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This week's game shows two teams that have begun to head in different directions - the Patriots have won three straight, scoring at least 27 points in each contest, while the Bears have only won one of their last four, and that was against a team that might be in bigger freefall than they are.
The Patriots have also built up the number one pass defense; how much of that is due to the teams they've faced so far having primarily rushing offenses is up to anybody's best guess, but their pass rush has legitimacy. However, Chandler Jones will miss this game and probably up to a month, and they'll also be missing leading tackler Jerod Mayo, so the defense has a couple of vulnerable spots. Offensively, there's still that Tom Brady fella, as well as Rob Gronkowski, who's gotten more attention as the season's progressed, especially in the last three games.
On the Bears side, there's the issue of the Bears' identity offensively. Are they a rushing team with using Matt Forte every chance they get on screens? Or do they move the ball through the air with Marshall and Jeffery? They haven't had much success lately getting Marshall and Jeffery involved outside of Atlanta, and the defense isn't strong enough to rely solely on Forte as an offensive weapon. Hopefully they've figured something out as the week has progressed, because what they had against the Dolphins is not enough to win an NFL game.
Oh well. Happy game day, let's figure some things out ourselves.
To buy tickets, visit the NFL Ticket Exchange.
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From the Lester A. Wiltfong, Jr. Department of Self Promotions:
Let's lead off with Spongie's Weekend Bears Den, which is easily the greatest thing since December 20th, 2008. I'm not sure what significance that date has, but let's go with it. If you need Bears knowledge, there's no better place.
I have this week's PTMY, the Six Keys, and also how you can follow the game.
Lester adds this week's Injury Report. He also asks how it's possible for there to be a leader on the team without a silly little yellow piece of string.
Sam ventures into some territory, calling Jay Cutler"The Best Worst Quarterback."
Our X's and O's department this week looks at Shea McClellin's bad day as well as the Sackwatch for the week. Les also says the Bears should have run on third and one, and graded the offensive line against the Dolphins.
Gameday procedures for today are the same as for most noon games; the first quarter thread will go live at kickoff with subsequent quarter threads as the game progresses. After the game, we'll have our quick recap post as well as threads for the late games. We'll have Notes on Monday as usual.
With the propers out of the way, Bear Down.
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Tomorrow we will be welcoming Sam back to the WCG Sunday Livestream, and we have a lot to catch up on. We'll go for about two hours, and we'll be running concurrent with the Lions and Falcons game in England this morning, so we understand if there's a bit of crossover.
If you want to get a hold of us, there are a few ways to do so:
- Here, in this thread, in these comments. If you have to have a link to get here from here... No, you're fine, don't go anywhere.
- On the Twitch channel itself - I'm at http://twitch.tv/sjs_illini.
- Over on the Twitters - I'm at @SJS_illini, Sam's at @SamHouseholder.
We'll go live in 30 minutes. See you then.