Bears Stuff...

Mailbag: What Can The Cowboys Do To Stop Bears WRs?

Posted 6 hours ago


KENNETH CONNOR
HARRISBURG, PA
What are some of the things Dallas' tough but a bit undersized corners can do to combat the size of Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall? We saw what Megatron did against Dallas.

Nick: That’s a good point. The first thing they can do is get healthy. Morris Claiborne would be nice to see in this game. He’s not exactly the most physical of corners, but he does have good size and athletic ability. And really it’s all about technique when the ball goes up in the air. Sometimes it’s better to play the man and not the ball, if it’s a ball you’re not going to get. Guys like Webb and Scandrick, and even Carr for that matter, have faced bigger receivers before. They have to be sound in their technique.

David: On top of what Nick said, hopefully J.J. Wilcox’s athleticism can help the defense on the back end. Wilcox was injured during the Cowboys’ ill-fated meeting against Megatron. I don’t think he’s good enough in coverage to lock down either Chicago receiver, but having him available to rotate with Heath could make a difference in how much attention they’re able to pay to one side of the field. On top of that, the return of Sean Lee should free up Barry Church to play a larger role in pass coverage.

JOHN BUDNIK
ANCHORAGE, AK
Not much has been said about Ronald Leary's play this season since taking the starting left guard position. Maybe that's a good


thing, but just how well has he played so far?

Nick: Yeah, I think overall it’s a pretty good thing. Now he’s struggled at times, especially with some penalties. Leary leads the team with eight penalties and also has a team-high four stalled drives because of penalties. But as Travis Frederick gets the attention for being a rookie, he’s at least played center. This is Leary’s first year to play in the NFL and first year ever to play guard.

David: As Bryan Broaddus pointed out earlier today in his Scout’s Notebook, the Cowboys are averaging 6.6 yards per carry when they run between Tyron Smith and Ronald Leary. That says volumes to me about the play of the young guard. His struggles with drawing flags can’t be forgotten, as Nick pointed out. But all-in-all, you have to feel pretty good about the left side combo of Smith, Leary and Frederick going forward.

Bears DT Jeremiah Ratliff shrugs off personal friction with Cowboys

BY PATRICK FINLEY Staff Reporter December 2, 2013 9:44PM

Updated: December 3, 2013 2:23AM



One day after playing for the first time in more than a year, defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff sounded more concerned about improving his snap count Monday night than about who the opponent will be.

The Dallas Cowboys, who will face the Bears in prime time at Soldier Field, released Ratliff on Oct. 16 after he spent the first six weeks on the physically-unable-to-perform list recovering from groin surgery. The team cited a failed physical, though owner Jerry Jones later hinted the Cowboys might consider legal action against Ratliff for not returning.



‘‘It’s just another game,’’ the four-time Pro Bowl player said Monday at Halas Hall. ‘‘It’s just football. I don’t get caught up in all that silly rivalry stuff, or some payback. The thing is, we’re here to win, and we’re going to give every effort to do that.”

Ratliff played 23 of the Bears’ 88 snaps against the Minnesota Vikings.

‘‘Felt pretty good,’’ he said. ‘‘Knocked some of the rust off. And now I know exactly what I need to work on.’’

He and coach Marc Trestman expect he’ll play more in his second game with the Bears, with whom he signed last month.



‘‘I heard him come off a couple times [Sunday] and say, ‘Let me stay in my rhythm,’ ’’ Trestman said. ‘‘He felt he was mixing it up in there. So we felt pretty good that he’ll be able to play much longer this week.’’

Injury updates

Linebacker Lance Briggs, out since Oct.  20 with a fractured left shoulder, is ‘‘progressing,’’ Trestman said, but the coach was noncommittal on whether he’d be able to play Monday.

‘‘We’ll see how he is Thursday,’’ Trestman said.

Neither Briggs nor quarterback Jay Cutler, who has a high-ankle sprain, has been ruled out.

Left guard Kyle Long sprained his ankle early in the game Sunday, but ‘‘we expect him to be OK,’’ Trestman said. He also felt ‘‘pretty good’’ about safety Major Wright recovering from a pulled hamstring after sitting Sunday.

This and that

Trestman said he held himself accountable for the Bears only gaining two yards on two plays from midfield as regulation expired, forcing Robbie Gould to try a 66-yard field goal.

‘‘I think Robbie felt that he feels he can make any kick,’’ he said. ‘‘He went after it.’’

He praised his field-goal team for tackling the Vikings’ Cordarrelle Patterson, who caught the short kick and tried to return it.

◆ Long snapper Patrick Mannelly said Gould was ‘‘doing OK’’ after missing the potential game-winning 47-yarder in overtime.

‘‘Unfortunately, he didn’t make that one,’’ Mannelly said. ‘‘But we know the next one, he’s gonna make.’’

Cutler: ‘I want to play’ Possible vs. Cowboys?

BY ADAM L. JAHNS Staff Reporter December 2, 2013 8:18PM


Updated: December 3, 2013 2:23AM



Don’t count out quarterback Jay Cutler for the game against the Dallas Cowboys. But don’t count him in, either.

That’s the message the Bears — and Cutler on his weekly radio show — conveyed Monday, a day after their frustrating 23-20 overtime loss against the Minnesota Vikings.



A week after saying it was his goal to play against the Cowboys on “Monday Night Football,” Cutler seemed more cautious about his high-ankle sprain, saying he still has to “go through some stuff” and a “scenario” with team doctors.

In other words, Cutler hasn’t been cleared yet.

“I still feel like I’m going to get back here relatively soon,” Cutler said.

Coach Marc Trestman stressed Cutler’s status remains week-to-week. The team should know more Thursday, when the Bears return to practice after two days off.



“He’s progressing,” Trestman said.

“It’ll start with some limited work and see how he moves around, and we’ll take it from there.”

Cutler said that if he’s going to play against the Cowboys, it would be imperative to practice this week and was hopeful that an extra day will help his recovery.

Backup Josh McCown has played well in his place — a 103.6 passer rating in six games and four starts — but issues in the red zone and on short-yardage situations have emerged.

“I don’t think we’re going to let me go out there unless we feel really confident that we’re able to call everything we need to call to win the game,” Cutler said.

As far as the groin tear he suffered before spraining his ankle, Cutler said he’s “done with that one.”

One sign of progress is Cutler was able to do some running on a treadmill Monday, saying that he “felt good about that.”

“Hopefully, there are no ill effects [Tuesday],” Cutler said.

“I want to play. There’s no doubt about it that I want to play. It’s just the trainers and the doctors and going through the scenario that we have to go through.”

Good old Jeremiah Ratliff.

What, did he start using his middle name?

Yes, he did.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-bears-ratliff-contract-20131108,0,1761464.story

What a fag.

Iamtdg said:

Click to expand...

Should have thought of that before you let him play you like a fiddle, Skeletor.

Jeremiah Ratliff: Debut ' good start'
Updated: December 3, 2013, 9:37 AM ET
By Michael C. Wright | ESPN.com

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Coming off his first action in more than a year, Chicago Bears defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff called his debut Sunday "a good start," but made it clear he won't be participating in any back and forth regarding his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, in the lead-up to next Monday night's matchup at Soldier Field.

Ratliff "It's just another game. It's just football," Ratliff said of the pending matchup with the Cowboys. "I don't get caught up in all that silly rivalry stuff or some payback. The thing is we're here to win, and we're going to give every effort to do that."

Drafted by Dallas in 2005, Ratliff was named to the Pro Bowl in four straight seasons (2008-11) with the Cowboys before the team released him in October.

Ratliff signed with the Bears on Nov. 2, and played 23 snaps in his debut with the team Sunday at Minnesota, entering the game with 10:57 left to play in the opening quarter. On his first play Ratliff closed in quickly on Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder as he threw incomplete to Jerome Simpson.

Officially, Ratliff was credited with one assisted tackle.

"I thought he did some really good things out there," said defensive end Corey Wootton. "He hasn't played football in a while, but as the season goes on you're gonna see him be more and more impactful. We were limiting a little bit in there as far as reps, but he's definitely a force out there; really stout in the run, did some good things in the pass game. It was good to have him out there."

Prior to the game at Minnesota, Ratliff last played in a game on Nov. 18, 2012, when he sustained a serious groin injury that eventually led to sports hernia surgery.

Going into the contest, Bears coach Marc Trestman said there were no expectations for Ratliff, and added that the plan was to play the four-time Pro Bowler a predetermined amount of snaps and gauge his progress.

"I thought he played well," Trestman said. "We had him at 20-something snaps. We stayed true to that. I heard him come off a couple of times and say, 'Let me stay in my rhythm.' He felt he was mixing it up in there. So we felt pretty good that he'll be able to play much longer this week."

That's fine by Ratliff, who will now be counted upon to play a significant role in bolstering the NFL's worst run defense.

The Bears have given up 504 yards on the ground over the past two games, including 211 yards from Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, who averaged 6 yards per attempt.

"After a loss you have 6-7 days to wait before you play again, and there's nothing to do but just work," Ratliff said. "That's why we watch film. We see the things that we need to work on. And if you've got anything to you, you're going to look at it, and you're going to do everything in your power to fix it."

I hate to be vindictive but maybe there will be some divine retribution handed out to Ratliff.

Iamtdg said:

Click to expand...

Demarco Murray: 12 carries.

Iamtdg said:

Click to expand...

Adrian Peterson is so damn good that he runs for 200 yards and it's barely mentioned. I didn't know he ran for 200 until today.

And as Geng mentioned, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Cowboys only give Murray a handful of carries.

Officials breakdown: Terry McAulay
December, 4, 2013

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys will see Terry McAulay for the second time this season when he officiates Monday’s game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

McAulay was the referee for the Cowboys’ 51-48 loss to the Denver Broncos on Oct. 6. The Cowboys were penalized nine times for 81 yards. The Cowboys are 1-2 in their last three games with McAulay as the referee.

Last week McAulay’s crew worked the Kansas City Chiefs-Broncos game and called 19 penalties for 177 yards. The Broncos had 10 penalties for 75 yards and the Chiefs had nine penalties for 102 yards.

The breakdown:

Offensive holding – 4
Illegal formation – 1
Defensive holding – 2
Intentional grounding – 1
Unnecessary roughness – 3
Illegal block above the waist – 1
Defensive pass interference – 2
Illegal use of hands – 1
Face mask – 1
False start – 2
Illegal shift – 1

Quarter by quarter:

First – 2
Second – 4
Third – 5
Fourth -8

Genghis Khan said:

Demarco Murray: 12 carries.

Click to expand...

We can't risk getting him hurt, Geng.

His back up is out for the year.

/thecowboyway

What kind of bullshit rankings would rate Marshall over Megatron?

Cutler has been ruled out.