Joe Anello's NFL Football fan blog

I’m not going to spend this Gameday Recap pontificating about what could have been this Bears season. That’s for later. In today’s contest, the Bears held onto the win over the struggling Vikings to get to 8-8 on the year.

(8-8) Chicago Bears 17
(3-13) Minnesota Vikings 13

For another week Chicago’s offense sputtered and killed its own momentum with costly turnovers. Earl Bennett started the game off right with an early fumble, giving the Vikings possession and the opportunity to drive down for a field goal. A Percy Harvin run later in the first gave the Vikes a 10-0 lead and Bears fans reason to change the channel. Luckily, there was a second quarter. A rare pass to Roy Williams capped off the Bears’ only touchdown drive, but a throw off the hands of Toby Gerhart fell right into the lap of first-time Pro Bowler Charles Tillman, who ran it right back for 22 yards and six points. From there Chicago’s defense locked down, picking off Minnesota’s quarterbacks two times (a total of three) to secure the win.

Continue reading "Joe's 2011-12 Gameday Recap: Bears 17, Vikings 13"

Let’s get this over with.

(7-8) Chicago Bears at
(3-12) Minnesota Vikings

I am not going to waste your time with an in-depth analysis over a game without a crap-ton of starters on both sides of the ball. There’s a lot of “Joe Webb isn’t that bad” talk around the NFL, but I’m not totally sold. He’s probably a better option that Christian Ponder or Josh McCown though. But he’s missing Adrian Peterson, so you can’t totally rely on him this week. Chicago’s defense is the best unit in this game, and that typically goes a long way.

Minnesota is a 2.5 point home favorite.

Continue reading "Joe's 2011-12 Gameday Preview: Bears at Vikings"

I’ll bet you thought week 17 in the NFL was meaningless! Well I call shenanigans on that premise entirely, as I’m ready to touch on ELEVEN games going on New Year’s Day. How’s THAT for an Opening Drive?

 

(10-5) Detroit Lions at
(14-1) Green Bay Packers

We pretty much know the story here. Detroit wants like hell to avoid losing and dropping to the sixth seed in the NFC, because that would mean a trip to New Orleans in the wild card round and a quick trip back home after a swift kick in the ass from Drew Brees and company. Green Bay has absolutely nothing to play for, so they’ll likely sit Rodgers and any banged up skill players early. Lions should win this one.

Continue reading "The Opening Drive: Week 17, 2011-12"

It was a Christmas Eve of meaningful NFL action as all the remaining playoff spots were nearly filled and draft orders are beginning to finalize. Miss any of the action? No need to worry, because the Final Drive starts right now!

Indy… what are you doing??? After all the speculation, you could single-handedly win yourself out of a franchise quarterback. Knock it off. (Or play more scrubs.) To Houston, I say congratulations. You’re in the playoffs. Now get ready to go home before anyone else.

This was about as disappointing a loss as you could find on Sunday. For a division-leader that could have locked up their playoff berth to lay down to a team that had nothing to play for is unacceptable. The Teebs magic was all used up apparently as Timmy tossed four interceptions, two of which were boomerangs. I wish I had been able to watch this one. It would have felt SO good.

Continue reading "The Final Drive: Week 16, 2011"

It was closer than it should have been for longer than it should have been, but it ended just as it should have as the Bears lost in Green Bay and ended their hopes for a playoff berth in fitting fashion. Josh McCown mounted a valiant effort, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Aaron Rodgers’ five touchdowns.

(14-1) Green Bay Packers 35
(7-8) Chicago Bears 21

On the very first drive of the game, Aaron Rodgers made sure his team grabbed a number one seed and never looked back, leading the Packers on a 9-play, 80 yard touchdown drive that ended with a 2 yard slant to Jermichael Finley in to make it 7-0. That drive featured ONE running play and some insanely accurate passing. The Bears couldn’t even hope to keep up, thought their defense held Rodgers in check for most of the first half… until he found James Jones on another slant to put Green Bay up 14-3 at halftime. Despite out-gaining and controlling the time of possession in the first half, Chicago had nearly nothing to show for it.

Continue reading "Joe's 2011 Gameday Recap: Packers 35, Bears 21"

Merry Christmas! Did you get everything you wanted this morning? Was Santa kind to you? Well you better hold onto that feeling, because it’s about to get ripped away from you on Sunday Night Football as the “somehow still in the playoff hunt” Chicago Bears head to Green Bay to take on the rival Packers. Yikes. Break out the eggnog as you read this preview… it’ll ease your mood going into the game.

When last these teams met, the Bears had their “full” complement of weaponry. Now they’re without quarterback Jay Cutler, running back Matt Forte and receiver Johnny Knox, not to mention a slew of offensive linemen that are on injured reserve. Instead of the dreadful Caleb Hanie, the recently-signed Josh McCown will get the start tonight in the hopes of sparking some sort (or ANY sort) of offensive output. McCown, who hasn’t started a game since 2007, shouldn’t have much expectations placed on him. I’ve barely seen him throw the ball in those four years since he got action in Detroit, but he won’t get much help tonight. Even beyond Forte and Knox, Marion Barber won’t see the field at all as he re-aggravated his calf injury from earlier in the season. That leaves Kahlil Bell as the starting tailback. I have NO idea where the Bears’ offense is going to come from, and neither do you. That’s not even mentioning Green Bay’s blitzing scheme that’s going to expose Mike Tice’s sub-par offensive tackles. Clay Matthews is going to see McCown in the backfield often. Oh, and if McCown’s injured or REALLY stinks? Caleb Hanie is the back-up. That’s right. Nathan Enderle can’t even make it on the active roster over a guy that will not return next year. High hopes for that “project.” (That was dripping with sarcasm, by the way.)

Continue reading "Joe's 2011 Gameday Preview: Bears at Packers"

Christmas Eve or not, there’s no way I’d let a schedule of great NFL action slip past my nets! The playoff positioning is settling in, but there’s some unresolved business in the NFC East with two pivotal games on Saturday. There’s plenty to talk about in week 16, so let’s get right to it!

John Skelton gets another chance to prove how little publicity the Cardinals can garner, despite his Tebowian winning ways. They travel to Cincy to take on the Bengals, who are desperate to climb back into the playoffs after stumbling the past few weeks. (I mean, they didn’t exactly blow out St. Louis.)

Continue reading "The Opening Drive: Week 16, 2011"

A whopping nine wins separate Thursday Night Football’s combatants tonight as the AFC South Champion Houston Texans travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to take on the finally-not-winless Colts. Will this be a game… or a slaughter?

(10-4) Houston Texans at
(1-13) Indianapolis Colts

Let’s just get this out of the way right now. Indy isn’t “dangerous.” Could they win behind Dan Orlovsky and a healthy dose of Donald Brown? Sure, maybe. That’s essentially what the offensive gameplan that Houston’s will employ. However, what will really be the factor tonight is the defense. Indianapolis just won’t be able to create the same turnovers or get the same stops as Houston’s can. They’re still pretty bad. They even have a reason to lose as they must ensure they get the number one pick. (Not saying they’ll do it on purpose, but hey, they probably should.)

Continue reading "Joe's 2011 Thursday Night Preview: Texans at Colts"

I’m not sure what else you could have wanted from week 15 in the NFL. Two impressive streaks ended, the “Trap of the Week” proved to be true once again and one win never mattered as much as it did for Indianapolis. (And Candlestick Park was sans light… for a few second before auxiliary lighting come on. Not as much drama.) Many a-loser won on this day. Oddsmakers be damned! Get ready for The Final Drive!

Oh Tennessee. How could you? You somehow managed to give their first lowly Colts a victory whilst in the midst of your own playoff hunt. For shame. While it’s nice to get a win (I’m sure), Jim Caldwell should still get effing fired.

Continue reading "The Final Drive: Week 15, 2011"

I’m sorry you had to sit through that Bear fans, but you can rest assured the 2011 season is over for the Monsters of the Midway. Their loss to the Seattle Seahawks may only drop them to a 7-7 record, but their unmistakably terrible quarterback play has clearly taken them out of the playoff picture. The offseason isn’t here yet though, so the Gameday Recaps continue!

(7-7) Seattle Seahawks 38
(7-7) Chicago Bears 14

Going into halftime, Bear fans had reasons to be optimistic their team would break out of their slump. At 14-7, Chicago’s defense had kept Marshawn Lynch in check and held Tarvaris Jackson to minimal completions. Seattle’s offense had only managed 6 first downs at the break. What really gave Chicagoans hope was that the defense had already scored a touchdown thanks to a Julius Peppers strip of Jackson in the endzone. Recovered by Israel Idonije, the score tied the game up in the first quarter and shifted momentum in Lovie Smith’s favor. Unfortunately, Caleb Hanie was still in the game.

Continue reading "Joe's 2011 Gameday Recap: Seahawks 38, Bears 14"