Browse: Injury Report: Week 14 by Joe Haggerty • December 12, 2017 • Comments Off on Injury Report: Week 14 The Bears are just one week away from starting their play-off game against the Atlanta Falcons. Unfortunately, there is a ton of key starters on the injured list. It is really bad news for the Bears that offensive lineman Kyle Long and linebacker Danny Trevathan are injured. On the bright side, Tanner Gentry has a chance to return after battling his knee injury. This Friday night, Dec. 15, the Rams will play the Vikings in Minnesota. It is likely that most of the starters are on the benched list. If the Rams win this game, they are virtually guaranteed a spot in the play-offs. If they lose, they will likely miss out on the playoffs. The Rams are 7-6, but have played the toughest schedule in the NFL. The Vikings are 8-5. Their biggest wins have been over the Giants (13-6) and Dallas (12-6). If you can watch the Rams vs. Vikings game this Friday, here are some of the story lines to keep an eye out for. The Rams defense will be without cornerback Marcus Peters. Peters is still recovering from a knee injury. He has yet to play this season. If the Rams win this game, it will be because of the offense. If the Rams cannot win against a hot Vikings team, it will be a failure for Sean McVay. He will be under the spotlight. If the Rams lose, that might give them a boost for the post-season play-offs. They are guaranteed a spot in the play-offs if they win this Friday against the Vikings. The Vikings have made the playoffs with an 8-7-1 record this season. In past years, their record in 2017 would have been too low to make the playoffs. They are currently tied with the Bears for the final play-off spot in the NFC. Minnesota is coming off of a bye week. If they can beat the Rams, they will move one step closer to the play-offs. The Vikings are undefeated at home. They have an easy game ahead of them as they will play the Los Angeles Chargers in Minnesota. If the Vikings don’t win against the Chargers, it will put them behind schedule for their post-season play-off game against the Detroit Lions. The Lions are in 3rd place in the NFC North with a 6-9-1 record. The Lions have a slim chance of making the post-season. Minnesota is 6-0 in the NFC North, while the Bears are 5-2. The Bears offense is at full strength this week against the Vikings. The Bears are 2-5 in December. The Bears offense has been consistent for the past two games. If Jay Cutler can lead the Bears to a win against the Vikings, the Bears are guaranteed a spot in the play-offs. With a tie, that would mean a post-season game against the Lions. This game will be a tough win for the Bears. They are 1-3 this season against the Vikings in Minnesota. This is just the 3rd time they have faced the Vikings this season. Overall, this game is a good chance for the Bears to gain some momentum for a possible play-off game. Browse: Injury Report: Week 13 by Joe Haggerty • November 18, 2017 • Comments Off on Injury Report: Week 13 The Packers and Bears only played each other once this season. The Packers crushed the Bears 34-15 in week six. On Sunday, the Packers will face the Bears once again. On Monday, quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters that he thinks he is healthy again. He said he should play this week against the Bears. This is welcome news for the Packers. Aaron Rodgers has played three games this season. He only played two games last year. This will help the Packers offense. On Saturday, Aaron Rodgers threw his first touchdown pass of the season. He threw to Randall Cobb on the Packers first drive. It ended in an interception. It is unlikely that Rodgers will be 100% healthy at the start of the season. He has a history of coming back too quickly and injuring himself again. That is part of the reason he missed all of 2016. This year, Aaron Rodgers has a better rapport with his receiver. Rodgers says he has missed his receivers. That is another reason why the Packers have not run the ball much this season. He did not have anyone to throw to in the first five games. Injury Report: Week 13 By Joe Haggerty, November 16, 2017 The Bears suffered their first loss of the season against the Lions on Sunday. It was a shocker to see the Bears blow a huge lead against the Lions at home in week nine. After that game, the Bears had shown plenty of improvement over the past three games. A loss against the Lions, a rival, can be a real setback for the Bears. The Bears had plenty of injuries during the past few weeks. The most important was on Sunday. Right tackle Bobby Massie went down on Sunday. Massie missed a tackle against the Lions. That is the only injury that I know of at this time. Browse: The New Orleans Saints have announced that they will visit Soldier Field in two weeks. The game is on Monday night. The Bears have the #1 defense this season. They lead the league in scoring defense (16.0) and yards per play (4.6). They have already faced two of the top three offenses in the league. They only faced two top ten offenses. One was the Rams and the other was the Steelers. In week nine against the Giants, the Bears gave up 20 points. They should have won that game. I wonder if defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will make some changes on defense. Browse: Bears Winless in First 2 Games. What Does it Take to Beat the Rams? Last week, the Bears saw their first win of the season. The team is still a work in progress, but they did show signs of improvement. That was against the NFC East rival Eagles. This week, they will face another difficult opponent in the Los Angeles Rams. Both teams were expected to be in a position for a long run at a play-off spot this season. Both teams have been disappointing so far. The Bears still have their bye week. That will give the coaching staff a chance to see what they need to work on. It is unlikely that the team will see a play-off game against the Rams this season. The Rams have been disappointing this season. Their only wins so far are against the Jaguars, Dolphins, and Vikings. It is unlikely that they will make it into the post-season. Browse: The Kansas City Chiefs Are the Most Powerful Team in the NFL by Joe Haggerty • October 25, 2017 • Comments Off on The Kansas City Chiefs Are the Most Powerful Team in the NFL The Kansas City Chiefs have been the most powerful team in the NFL this season. They are 6-0 and lead the AFC West by two games. On Monday night, they will have a prime time opportunity to defend their title. On Monday, the Chiefs will host the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars are coming off of a bye week. They also have had an easy schedule this season. They lost to the Tennessee Titans earlier in the season. Then, they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots in the weeks before that. This is the fourth time that the Jaguars and Chiefs have met this season. It was three weeks ago, when Kansas City crushed the Jags. The Chiefs have the best record in the AFC. The Los Angeles Chargers are in the second place. The Chiefs have beaten the Chargers this season by 2 points. The Chargers are 5-2. The Chargers have another tough opponent when they play the AFC West champion Denver Broncos. The other team in the AFC West is the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams beat the Seahawks and Chargers in back to back weeks. They also beat the Packers. Even though the Chiefs and Rams have faced each other only once, they are tied for the best record in the AFC. In the NFC, the Rams have defeated the Saints and Panthers. They also beat the Eagles on Sunday night in Week 4. They were also behind on Sunday until they scored a last minute touchdown. The Eagles held on for a 31-30 victory. Browse: This week, the Rams