Going to Carolina in my mind
The Carolina Panthers are coming to town this Sunday to face the Bears at Soldier Field, but I can gaurantee that they'd much rather be playing in pleasant Carolina than on the blustery Chicago lakefront. It's been colder than a witch's titty here the past few days, a rather rude awakening of sorts for the locals. Yes, I realize that we're sort of used to cold weather here in Chicago, but it's been unseasonably warm all fall. We've been living the high life with 65-75 degree weather all season, and the 22 I woke up to yesterday was a bit of a shocker. The weekend wind blew more than just Robbie Gould's field goal wide right, it really brought in a tremendous cold front. But enough about the weather, because last I checked this ain't ChicagoWeatherBlog.com. Let's talk about this week's game!
With the altercation behind them, it's time to focus on the best team in the NFC, the Carolina Panthers. They've got a tough D, the best WR left in the NFC, and a QB who can sling it. They've also got a touchdown machine in Stephen Davis. Davis's rushing stats aren't pretty, but he's already scored 12 TDs, and what more could my fantasy team ask for? Oh yeah, yards. I suspect the Bears run D will stuff Davis behind the line all day. He's still a goal line threat, but the Bears should fare well enough if they keep him out of the red zone. It's Steve Smith they need to worry about. He's been on fire all season, and he leads the NFL in both Yards and Touchdowns. Charles Tillman has been pretty steady lately, so I'm hoping he doesn't relapse and revert to his Jeremy-Lincoln-ways that he was prone to earlier in the season. The Bears defense is officially ranked #1 in all of football, in both points allowed and yards allowed. Most impressive. I still think the Panthers will score 14-17 points on them, though. The question is can Kyle Orton and the Bears keep up?
If Orton can limit his mistakes, and Jones is past his bruised ribs problem, and Moose can step up and haunt his old team, and Fred Miller can overcome the 15 pounds he lost with his jaw wired shut, and Bobby Wade can overcome his fumble-itis, and another receiver can become an actual threat to catch a pass or two on the other side of Moose, and Bryan Johnson doesn't screw up in his second week back in the starting lineup, and they can find Desmond Clark for a score, and Ron Turner can open up down field more....yes, I think the Bears can win this game. Unfortunately, I don't think all those things will happen this week. Carolina 17, Bears 10.