The NFL’s Wild Card Weekend was unfortunately void of competitive games (and the first batch of ratings seem to reflect that), as the average margin of victory was 19 points and the standout individual performance of the weekend came in a 25-point blowout. My sincerest apologies to those of you who were looking forward to a high quality brand of football after a disappointing regular season.
In case you missed it, Aaron Rodgers thrashed the New York Giants secondary despite being woefully ineffective for most of the first half:
Quarterback play was uneven over the weekend. Only three of the eight starters (Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson) finished with passer ratings at 100 or better. Matt Moore of the Dolphins posted a 97.8 rating, but also threw an interception and lost a pair of fumbles – and it’s worth noting lost fumbles aren’t part of the equation that ultimately comes up with passer efficiency rating. Even if you include Moore’s 97.8 rating, the average rating for the quarterbacks of teams that lost on Wild Card Weekend was 68.8.
For the sake of comparison, Jay Cutler’s career passer rating in 13 games against the Packers is 68.9.
Ouch.
On that note, let’s move on to today’s Bullets.
Things weren’t always great for Rodgers on Sunday, specifically in the first half where the quarterback was sacked four times. As a point of reference, the Bears sacked Rodgers five times in 182 dropbacks over five games dating back to 2014 prior to sacking him four times on Dec. 18, 2016. In short, you (literally) have to stop Aaron Rodgers – you simply can’t just hope to contain him.
While the Packers move on in the playoffs, the Chicago Tribune has a three-phase review of the season that was on offense, defense and special teams with a look ahead to 2017. It’s a comprehensive read that will be worth diving into later.
Over at MMQB, Andrew Brandt provides an offseason to-do list for every NFC team. The Bears’ to-do list isn’t necessarily represent that, but is more of a stating of two things: (1) There is a “sense is they will move on” from Jay Cutler and (2) They have invested about $20 million in offensive guards – a position that other teams tend to save money at so they can spend elsewhere.
Brian Urlacher was one of two former Bears announced as part of the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2017. Before putting together a resume worthy of induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Urlacher was a standout at New Mexico where he played in a linebacker-free safety hybrid role that highlighted his strengths. The ultimate box score stuffer on campus, Urlacher finished his career with more than 400 tackles, three interceptions, 11 sacks and 11 forced fumbles to go along with an offensive career that featured six touchdown receptions and five kick return touchdowns. As a senior, Urlacher was an All-American who was a Jim Thorpe Award finalist who finished 12th in the Heisman Trophy race. That is some career.
Joining Urlacher and seven others was former Bears running back Adrian Peterson – not to be confused with this guy – who set the Division I rushing record (6,559 yards) while playing at Georgia Southern. Peterson was a Bears sixth round selection in 1999 who ran for 1,283 yards on 311 carries in 106 games over an eight-year career.
Peterson was one of two players from that Jerry Angelo draft class (you can see all the picks here) to play 100+ games with the Bears in their career – the other was defensive end Alex Brown, the team’s fourth-round pick. Just in case you were curious about how poor drafts can sink a team over the long haul.
Retired linebacker Lance Briggs has an idea on how to make the Bears great again:
Briggs might be onto something. Hampton was the No. 4 overall selection in the 1979 NFL Draft who went on to be a force on the 1985 Bears Super Bowl winner, a four-time Pro Bowler and a 2002 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. The Bears pick third, so it’s fair to hope that a player who can make a Hampton-like impact will be available when they pick.
On the transaction wire, the Bears made a roster move waiving linebacker Josh Shirley, who hadn’t been on the team that long – he joined the practice squad on Dec. 14 and didn’t make it to the active roster until Dec. 31. He played in the Bears’ season-ending loss against the Vikings and accumulated no stats.
NEWSLETTER
