Let's hope that NFL Week 14 gets started on a positive note tonight with an upset of the Cowboys at Soldier Field. Game-time temperatures should be a bit above freezing and with a little luck the snow that is forecast for Chicago tomorrow will arrive early. Romo, with a bad back, can't be expected to wheel and deal on an icy field.
The Bears are a team bereft of leadership. Urlacher retired; Peanut Tillman watches from the sideline for a second-straight year; Marc Trestman is a cold fish; and his QB, Jake Cutler, a sullen, self-absorbed chronic underperformer. This is not a prescription for success.
But at moments Chicago can stand proud. I point to the NFL Week 2 second-half comeback against the 49ers as proof. Alshon Jeffery, nursing a bad hamstring that night in Santa Clara as he is now, had a huge game and Cutler threw with accuracy; at the same time the Bears defense came alive and looked stout.
You might say that Week 2 is a long-time gone. And you would be correct. But in Dallas I see a club on the ropes. The Cowboys were throttled on national television Turkey Day by Philadelphia. Jason Witten's repeated sideline tantrums said it all. Clearly the Cowboys peaked too early, and now they are in the process of winding down. The outcome I am looking for here is for Jerry Jones' "America's Team" to once again fail to qualify for the post-season. A loss to Chicago brings that one step closer to reality.
The Sunday night game for NFL Week 14 should be worth staying up for. Belichick's Patriots exposed themselves against the Packers for what they are: a perennial powerhouse that fades down the stretch. Brady is an aging quarterback who, like the Patriots as a whole, is hard to bet against at home. But send him on the road and put a few pass-rushers in his face and New England becomes little better than a good .500 ball club.
Brady highlights how out of place an immobile quarterback is in today's game. For all the celebration of a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady both are very beatable come playoff time because opponents usually come equipped with a pass rush and a few shutdown DBs. Look how unimpressive Eli Manning has been the last couple of years without a Giants running game to make the threat of play-action credible. We might be witnessing the end of the era of stand-tall-in-the-pocket, immobile QBs. We'll see who wins the Super Bowl this year. If it is Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson again, the trend will be undeniable.
The biggest advantage for Belichick is San Diego's tendency to self-destruct. Plus, the Chargers run defense looks porous based on their performance against the Ravens. Justin Forsett ran for over 100 yards. But in the end Rivers was able to put more points on the board than Flacco. I like Rivers' chances to do the same against Brady.
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