Must Win Knockout Game Against Houston To Advance To Semi-Finals

“The Chicago Fire were dropped to fourth in the MLS Eastern Conference standings on the final day of the season when the New York Red Bulls notched a 3-0 over the Philadelphia Union Sunday night,” SBNation Chicago reports.
“The Fire will now play in a one-game playoff against the Houston Dynamo for the right to take on East winner Sporting Kansas City in a two-leg aggregate series.
“The Fire and Dynamo will face off on Halloween Night at 8 p.m. The match will be televised on ESPN2. The winner will host Sporting KC on Nov. 4th in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“The Red Bulls will now take on DC United in the conference semifinals. That series will begin on November 3rd in New York.”
Let’s take a look.

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Posted on October 30, 2012

By Jim Coffman

In the opera of the absurd that played out at Soldier Field yesterday, the only pass all day to tight end Kellen Davis going for a spectacular touchdown was completely logical.
So were tackles made by offensive personnel after turnovers more impressive than those made – or not – all day by defensive personnel trained to make them.
Robbie Gould actually missing a 33-yard field goal makes the list, as does another Cutler Occurrence.
And let’s not forget the 6-yard punt that set up the Bears’ ridiculously ugly comeback and led to that Davis score.

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Posted on October 29, 2012

By Mike Luce

Twenty five hundred years ago, well before¹ Europeans voyaged long distances away from shore, the Polynesian people began dispersing across a series of far-flung island complexes in the Pacific Ocean, such as Tahiti, New Zealand, and Hawaii².
If you don’t have a mental map of the Pacific, just know that these places are very far away from one another. For example, 4,000 miles, or about a ten-hour direct flight, separate Auckland, New Zealand, and Honolulu, a route that only one U.S. carrier (Hawaiian Airlines) offers today.
But the Polynesian people couldn’t wait thousands of years for Dr. Hans von Ohain and/or Sir Frank Whittle to invent the jet engine. They needed more resources, more food, and more flat, open space for football fields³. Plus, the bag fees would have been ridiculous.

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Posted on October 27, 2012

By Emory Hunt

The Bears should have success passing under, over and behind the Panthers linebackers, and that means big days for Kellen Davis, Devin Hester and Earl Bennett.
Defensively, Julius Peppers will move around the line for optimum match-ups and you might see a cornerback blitz or two.
Pick: The Bears, handily.

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Posted on October 26, 2012

By Carl Mohrbacher

Not that a church-going man like myself needs to have the fear of God put in him more than twice a week (long story short, meatball subs have no place in a shooting range), but Ndamukong Suh’s devastating (but clean) hit on Jay Cutler had many of us Bear fans nervously stroking our rosaries Monday night and not just because our wife was due back from the store any minute (seriously honey, call ahead).
Peace be with you Jason Campbell, but your second coming as a starter will have to wait until at least Week 8.

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Posted on October 25, 2012

By Dan O’Shea

At the beginning of the football season, I wondered if Robert Griffin III could be the next Cam Newton – a talented, mobile rookie QB sensation. I mentioned last week that RG3 was about to begin a three-week crucible that could give us a better idea of his fantasy value and consistency.
Though the Redskins lost the first of those games to the NY Giants on Sunday, RG3 came through his first big test against a dominant defensive line pretty well, hitting 20 of 28 throws for 258 yards passing, 2 TD and 1 INTs, while rushing for 89 yards with one lost fumble. It doesn’t sound like that great of a game, but was worth about 29 points in standard Yahoo! fantasy football leagues.
It was the kind of performance that reminded one exactly of Cam Newton. Too bad Cam Newton no longer reminds us of Cam Newton.

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Posted on October 24, 2012

By Jim Coffman

How much doth a Bears fan love this defense? Let us count the ways.
For carrying the team to an intense 13-7 victory over the Lions before a national television audience Monday night. The win moved the Bears to 5-1, the third-best record in the NFL. More importantly, it knocked Detroit down to 2-4. The team from the Motor City is looking less and less likely to contend for a playoff spot.
For Brian Urlacher staying home and making a huge tackle on a potentially devastating third-down screen pass in the second half. The rest of the Bears’ linemen and linebackers were chasing Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford more than 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

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Posted on October 23, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

Chalk up another one for the Great Almighty. Ryan Vogelsong, he of the two NLCS victories, voiced the not infrequent invocation after Sunday evening’s mastery over the Cardinals in the post-game interview with Erin Andrews.
“You’ve been comfortable on the mound through this entire NLCS. What’s been key?” asked Erin.
“I just believe, I believe that God had a plan for me,” answered the Giants’ talented righthander, “and all the hard work and all the travels to Japan and winter ball, He would set me up for this moment. And I just believe it’s my time and He’s with me, and He’s doing good things for me right now.”
Uh-huh.

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Posted on October 22, 2012

By Emory Hunt/Czar of the Playbook

Cutler will give the Lions opportunities for interceptions, but Matt Forte will carry the day for the offense.
On defense, it’s Rod Marinelli vs. Matthew Stafford, with inside pressure from Melton and Paea the key.
The Czar’s pick? Putting the ball in Forte’s belly wins it for the Bears.

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Posted on October 22, 2012

By Mike Luce

The College Football Report Free Range Chicken has stared deep into the feed trough and come up with the following selections for this weekend:
The pick: Middle Tennessee State at #12 Mississippi State (-18.5),
Comment: The Blue Raiders lost stud running back Benny Cunningham last Saturday in a win over Florida International. Cunningham was leading the Sun Belt Conference with 600 yards and 11 TDs, placing him among the top five backs in the country in touchdowns. Mississippi State is off to a great start (6-0 overall, 3-0 in the SEC) but really hasn’t beaten anyone yet, as the Bulldogs’ conference wins came against opponents who are a combined 0-11 in SEC play and the remaining three Ws were against the likes of Jackson State.
We expect Mississippi State’s top dog (ho-ho!) Dan Mullen to dominate MTSU like a basket of buffalo wings. Back in September, Mullen took down 24 wings in five minutes at a local Buffalo Wild Wings which, while impressive, fell well short of the current record of 2 pounds, 2.5 ounces in the “Chicken Wings, Short Form” competitive eating category.

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Posted on October 19, 2012