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Ten Thoughts on the NFL: Chicago Bears and beyond

Did you know I started dropping my weekly NFL Thoughts on Windy City Gridiron in 2010? Time sure flies when you're having fun. Check out mine this week and be sure to leave a few of your own in the comment section.

By Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.

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Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

1) Has any offensive player been more important to his team than Dallas' DeMarco Murray?

The Cowboys are 5-1 and Murray is the league's leading rusher at 785 yards, which is 243 yards in front of #2 on the list. His league-leading 159 rushing attempts is 43 more than 2nd place. His 6 rushing TDs lead the league and he's chipped in with 21 receptions for 155 yards.

Murray has never played a full 16 game season, so we'll have to see if he can keep up his 2,000 yard pace.

2) Speaking of unexpected winning teams, the San Diego Chargers have won 5 straight after dropping their opener. Quarterback Philip Rivers is playing some outstanding football right now with a 15 to 2 TD to interception ratio and a passer rating of 117.6.

Rivers and Murray deserve to be in the early chatter for league MVP.

3) One more potential MVP candidate has to be the Houston Texans' J.J. Watt. It'll be tough for him to beat out his offensive counterparts, as a defender hasn't won the award since Lawrence Taylor in 1986, but Watt has been electric this season.

If the Texans can figure out a way to stack a few wins together and Watt continues his stellar play. NFL MVP could be the latest award for the former Wisconsin Badger.

4) Football is a violent game when played within the rules. When you step outside those rules with the sole purpose of trying to injure someone you should be suspended. Greg Olsen of the Carolina Panthers accused Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict of intentionally twisting his and Cam Newton's ankles after they each scored a TD on Sunday. Here's a pic of Burfict putting Olsen in an MMA move.

And here's a GIF of him twisting Cam's ankle.

burfict

This guy is an idiot that needs more than a monetary fine. Sit his ass down for a few weeks.

5) I know the St. Louis Rams have been without Chris Long this year, but this is just awful.

Last year Robert Quinn was 2nd in the league with 19 and they had 53 as a team.

Their one sack this year is from rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

6) Philadelphia sports fans are a notoriously rowdy bunch, but this takes the cake.

An Eagles fan stole a prosthetic leg from another Eagles fan while at the Eagles game.

That's probably the most Eagley sentence I ever wrote.

7) Was anyone else surprised that Aaron Rodgers pulled off the old "fake spike" trick?

8) I don't think anyone expected the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to look so bad this year. Then again, they were a 4-12 team in 2013, so maybe heaping winning expectations on them was a bit much.

Here's something to keep in mind in regards to head coach Lovie Smith. He inherited a 7-9 Bears team, then proceeded to take a step back by going 5-11 in 2004. In 2005 he had the Bears at 11-5 and in 2006 he was in the Super Bowl.

Maybe this is all part of Lovie's grand plan...

9) I don't actually "lol" at stuff I see online very often, but this made me audibly chuckle.

10) I think Darryl Sharpton earned himself some more playing time for the Chicago Bears. I thought he looked fast and physical at middle linebacker against the Falcons on Sunday, and I honestly can't recall anything from starter D.J. Williams though the first five games.

Sharpton was thrown into the mix with the other young linebackers last week, but he's not exactly some inexperienced newbie. He was a 4th round pick of the Houston Texans in 2010, and played in 42 games with 19 starts for the Texans from 2010-2013.

Also, did you realize that he led Houston in tackles last year, with 87 in just 8 starts?

I wanted to dig a little deeper on Sharpton, so I checked out Pro Football Focus grade from last season. Even though he had a negative overall grade, he was the #2 ranked inside linebacker in run defense at +10.5. He may be a little undersized at 5'11" 235 pounds, but he could be a 2 down linebacker for the Bears.

What do you think of my Thoughts this week?

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