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Chicago -4:
Motivation will not be a problem for the Chicago Bears tonight. Dating back to last year’s regular season, the Bruins have now allowed 34, 29, and 28 points in their last three games. That alone should be a wake up call. Last week Alex Smith (of all people) shredded the Chicago defense completing 16-of-21. Meanwhile Philip Rivers hit 15-of-21 for 169 yards in his break out game. But that was against Green Bay. I thought it might be difficult for teams like Chicago and Green Bay to open up the preseason (after limited camp time) on the left coast. I mean how excited do you think Chicago was to play in San Francisco. The Bears trailed 17-0 four minutes into the 2nd quarter and the 49ers were a big steam move. Rex Grossman was miserable last week and he has personally vowed to show dramatic improvement this week. He better because Brian Griese is in hot pursuit after hitting 6-of-7 last week for 134 yards and two touchdowns. What I like about Chicago is the fact that Grossman, Griese, and Kyle Orton all have plenty of starting experience. They should flourish against the San Diego scrubs in the 2nd half tonight. This is much like the philosophy that I used in picking Baltimore last night. The bottom line is after Rivers takes to the sidelines, the back-ups are Charlie Whitehurst and A.J. Feeley. Rivers and Whitehurst are obviously making their NFL road debuts tonight. It wasn’t hyped last week, but did anybody else notice that Aaron Rodgers was 9-of-11 against the San Diego 2nd unit? Who can blame San Diego tonight if they mail it in? This week they saw their kick and punt returner Darren Sproles to a broken leg. LaDainian Tomlinson isn’t playing tonight. Wide Receiver Eric Parker is out and Kennan McCardell is doubtful. Let’s not give the Chargers too much credit for beating Green Bay last week. Ahman Green didn’t play at all. Brett Favre was 5-for-10 and Donald Driver caught one pass. The Packers were 1-7 SU last year on the road when it counted. During preseason, Green Bay has now scored seven or less points in four of their last five road games. In fact, get a load of this statistic: In the past seven Green Bay preseason games, the Packers have only scored more than 10 points once. Chicago’s rushing attack is scary bad at the moment with Jones and Benson out. But they’ve won their preseason home opener each of the past three years and that group included Indianapolis. San Diego scored seven points in their preseason road debut last year at Green Bay. I like going with preseason home teams that qualified for the playoffs the prior year and come off a double-digit road defeat against an opponent who won at home in their last game. That all fits tonight. It’s becoming very apparent in the 2006 preseason that games are won and lost mostly in the 2nd and 3rd quarters by the #2 quarterback. Last night it was a joke in comparison with Kyle Boller easily beating out Coy Detmer. More of the same tonight in Chicago. I’ll take Griese over Whitehurst. Plus I suspect Grossman won’t be the same guy we saw last week in San Francisco (3-of-11 plus a fumble returned for a touchdown).
Good luck men. :gun2:
Mark "The Animal"
Motivation will not be a problem for the Chicago Bears tonight. Dating back to last year’s regular season, the Bruins have now allowed 34, 29, and 28 points in their last three games. That alone should be a wake up call. Last week Alex Smith (of all people) shredded the Chicago defense completing 16-of-21. Meanwhile Philip Rivers hit 15-of-21 for 169 yards in his break out game. But that was against Green Bay. I thought it might be difficult for teams like Chicago and Green Bay to open up the preseason (after limited camp time) on the left coast. I mean how excited do you think Chicago was to play in San Francisco. The Bears trailed 17-0 four minutes into the 2nd quarter and the 49ers were a big steam move. Rex Grossman was miserable last week and he has personally vowed to show dramatic improvement this week. He better because Brian Griese is in hot pursuit after hitting 6-of-7 last week for 134 yards and two touchdowns. What I like about Chicago is the fact that Grossman, Griese, and Kyle Orton all have plenty of starting experience. They should flourish against the San Diego scrubs in the 2nd half tonight. This is much like the philosophy that I used in picking Baltimore last night. The bottom line is after Rivers takes to the sidelines, the back-ups are Charlie Whitehurst and A.J. Feeley. Rivers and Whitehurst are obviously making their NFL road debuts tonight. It wasn’t hyped last week, but did anybody else notice that Aaron Rodgers was 9-of-11 against the San Diego 2nd unit? Who can blame San Diego tonight if they mail it in? This week they saw their kick and punt returner Darren Sproles to a broken leg. LaDainian Tomlinson isn’t playing tonight. Wide Receiver Eric Parker is out and Kennan McCardell is doubtful. Let’s not give the Chargers too much credit for beating Green Bay last week. Ahman Green didn’t play at all. Brett Favre was 5-for-10 and Donald Driver caught one pass. The Packers were 1-7 SU last year on the road when it counted. During preseason, Green Bay has now scored seven or less points in four of their last five road games. In fact, get a load of this statistic: In the past seven Green Bay preseason games, the Packers have only scored more than 10 points once. Chicago’s rushing attack is scary bad at the moment with Jones and Benson out. But they’ve won their preseason home opener each of the past three years and that group included Indianapolis. San Diego scored seven points in their preseason road debut last year at Green Bay. I like going with preseason home teams that qualified for the playoffs the prior year and come off a double-digit road defeat against an opponent who won at home in their last game. That all fits tonight. It’s becoming very apparent in the 2006 preseason that games are won and lost mostly in the 2nd and 3rd quarters by the #2 quarterback. Last night it was a joke in comparison with Kyle Boller easily beating out Coy Detmer. More of the same tonight in Chicago. I’ll take Griese over Whitehurst. Plus I suspect Grossman won’t be the same guy we saw last week in San Francisco (3-of-11 plus a fumble returned for a touchdown).
Good luck men. :gun2:
Mark "The Animal"
but always in good fun good friend.
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