>King Kevin seems to have temporarily abdicated his throne so I will step in as guest NFL commentator. Please pardon any parochial POV. What is your take on this weekend's games? "Pretty damned interesting" is my take. And don't get me started about the Bears. That was the best and most important game of the weekend, with the most memorable play. I am still smiling. But not through worrying. This is, after all, Chicago sports. We have been conditioned to worry. That said, I like this team. They could .... go .... all .... the .... way!
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>haha, 'King Kevin' has been shoulder-deep in client work. I've been so busy that I had to miss the ESPN pre-game show tonight.
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>I really believe that a healthy Giant team might have beaten a healthy Bear team. Don't get me wrong, the Bears are very very good, and took over the 2nd half.
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>But most of the analysts agree that they're not that strong against the run. I like Rex Grossman, but either he'll need to be consistent, OR the Bears will need to run the ball more, if they're going to go all the way.
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>I look at the Bears the way I look at the Indy Colts....both teams will smoke their opponents and finish 15-1 or 14-2, but as we've seen the last several years, the teams playing deep into January aren't always the ones with the best records.
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>The Panthers won a must-win game tonight, but they're purely Peppers and Smith. Even though I'm not a fan of Philly and Seattle, don't count them out.
>

'KK',

I agree with a lot of what you say. The Bears do have some vulnerabilities, although I'm not sure run defense is one of them. Tiki Barber, who leads the league in rushing, ran for 40 yards on the first drive and then broke off a 40+ yarder on the quick 2nd half drive. Other than that they stuffed him for the most part. I think if you look at the stats the Bears are among the leaders in yards allowed, as they have been all season. Other than that horror show against the Dolphins last week, no one has put up serious points against them. I expect that to continue. The questions about the Bears are on the offensive side of the ball, especially Grossman. Is he ready to string together three or four solid games against playoff teams? We don't know yet. I was impressed with the way he settled down after a rocky start Sunday night.

That's a valid point about the Giants with all their injuries. Whether they would have won with everyone healthy, who knows? They did, after all, lose by 18, and that was with the Bears easing off the gas at the end. But I take them as legitimate contenders if they can get reasonably healthy and if Eli Manning can continue to develop. He was pretty ragged, albeit against a team that makes a lot of QBs look ragged.

I think the Giants, or at least the media, are making too much of their injuries. Sure, lots of key guys are out, especially on defense, but it's a violent game. EVERY team has injuries by this point in the season. The Bears have lost two defensive starters, including Mike Brown, who his teammates consider the heart of their defense as much if not more so than Urlacher. I don't hear them whining about it. It's just part of the game.

What on earth is your problem with the Colts? It's one thing to not like a team, another to not give them the respect they deserve. They are unbeaten. They went to Denver and won, shredding one of the league's best defenses, and did the same the next week at New England. What do you need?! Yeah, I know -- a trip to the Super Bowl. Then you'll respect them, and not before.

Agreed about the Seahawks and Eagles. The Seahawks have continued to win even without Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck.

Lots of football still to be played....