12/19/12

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

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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

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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).