Sunday Football Afterword: Bears vs Packers

Jordy Nelson certainly enjoyed having Rodgers back and the defense
having to look out for Cobb again, too. The receiver had 10 grabs for 161 yards.

Cory Puffett

We could not have asked for a more exciting NFC North Championship game on the final Sunday of the 2013 regular season. The Packers and Bears fought tooth and nail to the final gun.

Each quarter was ‘won’ by a different team. The Bears took the first and third quarters while the Packers took the second and fourth.

Aaron Rodgers had missed seven games after being injured early in Green Bay’s November 4 meeting with Chicago. He injured his collarbone in that game and the Packers went on to lose 27-20.

Randall Cobb also returned after missing most of the season on the Injured Reserve-designated to return list.

Rodgers, like Cutler a few weeks ago in his return, started rusty. But he finished with a solid game, throwing for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns. Cobb had just two receptions but they went for 55 yards and two touchdowns. How about that?

Green Bay also had a nice game on the ground as James Starks and Eddie Lacy combined for 121 yards on 32 carries. Lacy had a touchdown run on an impressive cutback and Rodgers did a little dirty work delivering a block to help Lacy get the edge.

Jarrett Boykin also had a touchdown for Green Bay when he recovered an Aaron Rodgers fumble and ran it in for the touchdown.

Chicago struggled in the final stretch of this season. After a narrow overtime win against Baltimore in mid-November, the Bears went just 2-4 in their final six games.

Green Bay battled through a quarterback carousel after Rodgers went down against Chicago, going 0-4-1 in a five-game stretch that included that game against the Bears. But once they brought back matt Flynn, the Packers were able to keep their season afloat, winning two of three games before Rodgers was able to return and deliver Green Bay a playoff birth.

With both Rodgers and Cobb back, and a home game next week, Green Bay is definitely a dangerous team this postseason. For Chicago, after Josh McCown did such a great job in place of Jay Cutler, their fans have to be frustrated. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do at the quarterback position this offseason with McCown planning to retire.

Final Score:

Green Bay Packers – 33

Chicago Bears – 28

Sunday Football Afterword: Eagles vs Bears

Brandon Boykin added a score to the offense's six touchdown with a
54-yard pick-6 off Jay Cutler in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's win.

Cory Puffett

After the results of the earlier games on Sunday, there wasn’t much meaning to Sunday night’s matchup between the Eagles and Bears. The exception was that Chicago could clinch the NFC North with a win in the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead, the Eagles handed the Bears a huge loss by hanging 54 points, the most any team has scored on the Bears since Detroit hung 55 on them in 1997.

Jay Cutler struggled in one of the few Week 16 games that did not have adverse weather conditions. To be fair though, it was hardly all his fault. Chicago’s offensive line did little to stop Philadelphia’s front seven. Cutler was sacked five times for 46 lost yards. Matt Forte and Michael Bush combined for just 49 yards on 16 carries.

Philly’s offense had no such problems. They scored 21 points each in the first and fourth quarters. Nick Foles completed 21 of 25 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

LeSean McCoy has 18 carries for 133 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Bryce Brown added 115 yards and a score on nine carries. Chris Polk also scored on the ground as the Eagles gained 289 yards and four rushing touchdowns on 36 carries. That’s a team average of 8.0 yards per carry!

Sunday night’s loss sets up an NFC North Championship next Sunday for the Bears and Packers in the Windy City. The storyline we’ll all be following this week is whether Aaron Rodgers is cleared to return for that game.

If Rodgers is inactive, Matt Flynn will make his fourth start of the season and he has shown signs of improvement every week, even in Sunday’s 38-31 loss to Pittsburgh. Eddie Lacy adds balance to Green Bay’s offense and could help them pose similar issues to Chicago’s defense as what they saw in Philly on Sunday night.

Philadelphia will play a second straight Sunday night game in the 2013 regular season finale, an NFC East Championship in Dallas. The Eagles hold a one-game lead on the Cowboys, but Dallas owns the most important tiebreakers, so a win will put Dallas in the playoffs and keep Philadelphia home for the new year.

Final Score:

Chicago Bears – 11

Philadelphia Eagles – 54

Monday Football Afterword: Bears vs Cowboys

Second-year receiver Alshon Jeffery hauled in the NFL's 100th touchdown of
Week 14 on his way to yet another great performance in Chicago's win on MNF.

Cory Puffett

Tony Romo has some of the best stats of any quarterback in NFL history in November. In November, his stats are also among the best. But his won/loss records always seem to take a hit when the calendar turns to the final month of the season.

11-for-20 for 104 yards and 3 TDs, a 109.2 passer rating; those were Tony Romo’s stats on Monday night. Pretty good numbers all told.

You certainly can’t fault the Cowboys’ run game. DeMarco Murray carried 18 times for 145 yards. The team gained a total of 198 yards on the ground and 144 through the air.

But the defense was awful. The Bears scored on all eight of their offensive possessions, I don’t include Josh McCown’s kneel to run the final few seconds off the clock.

Early in the game, it looked like it was simply the Bears overpowering the Cowboys. The offensive line executed perfect blocking schemes. Josh McCown delivered great passes (he finished 27/36 for 348 yards and 4 TDs and a 141.9 passer rating). Matt Forte found running lanes. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery were uncontainable.

But as the game wore on, it was impossible to ignore how much Dallas had to do with the Bears’ dominant offensive performance. The Cowboys were my favorite to pull out the NFC East title. Now they trail the Eagles by one game and, if they even get that far, will have to face the Eagles in Week 17 to decide who makes the playoffs.

But even that is no guarantee. Aaron Rodgers could be back next week for the Packers. Then in Week 16 they play in Washington, and though the Redskins are awful, they’ve played competitive games against Dallas even in their worst seasons.

The Bears are now tied with the Lions for first in the NFC North. They play at Cleveland and at Philadelphia the next two weeks before hosting the Packers in Week 17, and Green Bay could be playing for something at that point if Rodgers does return this week.

Final Score:

Dallas Cowboys – 28

Chicago Bears – 45

Sunday Football Afterword: Bears vs Lions

Entering Sunday, Calvin Johnson had 7 TD receptions, a far cry from his one TD
in the first eight games of 2012. He added two more today in Detroit's win in Chicago.

Saswat Misra

In a fairly close game most of the way, the Lions outlasted the Bears 21-19 in Soldier Field. Matt Stafford hooked up with Calvin Johnson twice in the second half to put the game away.

Even though Josh McCown found Brandon Marshall late, a much-needed two-point conversion attempt failed (with two chances to get it) and the onside kick didn’t work out.

Jay Cutler started the game, but as the game progressed Cutler suffered an ankle sprain and he wasn’t available for the final drive of the game.

With this win and a Packers loss, the Lions have sole possession of first place in the tight NFC North with Green Bay and Chicago one game back. These last few games have probably been the best we’ve seen from Stafford and Johnson as they look to increase their divisional lead even further next week at Pittsburgh.

The Bears will be closely monitoring the Jay Cutler injury as an apparent ankle sprain might keep him out against Baltimore next week. If he isn’t able to go, Josh McCown will be ready as he has performed decently well the past few games.

Final Score:

Detroit Lions – 21

Chicago Bears – 19

Monday Football Afterword: Packers vs Bears

Eddie Lacy stepped up in Aaron Rodgers' absence, but it was not enough
as the Packers fell to their NFC North rival on Monday Night Football.

Cory Puffett

This week’s edition of the oldest, and arguably the best, NFL rivalry featured a starting quarterback for less than a full quarter. Jay Cutler expects to be back as soon as next week and Aaron Rodgers injured his non-throwing shoulder in the first quarter and did not return.

The concern right now is that it could be a collarbone fracture that would cause him to miss the rest of the season. The Buffalo Bills released Matt Flynn on Monday and the Packers could make a play for a guy who is familiar with their playbook and has had a rough go in his NFL tour since setting Green Bay’s team records for single-game passing yards and passing touchdowns on New Years Day 2012.

Josh McCown continued to show that he is capable backup. He never was able to get his NFL career off the ground. But the contract he signed with Chicago this offseason is just a one-year contract, so at 34 years old, he could be a candidate in free agency for a team that believes it is just a quarterback away from being a playoff team.

Seneca Wallace could have done worse, but he clearly struggled in the game. Green Bay’s running backs kept the team in the game.

Eddie Lacy has been earning a lot of attention recently, and after this 150-yard performance he may have inserted himself in NFC Rookie of the Year discussions. James Starks picked up 40 yards on just six carries.

The Bears may not have faired so well against Aaron Rodgers, but Matt Forte, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery had big games to carry the offense and the defense did just enough to keep the lead.

Lucky for Green Bay, they have the third easiest remaining schedule in the NFL, including matchups with Philadelphia, the New York Giants, and Minnesota in the next three weeks. If Rodgers’s injury is not too serious, he may be back in time for a Week 13 game in Detroit. The Lions are tied for first in the NFC North with the Bears and Packers at 5-3 after tonight.

The Bears host Detroit next week. They are 2-1 in the NFC North now and will play in Minnesota in Week 13 and then host Green Bay in their final game of the season.

Final Score:

Chicago Bears – 27

Green Bay Packers – 20

Sunday Football Afterword: Redskins vs Bears

Solid coverage by Reed Doughty allowed Brian Orakpo to pick off a
bobbled pass and take it to the house in the 2nd quarter.

Cory Puffett

Where to begin, where to begin? The Redskins actually looked decent today. Their offense moved the ball effectively, Robert Griffin III ran well and was more accurate than he was last week in Dallas, and, despite the high score, the defense actually looked okay other than a pair of stupid penalties on Brandon Meriweather.

The special teams effort continues to be an issue for Washington. They gave up two returns of 80 yards in Dallas and another today, a punt return touchdown by Devin Hester, who extended his own NFL record for punt return scores and tied Deion Sanders for the all-time record for combined return touchdowns.

Each team had a pair of running backs score three times. Matt Forte had the hat trick for Chicago while Roy Helu did it for Washington.

Jay Cutler left the game in the first half with a groin injury and Josh McCown played the whole second half for Chicago. As expected, he was raw coming in, but played a good game and made some big plays late in the game. Needing a touchdown, there just was not enough time left on the clock after Washington’s last score for McCown to drive the offense down the field.

The Bears will rest next week before visiting Green Bay in Week 9. The Redskins travel to Denver to face Peyton Manning and the Broncos’ high-powered offense next week. Based on the way their offense played today, it may come down to which defense gets a key, late-game stop.

Final Score:

Chicago Bears – 41

Washington Redskins – 45

Thursday Football Afterword: Bears vs Giants

The struggle continues for Eli Manning. Thursday night marked the
fourth time in six games that he's thrown at least three picks this season.

Cory Puffett

I let last week slip by without much analysis, at least not via the written word. Well I’m back this week and we (my radio co-hosts and I) will be sure to cover the big games for Week 6 right here.

For the second straight week, we were treated to a really good game on Thursday night that had low expectations going in. It was advertised as a game pitting two “NFL powerhouses” against each other, which was laughable considering one was the 0-5 Giants.

Credit to the Giants for keeping it interesting. Brandon Jacobs had a huge game on the ground, racking up over 100 yards and two scores for the team he gave so much to over the first seven seasons of his career.

Unfortunately, Eli Manning was the undoing of his team for a second straight week. He has six interceptions in the last five days, 15 on the season, and has thrown at least one in every game so far. Two of his first five passes last night were picked off, the second was returned for a touchdown, and his third came on a promising drive late in the fourth quarter that ultimately clinched the victory for Chicago.

Jay Cutler and the Bears improve to 4-2 with the win and will have sole possession of the NFC North if Cleveland can beat Detroit on Sunday. Cutler now has 12 touchdown passes versus six interceptions on the season after throwing a pair to Brandon Marshall.

Speaking of Marshall, the NFL told him earlier this week that if he wore green cleats to support Mental Health Awareness Week, he would be ejected from the game. They backed off that stance and told him that he could wear them but that he would be fined. He responded by saying that he will match the NFL’s fine with a donation to a Mental Health charity. Chalk one up for Good Guy Brandon this week.

Be sure to listen to the Football Freaks’ Week 6 predictions podcast on PodOmatic or iTunes, and then tune in this evening from 6-7pm (emphasis on SIX P.M.) for our live show on WMUC Sports. Call in at 301-314-9979 or Tweet your questions to me, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Needs: NFC North

I began going through the NFL division-by-division last week, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. I have covered the bases in all four AFC divisions, and yesterday I covered the NFC East, so today I move on to the NFC North.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Chicago Bears

Marc Trestman is a CFL coach in the NFL. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to a completely different game. It will also be interesting to see what twists he brings to the game plan that will catch other teams off guard.

As usual, the Bears biggest problem on offense is the line. The Redskins had the same problem for years but finally seemed to have it fixed in 2012. The Bears need to fix theirs for 2013, or Marc Trestman’s team will look rather similar to Lovie Smith’s.

It’s hard to find what they really need on defense, because their defense is so good. But they don’t have very much depth to an aging secondary, specifically at corner.

Detroit Lions

The Lions broke out in 2011 as one of the NFL’s most dangerous teams. Matt Stafford was healthy for the whole season, Calvin Johnson tore it up in the end zone, and nobody wanted to play them. Then the offseason came, and with it off-the-field issues. They’ll need to really clean up their act this season to keep the focus on football and getting back to their 2011 form in 2013.

The Lions will put a lot of attention on keeping Cliff Avril. They’ve already lost one good defensive end and really can’t get away with losing another if they want to be competitive next season.

Titus Young is gone, and it’s for the best. However, that loss does mean the Lions don’t have a real second receiver behind Megatron. They need depth at that position.

Defense is also an area that must be addressed. The Lions have a decent line if they can keep Avril, but their linebacker corps and secondary are not very good.

Green Bay Packers

Greg Jennings is a free agent. As we’ve said for years, though, the Packers have unrealistic depth at receiver, so I’m not expecting Jennings to return in 2013.

Defense is the area of concern for the Packers, as it has been since their Super Bowl year. Despite having a lot of playmakers and big names on defense, they give up a lot of yards. It might be time to trade one or two of their big names for some draft picks, because I’m less and less convinced every season that these guys know how to play together.

Minnesota Vikings

The only ray of sunshine I see for the Vikings right now is Adrian Peterson.

Christian Ponder is an okay quarterback, but he will have to do a lot of improving this offseason if he is going to help take this team back to the playoffs, especially if the Vikings don’t keep Percy Harvin. They don’t have much other talent at receiver. As good as Adrian Peterson is, if the Vikings have no passing game, he won’t carry them far.

Minnesota also needs to put a lot of work into their defense. Their secondary is okay but rarely impressed me as anything more than mediocre. Linebacker is a clear area of concern and they need to pick up a good interior lineman.

Tomorrow I will cover the NFC South’s offseason needs, team-by-team. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.