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Good morning and happy gameday, everyone. Well, maybe not such a happy gameday.
Adam Schefter tossed out this report at 5 AM CT which might put a damper on some potential enthusiasm, especially with the follow-up Ian Rapoport tweet.
Not a lot of optimism that Bears WR Alshon Jeffery, who aggravated his hamstring last week, will go today vs. Arizona.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 20, 2015
#Bears WR Alshon Jeffery (hamstring, calf) will be out today vs. #AZCardinals, source said. The hope is a return next week to full health.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 20, 2015
Alshon Jeffery potentially being out hampers an already hampered receiving corps, with Kevin White still being on the PUP list. That means your starting receivers today would be Eddie Royal and Marquess Wilson. On a scale of "library in a monastery to 10," how excited by that receiving squad are you?
The Cardinals spent their week 1 putting a pounding on the New Orleans Saints, and in the now-annually-tough NFC West, they sit 1-0 with an overshadowed team that could make some noise. Carson Palmer threw three touchdowns and this week draws a Bears pass defense that didn't get after Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at all and didn't make any plays on balls last week.
That's going to have to get better for the navy and orange, especially against the less mobile Palmer. Something that's already been good is Matt Forte, who had a great week running the ball against the Packers but runs into the number one rushing defense in the NFL.
But one week statistical rankings mean nothing. It's gameday. The Bears are 0-1. Shoot for .500 today.
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In addition to this morning's Alshon Jeffery report, let's bring you up to speed, starting with the rest of the injury report right here.
Some other news, Brandon Dunn was elevated from the practice squad after all, and Demontre Hurst was waived.
Dane exchanged questions with Revenge of the Birds, the Cardinals' SBN affiliate. Here's Dane's responses to their questions.
Got fantasy questions? We've got a guy. Jeff Berckes has some knowledge to drop on you.
Dane's got some Jay Cutler vs Carson Palmer overs and unders for you.
Sam identified his three key players for today's game.
Gameday procedures for today are as follows: Dane will post the opening thread at noon CT, with subsequent quarter threads popping as we go. Fairly simple. After the game, we'll have a quick recap and the threads for the afternoon games and Sunday Night Football, and we'll have Notes for you in the morning first thing.
Now with all the propers out of the way... Bear Down.
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Today's WCG Sunday Livestream brings some solo flavor, as Sam is unavailable for this morning's proceedings, but the show will go on. As usual, the stream will be live at 9:30 AM CT and go for up to two hours, so get your questions, comments, and pre-emptive insults at how bad I suck at Madden in!
If you want to contribute, here's how:
- This comment thread. Yes, here. Hi. How's it going? Need a coffee?
- Over on my Twitch channel. It's over here.
- Over on the Twitters. I'm over at @SJS_illini; When Sam's here, he's over at @SamHouseholder.
See y'all at 9:30. If this is live before then, it's not the WCG Sunday Livestream. But it could be! See ya then.