11-20-2018, 06:29 AM
TODAY Sports*Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)Dallas Cowboys (8-8)New York Giants (8-8)Washington Redskins (7-9)Going into this projection Chicago Bears T-Shirt , I wasn’t overly high on the NFC East. All but one team is projected to finish .500 or better. Until I see what the Cowboys offense looks like, it’s hard for me to buy into them. The Giants offense could be fun, even with an aging Eli Manning.NFC NorthRon Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports*Minnesota Vikings (13-3)*Chicago Bears (10-6)Green Bay Packers (10-6)Detroit Lions (7-9)This is going to be the best division in football in 2018. Maybe I’m drinking the Kool-Aid following the Khalil Mack addition, but the Bears are playoff bound for the first time since 2010. Make no mistake, the Vikings are the best squad here, but it’s going to be more competitive from top-to-bottom in comparison to last year.NFC SouthEric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports*Atlanta Falcons (12-4)*New Orleans (10-6)Carolina Panthers (7-9)Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-12)Maybe I’m higher on the Falcons that most but their offense should be deadly, assuming the play calling is better. The Panthers’ offensive line issues worry me and the Bucs appears to be looking at an 0-4 start. What was the strongest division in football takes a step back.NFC WestKirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports*Los Angeles Rams (12-4)San Francisco 49ers (8-8)Arizona Cardinals (6-10)Seattle Seahawks (4-12)The Rams might have the most complete team in the NFL, but we’ve seen what too many superstars on the same roster can do. The 49ers could end up finishing better, but losing Jerick McKinnon is a big blow. The Cardinals and Seahawks are both bound to take a step back, especially the latter.AFC EastJeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports*New England Patriots (12-4)New York Jets (6-10)Miami Dolphins (5-11)Buffalo Bills (2-14)It appears the Patriots’ dominant run is close to being over, but in such a weak division it’s going to have to wait another year. The Jets are going to be better than their record projects and they have a bright future. The Bills appear to be the worst team in football after making the playoffs the previous year, and I’m not sure it’s close.AFC NorthPhilip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports*Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)Baltimore Ravens (7-9)Cleveland Browns (7-9)Cincinnati Bengals (4-12)The Steelers are loaded on offense and could dominate the AFC this season. The Ravens will continue to float around .500, and the Browns could surprise. There’s a lot of young talent on that Cleveland roster. I feel like I’m too low on the Bengals, but keeping Marvin Lewis was a terrible decision.AFC SouthTroy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports*Houston Texans (10-6)*Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6)Indianapolis Colts (7-9)Tennessee Titans (5-11)The battle at the top is going to go into the final weeks of the season Chicago Bears Hats , as I like both the Jaguars and Texans. The Colts have a bad roster, but if Andrew Luck is healthy, it’s easy to see them accidentally winning six to seven games based on him alone. Not sure why, but I’m not buying what the Titans are selling.AFC WestThomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports*Los Angeles Chargers (11-5)*Kansas City Chiefs (10-6)Denver Broncos (7-9)Oakland Raiders (4-12)The battle between the Chargers and Chiefs will be a fun one. I’m not completely sold that Patrick Mahomes will be playoff ready in his first year starting, but I like them long-term. The Chargers will finally figure it out. They have too much talent not to. The Raiders are a team that I had around seven wins heading into last weekend, and what a disaster that ended up being. Trading Mack, cutting Martavis Bryant, and trading a fifth-round pick for A.J. McCarron was brutal. PlayoffsWild Card RoundReinhold Matay-USA TODAY SportsNFC: Eagles over Bears, and Falcons over Saints.AFC: Texans over Chiefs, and Chargers over Jaguars.Divisional RoundBrad Rempel-USA TODAY SportsNFC: Vikings over Eagles, and Falcons over Rams.AFC: Steelers over Texans, and Patriots over Chargers.Conference ChampionshipBenny Sieu-USA TODAY SportsNFC: Falcons over VikingsAFC: Steelers over PatriotsSuper Bowl:Aaron Doster-USA TODAY SportsSteelers over Falcons All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System, as are the accompanying pictures.The Chicago Bears win against the New York Jets, coupled with from losses of the other three teams in the NFC North Chicago Bears Hoodie , has the Bears back atop the division. It wasn’t a pretty win, but the NFL isn’t judged on style points. The Bears did enough in all three phases to pull out the important victory in a game they were expected to win. Beating teams you’re supposed to beat is a trait of good teams, and the Bears have another one coming up in a week against the Buffalo Bills. The Bears started slow, they only led 7-3 at the half, but they pulled away and ended up dominating the overall numbers.Chicago had the edge in total yards (395 to 207), yards per offensive play (6.1 to 3.8), first downs (22 to 12), and time of possession (32:44 to 27:16). The Bears were also only penalized twice for 25 yards, to 8 for 45 from the Jets.Let’s take a closer look at the playing time break downs for the Bears, and also some individual stats.OffenseIt wasn’t the crispest of games for Mitchell Trubisky, but he ended up 16 of 29 for 220 yards, with 2 touchdowns and a passer rating of 102.7. The second quarter was where he struggled the most, going 2 for 9, but he bounced back after the half to go 11 for 16. He also continued to do damage with his feet running for 51 yards on 6 carries. The game’s leading rusher was Jordan Howard Customized Chicago Bears Jerseys , who went for 81 yards on 22 carries, with a TD. Tarik Cohen added 40 yards on 5 carries, plus a huge 70 yard TD reception on his only catch of the afternoon. The other TD catch went to rookie Anthony Miller who caught 3 of the 7 balls thrown his way for 37 yards. He also had 1 run for 7 yards. Taylor Gabriel and Josh Bellamy led the Bears with 4 receptions apiece, with Gabriel getting 52 yards and Bellamy getting 37. Kevin White caught 1 for 6 yards, and Trey Burton had 3 receptions for 18 yards. DefenseThe Bears’ pass rush wasn’t as bad as the stats would seem, as they did get Jets’ QB Sam Darnold off his spot a little bit, but they only had 1 sack and 2 QB hits. They do need Khalil Mack back, and healthy, if they have any chance to stay in first place this year.The Bears held Darnold to a 75.8 passer rating. Nickleback Bryce Callahan had the lone sack, and he also had 4 tackles, 3 passes defended, and a tackle for loss. Also, check out how much time the Bears spent in nickle (98%), and the Jets still couldn’t run against them. New York running backs only managed 35 yards on 19 carries (1.8 ypc). The Bears starting secondary only had 6 tackles between them (that’s a good thing). Safety Eddie Jackson had a costly unnecessary roughness penalty however.OLBs Leonard Floyd had 2 tackles www.authenticschicagobears.com , Aaron Lynch had 1, and Isaiah Irving had 2. Floyd has been the talk of some trade rumors, but I doubt he goes anywhere. While he’s still looking for his first sack, he’s played well against the run, and the Bears don’t have the depth behind him to move him.Inside linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith were 1-2 in tackles yesterday with 7 and 5 respectively. Trevathan added a pass defense, and Smith had a TFL. Roy Robertson-Harris had 4 tackles (and a TFL), and Eddie Goldman also had 4 tackles. The other QB hit went to Akiem Hicks, who also had 3 tackles. Bilal Nichols played the third most snaps among the d-linemen and he ended up with 3 tackles. Special TeamsThe players listed above only appeared in the third phase.Ben Braunecker had the Bears only special teams tackle, and he was also evaluated for a concussion during the game. Cody Parkey missed a 40 yard field goal, but he hit one from 32, made all 3 extra points, and went 5 for 5 on touchbacks. Patrick O’Donnell had a 45 yard average on 5 punts and he placed 2 inside the 20. The Bears have only allowed 51 punt return yards this season, which is 5th least in the league.