1 INT) were very similar at QB Rating (94.2 vs. 91.4); Manning had 346 passing yards (vs. 276 for Cutler).

Week 4 at Minnesota Vikings (simmed)(W, 27-10) 

Week 5 - BYE Week 
- Injuries: like the only other team with no current injuries in the NFL (NFC North rival Packers), the Bears are fortunate to have no injuries so far. 

11/1/12

Start of 2013-2014 Season & Outlook

The reigning Super Bowl champions have lost more talent than they gained during the "Super Bowl hangover" offseason as referenced in the prior post (DLs Israel Adonije & Henry Melton, WR Johnny Knox, and CB DJ Moore). Their 2013 draft class was rated D+ by the critics. Their overall rating went down from an 83 OVR (compare to San Diego's 84 OVR at the time) down to a 78 OVR. In their first pre-season debut, even the first string looked extremely lackluster on both sides of the ball, making Colts QB Andrew Luck look like Aaron Rodgers as he marched Indy down the field for a 7-0 early lead. Chicago's sole notable free agent acquisition, defensive lineman journeyman Corey Williams, was a sole bright spot for the squad, going on a hot streak.

10/30/12

2012-2013 Super Bowl Champions!

After defeating the San Diego Chargers, Chicago reigns as the new Super Bowl champions! And rather unexpectedly, SS Major Wright was the MVP of the game (winning the Pete Rozelle trophy thanks to his momentum-shifting pick-6 of Chargers QB Philip Rivers). Can they repeat any time soon? Da Bears are brimming with talent, but are expected to franchise tag Brian Urlacher to get at least one more year, draft heavy towards the defense, and lose key players DL Israel Adonije, Henry Melton, WR Johnny Knox, and DB DJ Moore, whom are all expected to test free agency now that they have their Super Bowl rings.
Play of the game: Calling and running the "Saints Post" 5-WR shotgun formation for their first and only time in the game, Cutler leaves the routes unmodified, notices the single-high safety look from the defense pre-snap, and after the snap, pump fakes to WR Brandon Marshall, which draws the relevant dropping linebacker as well as single-high safety far enough to the right to leave room for standout rookie WR Alshon Jeffery, who gets enough separation on his slot post route to leave room for an easy throw for 6, although since Jeffery's separation isn't entirely clean, he gets tackled immediately while making the catch but manages to hang on to the football. http://youtu.be/ClK4sKrqPQk?t=13m47s

10/27/12

New York Giants at Chicago Bears
Oct 27, 20121234F
NYG (9-7)330713
CHI (14-2)0149326
Top Performers
PASS: J. Cutler
RUSH: M. Forte
REC: M. Bennett
Team Stats Comparison
NYGCHI
First Downs1612
3rd Down Efficiency1/87/13
4th Down Efficiency0/10/0
Total Yards466363
Passing Yards275201
Rushing Yards4184
Penalties-Penalty Yards3-302-20
Turnovers22
Time of Possession18:1921:41
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
5:28(NYG) L. Tynes, 27 Yd FG.30
SECOND QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
9:56(CHI) A. Jeffery 6 Yd pass from J. Cutler (R. Gould PAT)37
4:59(CHI) A. Jeffery 11 Yd pass from J. Cutler (R. Gould PAT)314
0:41(NYG) L. Tynes, 48 Yd FG614
THIRD QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
6:59(CHI) M. Wright, returned interception 105 Yds (R. Gould PAT)621
6:17(CHI) E. Manning sacked in endzone, Safety623
FOURTH QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
7:23(CHI) R. Gould, 21 Yd FG626
1:24(NYG) M. Bennett 7 Yd pass from E. Manning (L. Tynes PAT)1326
New York Giants
PASSINGC/AYDSTDINT
Eli Manning (76.5 rtg)18/3029612
RUSHINGATTYDSAVGTD
Ahmad Bradshaw15473.10
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
Martellus Bennett78612.21
Victor Cruz611919.80
DEFENSETACKSACKINTTD
Chase Blackburn10 (1 FF)000
Justin Tuck4100
KICK RETURNRETYDSAVGTD
Domenik Hixon36521.60
Chicago Bears
PASSINGC/AYDSTDINT
Jay Cutler (109.2 rtg)15/2620920
RUSHINGATTYDSAVGTD
Matt Forte20703.50
Michael Bush263.00
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
Alshon Jeffery47418.52
Brandon Marshall34916.30
Earl Bennett232160
Devin Hester21470
BLOCKINGPANCAKESACK
Gabe Carimi01
DEFENSETACKSACKINTTD
Julius Peppers41 (Safety)00
Brian Urlacher7000
Major Wright5011
D.J. Moore3010
Israel Adonije2100
KICK RETURNRETYDSAVGTD
Devin Hester34916.30

Season 1, Playoffs - Divisional Round - Bears claw up Giants at Chicago, 26-13

New York Giants at Chicago Bears
Oct 27, 20121ST2ND3RD4THSCORE
New York Giants (9-7)330713
Chicago Bears (14-2)0149326
Team Stats Comparison
NYGCHI
Total Offense352285
Rushing Yards4184
Passing Yards275201
First Downs1612
Punt Return Yards4820
Kick Return Yards6558
Total Yards466363
Turnovers22
3rd Down Converstion1/87/13
4th Down Conversion0/10/0
2-Point Conversion0/00/0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals1/12/1
Penalties3-302-20
Posession Time18:1921:41
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
5:28(NYG) L. Tynes, 27 Yd FG.30
SECOND QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
9:56(CHI) A. Jeffery 6 Yd pass from J. Cutler (R. Gould PAT)37
4:59(CHI) A. Jeffery 11 Yd pass from J. Cutler (R. Gould PAT)314
0:41(NYG) L. Tynes, 48 Yd FG614
THIRD QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
6:59(CHI) M. Wright, returned interception 105 Yds (R. Gould PAT)621
6:17(CHI) E. Manning sacked in endzone, Safety623
FOURTH QUARTER SCORINGNYGCHI
7:23(CHI) R. Gould, 21 Yd FG626
1:24(NYG) M. Bennett 7 Yd pass from E. Manning (L. Tynes PAT)1326
New York Giants
PASSINGC/AYDSTDINT
Eli Manning (76.5 rtg)18/3029612
RUSHINGATTYDSAVGTD
Ahmad Bradshaw15473.10
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
Martellus Bennett78612.21
Victor Cruz611919.80
DEFENSETACKSACKINTTD
Chase Blackburn10 (1 FF)000
Justin Tuck4100
KICK RETURNRETYDSAVGTD
Domenik Hixon36521.60
Chicago Bears
PASSINGC/AYDSTDINT
Jay Cutler (109.2 rtg)15/2620920
RUSHINGATTYDSAVGTD
Matt Forte20703.50
Michael Bush263.00
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
Alshon Jeffery47418.52
Brandon Marshall34916.30
Earl Bennett232160
Devin Hester21470
BLOCKINGPANCAKESACK
Gabe Carimi01
DEFENSETACKSACKINTTD
Julius Peppers41 (Safety)00
Brian Urlacher7000
Major Wright5011
D.J. Moore3010
Israel Adonije2100
KICK RETURNRETYDSAVGTD
Devin Hester34916.30

9/9/12

BUFFER POST

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BELOW THIS IS MY FORMER NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS' FRANCHISE





















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9/6/12

Season 5, AFC Divisional Round - Chiefs outlast Patriots with last minute FG

Season 5, AFC Divisional Round - Late in the fourth with under 2 minutes left on the clock and the game tied at 17-17, Chiefs' QB Peyton Manning sliced up New England's defense and put his team in field goal range. The Chiefs' special teams unit did the rest, and with that, the incumbent champions were eliminated from the Season 5 playoffs, 20-17.

Season 5's Super Bowl pitted Kansas City, who did indeed reach the big dance, against a total Cinderella, the wildcard 9-7 Cleveland Browns:
And in nothing short of a shocker, upstart Colt McCoy leads Cleveland and the Dawg Pound finally reigns supreme with a dramatic 20-10 victory over Peyton's KC squad.
 

9/5/12

Season 5, Wildcard Round - Shocker! Patriots barely eek past Colts, 21-17

Season 5, Wildcard Round - Facing the only team (9-7) that just blew them (10-6) out in the regular season (to the tune of 7-24), New England knew they had a tough task ahead in coming anywhere close to defeating their wildcard opponent, the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots' defense managed to keep the game scoreless until late in the 2nd quarter, when Indy found the endzone with some excellent passing by Peyton Manning's successor, Colts' 3rd year veteran QB Chase Anderson. If it wasn't for not one, but two, KR TDs by key offseason free agent acquisition/X-factor return specialist Leonard Massey, comprising 14 points of New England's 21 total points, NE would have likely lost this one. For his outstanding, and more importantly, user-unprecedented (!) performance (in a playoff game, no less!), Massey was awarded the "Leon Washington award" after the game:
Prospectively: will New England's Special Teams unit keep having to score to help the sputtering offense that clearly misses offensive powerhouse TE Rob Gronkowski? Offseason free agent acquisition TE Heath Miller has been all you could ask for as a capable back-up coming up with several clutch catches, but without Gronk, New England lacks a true go-to guy. Will New England's defense step up better than it has thus far? Will it help that NE will face a Chiefs team that, although lead by future Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning, lost to the Patriots during their regular season match-up at Arrowhead Stadium?

9/4/12

Season 5, Week 17 - Patriots Convincingly Defeat Division Leader Jets in Season Finale, 24-10


Season 5, Week 17 - For the first time since "season one," the Patriots did not win the AFC East - this time that feat was achieved by the 11-4 New York Jets. However, still having (barely!) clinched a wildcard berth with a 9-6 record (as did division rival Miami), the returning champs made the playoffs before Week 17 and had ostensibly the option to rest their starters for the playoffs. However, facing the opponent that they likely would face in the playoffs should they advance far enough, wanting to continue their momentum from their Week 16 win over Tennessee, and wanting to prove their Week 3 win over the new division leader was no fluke, new head coach Scott Riley decided to play the "on fire" Tom Brady and #1 WR Wes Welker. His decision was rewarded, as no starters were injured and the Patriots were winning at one point with a score of 24-3, before finishing the game with the win at 24-10. It remains to be seen, however, whom shall be New England's wildcard round opponent.

8/31/12

Season 5, Weeks 11, 12, 13, 14 - Patriots Barely Beat Lowly Jags, 21-17, but then lose to Dolphins, Eagles, Texans; stand at 8-5

Week 11 - While Jacksonville made a game of it, tied with NE going into the fourth, 14-14, and then taking a lead 17-14 early in the fourth, the Patriots rallied from behind once again to win narrowly, 17-21. Jax falls to 3-8.

Weeks 12 & 13 - After losing to Miami in a close game (simmed), the Patriots lost again on the road in Philadelphia. After coming back again from behind in the 4th 3-10 to tie the score at 10 all, the Eagles rallied on the arm of 3rd year QB BJ Hackett, who usurped Michael Vick for the starting role. An excellent TD pass to WR Jeremy Maclin with less than a minute to go in the fourth, and even better YAC from Maclin, gave Philly the win, 17-10. The Patriots fall to 8-4, and play host to Houston in their Week 14 match coming up.

Week 15 - Making it three losses in a row, the Patriots fall to the 5-8 Texans 14-17 after Houston kicked the game winning field goal with virtually no time left on the clock to break the 14-14 tie and secure the win in regulation.

Week 16 - New England ends their 3-game losing streak and rises to 9 and 5, blowing out the lowly 2-11 Tennessee Titans, 24 to 7.

Season 5, Week 10 - Patriots come back in 4th quarter to defeat Giants

Going from one Manning to the next, the Patriots next game after the Chiefs was against their multiple Super Bowls' opponent, the New York Giants (4-4). The game didn't disappoint fans, an exciting nail-biter that went down to the wire, with the Patriots staging a 4th quarter comeback after being down virtually the entire game at 10-3, to win late in the fourth 17-10. New England moves to 7-2 while the Giants fall to 4-5.

Season 5, Week 9 - Undefeated KC tastes first loss at the hands of the Patriots

The last domino falls here! The team with the best record in the NFL is undefeated Kansas City with big free agent acquisition QB Peyton Manning at the helm. With their 6-0 record, they looked to take out a Patriots squad who, before their Week 5 BYE, suffered a blowout at the hands of Peyton's former team, the then 3-3 Indianapolis Colts. But NE used the BYE week to revamp, and with several clutch catches by free agent veteran TE Heath Miller, New England managed to give the Chiefs their first loss of the season, and only added further to the epic Brady vs. Manning rivalry.

8/30/12

Season 5, Weeks 1-7 Recap (@BYE during Week 8)


Recapping season five thus far, New England (record of 5-2, tied for 3rd best in NFL; the Chiefs lead by QB Peyton Manning have the NFL's best record at 6-0) has:

Lost against the following teams:

Blowout by the QB Chase Anderson (3rd year veteran)-led Colts, who were 3-3 going into the game, and they win by shocking margin of 28-7 final, which many view as a wake-up call to the Pats going into their BYE week 8.
On a controversial closing minutes 2-point conversion play, with a successful pass by Patriots QB Tom Brady to 5th-string WR Jermaine Cunningham, but the receiver (disputedly) did not break the plane of the endzone on his short out route before stepping   out of bounds, whereby rendering the final score of 18-20, giving QB Colin Knapernick's squad a much needed win after being 0-3 heading into the game facing a then 3-0 NE squad.



Won against the following teams:
At 5-1, the Jets are the current AFC East Division leader in Week 8 after the Patriots' stunning loss to the Colts. However, the Jets' only loss thus far this season was to New England.

The big questions that remain unanswered:
  • With key Offensive Playmaker/Go To Guy TE Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski out for the season after the injury in the Colts game during Week 7, just how screwed is New England?
  • Is New England's defense, even with the addition of good but oft-injured 1st round draft pick CB Kendrick Ferguson, good enough to hold the line?
  • With their new return man/speed demon KR/PR Leonard Massey be enough to make the Pats' Special Teams a regular x-factor?