For the second straight week, the Pats have embarrassed another 9-win team in their 36-7 victory over the Bears. The Pats have shown that they can handle any kind of weather conditions and the snow did little to slow them down. This game was even more enjoyable because Tary has family in Chicago and it was fun teasing one of her cousins each time the score changed.
Offense
The Brady-led offense put on a clinic with nearly 500 yards of total offense. Brady finished with 369 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. Brady had some accuracy issues and had some passes deflected, but I think some of that was due to the snow.
The skill position players handled the elements pretty well. Everyone held onto the ball and had 0 turnovers. Hernandez almost lost a fumble as he was hit as he was trying to catch a pass.
Branch and Welker are both playing at such a high level. They each finished with 8 catches and over 100 yards receiving. Welker claims to be almost 100% back from his devastating knee injury last year. If he continues to get stronger as his knee recovers, this is going to be one scary team during the playoffs.
Gronkowski is starting to really learn how to use his body to take advantage of his size. On one play in particular, he sealed off the defender with his body and caught a short TD in the 1st quarter.
I absolutely loved the cut-throat mentality of the Pats at the end of the 1st half. The coaches were yelling to take a knee as the Pats were at their own 41-yard line with a comfortable 27-0 lead. It looked like the Pats were content to let the clock run out but instead, Brady called a play and chucked the ball down hitting Branch in stride on a hitch-and-go pattern for a TD. I couldn't believe what happened but that was one of my favorite plays of the year.
Defense
The defense played great in this game allowing only 7 points. They limited the Bears to only 33 net yards in the first half and the Bears finished with only 185 yards total. The Pats' DBs were able to handle the snow pretty well and were able to knock several balls away from their intended receivers.
McCourty made a great individual play by ripping the ball out after a short reception early in the 2nd quarter. The loose ball was picked up by Guyton and returned for a TD.
Speaking of Guyton, he had a great game replacing Spikes who was suspended for violating the league's PED policy. In addition to the fumble recovery for a TD, Guyton also added another INT late in the 3rd quarter.
Newcomer Eric Moore who was playing for the UFL earlier in the year chipped in with a forced fumble as he sacked Cutler. The ball was recovered by Mayo and led to another FG.
Meriweather made a solid INT in the end-zone when Cutler reverted to his usual form when the Bears were down big and were forced to throw the ball.
Special Teams
Edelman is so much fun to watch on punt returns. He had an awesome 42-yard return which he almost took to the house but a teammate got in the way. He had another 71-yard punt return for a TD negated by a holding penalty on the play.
The Pats struggled a bit in kickoff coverage. After the unit gave up a long return to Hester, the Bears would go onto score their lone TD of the game.
Shayne Graham was perfect on 3 FGs but missed another extra point. I always feel nervous watching games and it's not a good feeling having to worry about whether your kicker can convert on something as routine as an extra point.
Other Thoughts
The only real concern is the status of McCourty's rib injury. I'm not sure how serious the injury is but it would be a tough blow to the defense if he is out for any extend period of time.
After the Jets were exposed last week, they lost again 10-6 at home to the Dolphins. Sanchez again showed why he shouldn't be trusted to handle the ball; he fumbled 4 times, completed only 17 passes out of 44 attempts, and threw 0 TDs and 1 INT. To add to the embarrassment, the Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi stuck out his knee and tripped a Miami player running along the sideline. Alosi has since been suspended indefinitely and has been fined for this incident. It's so easy to hate the Jets.
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