Daaaa Bears... Crush the Cowboys

It was Mike Ditka Day in Chicago Monday and "Da Bears" put on a great show for the legend.

NAM Y. HUH — AP Photo

The way this game started I thought for sure I was in for a heavyweight fight between two teams trying to make the playoffs. Well the Bears got the memo, the Cowboys on the other hand let the game get away from them after keeping it close early.

The Chicago Bears were hitting on all cylinders Monday night, scoring on every single possession (8 scoring drives total) they had except their last possession where they just ran the clock out with 6 seconds left in the game. Backup QB Josh McCown played a great game completing 27 of 36 pass attempts (That's 75% of his passes) for 348 yards with 5 TD's (4 pass TD's, 1 rush TD) and no turnovers to end the night with a passer rating of 141.9. The backup QB was making his 4th consecutive start for an injured Jay Cutler who is missing time because of a high left ankle sprain. McCown now trails only Peyton Manning in Total QBR(Quarterback Rating) with 78.4, Manning leads the league with 83.5.

The game played out well at the beginning with both teams scoring 14 points within the first quarter and a half of play. That's when things started going sour for the Cowboys and their defense, giving up 28 unanswered points before the Cowboys were finally able to get a break in garbage time and get 2 quick TD's in the last 11 minutes of the game. The Cowboys defense was about as strong as wet paper Monday night, allowing the Bears to gain 29 1st downs (19 passing, 10 rushing) and go 8-11 on 3rd down conversions, which is despicable. Romo actually played a good game considering the circumstances, circumstances being that his team didn't decide to play defense. Romo threw 3 TD's of his own although he did only get 104 yards thru the air. The Cowboys decided to take a "run to get us back in the game" approach, which was great for stats (DAL gained 198 yards rushing on 28 attempts) but ultimately played a big part in their demise. The Cowboys best stat of the night would have to be their redzone efficiency where they were able to get 4 TD's on 4 attempts, they just couldn't manage to get to the redzone enough.

Associated Press

Prediction:

CHI over DAL 37-31

Final Score:

CHI over DAL 45-28

This win puts the Bears back into the top of the NFC North with the Lions. The Lions lead the division because of a season sweep of the Bears but Chicago is back in the mix of playoff conversation with this win after almost being written off after suffering two straight losses. The Bears are still deciding to stick with Jay Cutler as their starting QB once he is able to return but this will definitely be a hot topic leading up to the offseason. McCown spread the ball around pretty evenly, with 4 receivers with at least 5 catches. WR Brandon Marshall had the most yards with 6 receptions for 100 yards including a successful 2-point conversion catch around the end of the 3rd quarter to give the Bears a 21-point lead.

Up next for the (7-6)Chicago Bears will be a trip to Cleveland to take on the (4-9)Browns who are coming off a tough loss to the Patriots (Tom Brady threw 2 TD's in the final 61 seconds to get the win 27-26).

The (7-6)Cowboys next opponent will be a classic NFC battle against the (6-6-1)Green Bay Packers in Dallas. Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers may be making his return this game after missing the last 5 games with a broken collarbone.

For all the Final Scores from Week 14 of the NFL check out "NFL Week 14 Mayhem 2013"

Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89
Thank you for reading and come back for more Sports News & Analysis as well as Fantasy Football advice throughout the week. Also check out more of my other posts for some more great insight into the mind of a Sports Fanatic.
Share it, Like it, Tweet it, Vine it, Instagram, whatever social networking tool you use, spread the word so everyone else has the opportunity to bask in all of this Sports Stats and News!