Monday Night Football - Bears at 49ers
Monday Night Football
7-2 Chicago Bears at 6-2-1 San Francisco 49ers
49ers were favored by 6; that's now down to 3½, with an over/under of 34
Jay Cutler is out so Jason Campbell will get the start for Chicago. The Bears folded last year when the inexperienced Caleb Hanie was called upon to play quarterback; this situation is exactly why they went out and acquired Campbell. The guy is a veteran with more than 70 NFL games; he's not flashy, but does an excellent job of not turning the ball over. With Brandon Marshall on the team it doesn't make sense for the Bears to completely abandon the passing game.
The 49ers are coming off a home tie to an inferior team. While they do have their starting quarterback the Bears have a defense that will force you to make long drives to score; Alex Smith is not really who you want to count on to accomplish that if he can play; even more so if now that Colin Kaepernick gets the start. Eventually teams make a mistake and Chicago has done an excellent job of capitalizing in taking the ball away when the opportunity arises. DE Julius Peppers and DT Henry Melton have been terrific, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs are consummate pros, and that allows for people like Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings to go out and make plays.
As good as the 49ers are, their defense has been a bit inconsistent (24 points to the Rams and Vikings, 26 to the Giants) at times this season. Look for the Bears to rally around their backup QB and force some key turnovers to at minimum keep this game very close.
Prediction: 49ers 17, Bears 16
This Day In Patriots History
November 19, 1967:
New York Jets 29, Boston Patriots 24 at Fenway Park
The Pats mounted a furious 4th quarter comeback that fell just short. Down 29-3 midway through the 4th quarter Don Trull, who was making his first start, scored on a pair of one-yard runs, and then threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jim Whalen to pull the Patriots within five points - but the Pats ran out of time, losing to the Jets.
November 19, 1972:
Buffalo Bills 27, New England Patriots 24 at Schaefer Stadium
John Leypoldt's 45-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to play gabe Buffalo their third win of the season. Jim Plunkett had touchdown passes to Randy Vataha and Bob Windsor; Windsor finished with five catches for 72 yards for the Pats.
November 19, 1978:
New England Patriots 19, New York Jets 17 at Shea Stadium
David Posey's 24-yard field goal with 2:30 remaining proved to be the game winner as the patriots improved to 9-3. After Posey's kick the Jets drove to the New England 16-yard line but Frank Leahy's kick went wide; for the Jets the loss effectively knocked them out of the playoffs. Mike Haynes had two interceptions and Horace Ivory ran for two touchdowns to lead the way for the Patriots.
On a side note a few miles away on the same day the Miracle In The Meadowlands occurred. The Giants had a 17-12 lead over the Eagles with 30 seconds left and were running out the clock when QB Joe Pisarcik fumbled while attempting to make a routine handoff to Larry Csonka; Eagles CB Herm Edwards picked up the ball and ran 26 yards for the game winning score; coincidentally it was by the same 19-17 score.
November 19, 1989:
New England Patriots 33, Buffalo Bills 24 at Foxboro Stadium
The Pats rallied to score 20 unanswered points and upset the Bills in a game where John Stephens had more than 200 yards from scrimmage.
After the Bills had scored their second touchdown of the 4th quarter with 8:46 remaining the pats quickly came right back, with a 14-yard scoring pass from Steve Grogan to Hart Lee Dykes with 7:45 to cut Buffalo's lead to 24-20. The Pats got the ball back and cut the lead to one on Jason Staurovsky's third field goal of the day with 3:06 left to play. On the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff Maurice Hurst intercepted a Jim Kelly pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown to give the Patriots the lead. On the next drive Kelly drove the Bills to the Pats 31-yard line but fumbled on 4th down, and Johnny Rembert recovered. From there Grogan drove the Pats to the Buffalo 21, and Staurovsky kicked another field goal with 13 seconds left to clinch the win. Stephens finished the game with 126 yards rushing and 76 yards receiving for the Patriots.
November 19, 1995:
Indianapolis Colts 24, New England Patriots 10 at Foxboro Stadium
Ben Coates had nine receptions for 89 yards; it marked the sixth time Coates had nine or more receptions in a game.
November 19, 2000:
New England Patriots 16, Cincinnati Bengals 13 at Gillette Stadium
In a meeting of two two-win teams the Pats nipped Dick LeBeau's team thanks to three Adam Vinatieri field goals. The last field goal was set up by an 81-yard drive directed by Drew Bledsoe that began with 3:08 remaining, culminated by Vinatieri's game winning 22-yard kick with five seconds left on the clock.
The Pats defense bent but did not break, to set up Vinatieri's boot. A 61-yard 2nd half Cincy drive stalled at the 12 yard line and then a hurried FG attempt clanged off the goal post. The Bengals later picked off Bledsoe but had to settle to settle for field goal which gave them a 13-10 third quarter lead before Vinatieri kicked two 4th quarter field goals to tie, and then win the game.
Bledsoe finished with 258 yards passing, Terry Glenn had 11 receptions for 129 yards, and Troy Brown had 8 catches for 110 yards to lead the New England offense.
November 19, 2006:
New England Patriots 35, Green Bay Packers 0 at Lambeau Field
After losing their previous two games the Pats crushed the Packers, knocking Brett Favre out of the game in the process. The Patriots limited Green Bay to just five first downs for the entire game, while out-gaining them 357 yards to 120 yards. The Pats were missing three defensive backs due to injuries and playing Troy Brown as the nickel corner, but the pass rush prevented Green Bay from taking advantage of the situation.
The Pats defense held Favre to just 5 completions in 15 attempts for 73 yards before sidelining him with an injury to the ulnar nerve in his throwing elbow; by the time the game finished the Pats D had sacked Favre and Aaron Rodgers five times. Richard Seymour (four tackles), Tedy Bruschi (eight tackles, ½ sack) and Mike Vrabel (six tackles, 1½ sacks) dominated and set the tone early, before Tully Banta-Cain wrapped up Favre and then Bruschi slammed him to the ground, ending his day.
Tom Brady went 20-31 for 244 yards and four touchdowns before Vinny Testaverde came in to finish the game. A 2-yard 4th down pass to Daniel Graham gave the Pats a 7-0 1st quarter lead and then Corey Dillon scored from one-yard out; Brady then hit Reche Caldwell on a 54-yard TD to put the Pats up 21-0 with 2:19 to go in the half.
On Green Bay's second possession of the 2nd half the Pats held on 4th down, and Brady led the Pats on a 6-play, 60 yard drive that was capped off by an 8-yard TD to Ben Watson. The Pats defense then forced two more three and outs when Kevin Faulk returned a punt 36 yards to the Green Bay 23, setting up a Brady 19-yard touchdown pass to Laurence Maroney.
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November 19, 1955:
Carl Perkins recorded the original Blue Suede Shoes in Memphis
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