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Subject Topic: The Chicago Bears clinched the NFC North Post ReplyPost New Topic
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panxing18
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Posted: 18 May 2019 at 04:36 | IP Logged Quote panxing18

d helped knock Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers out of playoff contention.They could not have asked for a sweeter scenario.Mitchell Trubisky threw for two touchdowns John Kelly Jersey , Eddie Jackson ended Rodgers' NFL-record streak without an interception and Chicago clinched the division with a 24-17 victory over the Packers on Sunday.The Bears (10-4) secured their first playoff appearance since the 2010 team won the NFC North. And even better for them, they did it with a rare victory over their heated rivals."We've accomplished a lot," Trubisky said. "But I think I'm most proud of just the type of guy that we have in our locker room, the culture that we've kind of created. We know that nobody really believed in us on the outside in the preseason â€?or even throughout the season. But we knew what type of team we had. And we knew we were just gonna keep getting better every single week."The loss coupled with Minnesota's 41-17 victory over Miami keeps the Packers out of the postseason for the second year in a row.Chicago had dropped nine of 10 against Green Bay (5-8-1). But the Bears secured their first trip to the playoffs in eight years with their seventh win in eight games .For a team that came into the season with four straight last-place finishes, it's quite a turnaround. But with the hiring of coach Matt Nagy and trade for Khalil Mack in a busy offseason, the Bears made a huge jump."You could feel it all year long that we knew we had the talent," Nagy said.The Bears blew a 20-point lead in a season-opening loss at Green Bay, with an injured Rodgers rallying the Packers. But they've been climbing since.Trubisky gave the Bears a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard pass to Trey Burton in the left side of the end zone.After stopping the Packers, Tarik Cohen returned a punt 44 yards to the 15. But he stepped out of bounds a yard short on a third-and-5 at the 10 when he easily could have gotten the first down.That forced the Bears to settle for a field goal by Cody Parkey, making it 24-14 with 6:43 remaining.The Packers then drove to the 9, but on third down, Jackson picked off Rodgers, ending his streak at 402 passes.The throw over the middle was intended for Jimmy Graham near the goal line. But the ball got tipped to Jackson, who had to be helped off the field with a sprained right ankle after his leg bent awkwardly as he tried to slide on the return. The interception was his sixth of the season.Mason Crosby kicked a field goal in the closing seconds to make it a seven-point game. But Chicago recovered the onside kick.The Packers are 1-1 since offensive coordinator Joe Philbin replaced fired coach Mike McCarthy on an interim basis."The expectation is competing for championships John Franklin-Myers Jersey ," Rodgers said. "It's a good football team. But like I told some of the guys, I look forward to the battles over the years. I like our chances in this division moving forward."WORST TO FIRSTThe Bears, who finished in fourth place in the NFC North last season, completed a turnaround that make for 15 of the past 16 seasons with at least one NFL team finishing in first place in its division the season after finishing in last or tied for last place.And Nagy became the Bears' first rookie coach with 10 wins since George Halas in 1920, the inaugural season for a franchise then known as the Decatur Staleys.LEADING BEARSMack had 2½ sacks and Leonard Floyd added two. The defense came through with another strong effort after the Monsters of the Midway shut down Jared Goff and the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams the previous week.Trubisky was 20 of 28 for 235 yards with a 120.4 rating. It was a big improvement over the previous week when he matched a career high with three interceptions after missing back-to-back games because of a right shoulder injury.Cohen caught a touchdown pass. Jordan Howard ran for a TD, and the Bears improved to 7-1 at home for the first time since 2005."Guys grinded, gritted it out, especially toward the end," Mack said. "We just want to keep this feeling going."RODGERS CONTAINEDRodgers said his groin tightened on him at the end of the first half. He finished 25 of 42 for 274 yards with his second interception of the season and failed to throw a touchdown for the first time this year.Davante Adams had eight receptions for 119 yards.The Packers fell to 0-7 on the road with their ninth straight loss away from home, and their eight-game win streak at Soldier Field, counting the postseason, came to an end."Nobody anticipated this happening," Clay Matthews said. "In reality, we're not getting blown out every week. I'm trying to find a silver lining Brian Allen Jersey , that's all you can do at this point of the season."INJURIES:Packers: RT Bryan Bulaga (knee) missed his second game in a row, while DL Kenny Clark sat out with an elbow injury. ... RB Aaron Jones left the game with a knee injury in the first quarter. ... WR Randall Cobb was evaluated for a concussion following a hard hit by Jackson late in the game.Bears: LB Aaron Lynch left with an elbow injury in the third quarter.UP NEXTPackers: Visit New York Jets on Dec. 23.Bears: Visit San Francisco on Dec. 23. Well, Super Bowl LIII went just about as poorly as possible for the Los Angeles Rams offense.After finished the regular season with the NFL¡¯s second highest-scoring offense at 32.9 points per game, the Rams could only muster three points against the New England Patriots in the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever.For once on the biggest stage, Tom Brady left the door open ¡ª 13 points is the fewest points the Pats have scored in Brady¡¯s nine trips ¡ª by only tallying a QBR of 25.8 and no touchdowns to go with an interception, but LA still could not capitalize.So who deserves the blame?Following the game, head coach Sean McVay shouldered the responsibility by admitting he was ¡®out coached¡¯ by Bill Belichick.The 33-year-old offensive guru described the postgame feeling as ¡®numbing¡¯ and admitted his play calling didn¡¯t allow the Rams to get into any type of rhythm.LA¡¯s first nine drives were all five plays or less and they mustered only 46 yards in the first half. Additionally, one of the largest areas reflected on a head coach is his team¡¯s discipline. The Rams were flagged for nine penalties, giving up 65 yards compared to the Patriots three for 20 yards.¡°He could not help the kid [Jared Goff] in this game,¡± Cris Carter said on <em>First Things First</em>. ¡°He couldn¡¯t give him any plays, any formations, where Goff could get into a rhythm.¡±¡°He took accountability and said he¡¯s going to wear it pretty hard,¡± punter Johnny Hekker told USA Today about McVay. ¡°A lot of the guys were quick to let him know ¨C it¡¯s not on you; it¡¯s on every single one of us. If we had all made little differences here or there, then things would¡¯ve come out differently for us.¡±While Hekker shifted the focus onto each player in the Rams locker room Joseph Noteboom Jersey , one other guy publicly came out to take the blame: Jared Goff.¡°It was me. It was our offense. And we ¡ª well, I ¡ª couldn¡¯t do my part,¡± Goff said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a game we needed 30 points to win. We needed two touchdowns, and I couldn¡¯t get it done. That¡¯s on me. I¡¯m the guy who has to drive this offense.¡±Goff finished the night 19 of 38 for 229 yards and a pivotal 4th quarter interception near the goal line as the Rams were putting together their most complete drive of the game.This was Goff¡¯s fifth-straight game throwing for fewer than 300 yards and his completion percentage of 50 ¡ª his second lowest of the season ¡ª makes him a vulnerable target to take the responsibility.¡°Is there a grade lower than an ¡®F¡¯ I can give him?¡± Shannon Sharpe questioned on <em>Undisputed</em>. ¡°Maybe an incomplete?¡±Aside from the two men that confronted the loss straight on, could someone else be to blame?Running back Todd Gurley, who led the League in touchdowns during the year, was virtually nonexistent for the second-straight game. Coming off a career-low in touches during the NFC Championship Game, Gurley only had the ball in his hands 11 times (10 rush, 1 rec) Sunday and accounted for 34 yards. His shortage of opportunity can once again reflect back on McVay¡¯s play calling, but Gurley¡¯s inefficiency when he did have the ball also puts him in the spotlight.Although Gurley is listed as healthy and the team confirmed there is no injury, his lack of usage and production causes Carter to think differently.Or maybe, even though the Rams defense completely shutdown the Patriots at a historic rate, they didn¡¯t do enough when it mattered most?Despite picking off Brady, forcing a fumble and allowing just 44 rushing yards in the first half Jack Youngblood Jersey , the Rams gave up 111 rush yards, 10 points and two free first downs via penalties in the second.¡°We didn¡¯t do enough,¡± Ndamukong Suh said afterward. ¡°No question ¨C it¡¯s a clich¨¦ saying but I think it¡¯s ultimately true: Defense wins championships.¡±¡°They made more plays,¡± Aaron Donald added. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have scored at all, but they did.¡±Where was the back-to-back AP Defensive Player of the Year?Donald was double, sometimes triple, teamed throughout the entire night¨C essentially being held in check from his usual domination on the inside. Despite setting an NFL record with 20.5 sacks as an interior lineman in the regular season, he finished the playoffs without a single sack. He had just one solo tackle and one QB hit Sunday.So while blame can be shifted back-and-forth between individuals or one side of the ball against the other, perhaps it¡¯s more fitting to just chalk it up and give credit where credit is due: to the Super Bowl LIII champion New England Patriots for a brilliant overall performance.The path to SB LIV starts now.


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