Regular Season Week 7
Chicago Bears (0-6-0) @ Denver Broncos (3-3-0)
Denver won the toss and deferred. We opened with a field goal to go up 3-0 with 8:56 to go in the first quarter, though Fields was injured after taking a sack on the very first play of the game, which means we’re relying on Pearson to lead the team until he is cleared to come back in or we find out more about what happened. Denver answered with their own field goal with 3:37 to go, tying it at 3-3. Early in the second quarter A.J. Terrell Jr. got himself another pick, bringing us nicely into their territory with a chance to build some momentum, but we fumbled the ball inside the 15, giving the ball back to Denver and losing the redzone scoring opportunity. They had to punt it almost immediately, however, so the damage was minimal. With 4:41 to go in the half and still tied, Jayson Jones intercepted a Russell Wilson pass with them almost in field goal range, but with Lenny Pearson struggling in what is essentially a last minute spot start, we were reliant on the run and Denver knew it. We’d be forced to punt, and Denver wound up right back in the red zone, and a quick pass from Wilson to Albert Okwuegbunam for 12 yards got them their first touchdown of the game and put the score at 10-3. We had about ninety seconds left on the clock, but were able to time a few solid running plays that got us into Santos’ range. His 48-yarder with 23 seconds left on the clock kept us within four points at least heading into halftime trailing 10-6.
Denver scored a touchdown on their opening drive, a 13-yard completion from Wilson to Javonte Williams that put the Broncos ahead 17-6. Pearson threw an interception with 3:50 to go in the third quarter, and Russell Wilson rushed for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:10 left and this game pretty much out of reach. We did not get a single first down at all in the third quarter, The Broncos scored another touchdown on a two yard pass from Wilson to Melvin Gordon III with 11:35 to go in the game and us traling 31-6. They would add a field goal three minutes later. Pearson finally got us our first first-down of the second half with a 22-yard pass to Darnell Mooney, but it was too late for a rally. We would later intercept another Russell Wilson pass with 2:56 to play, and that time we did get a touchdown on the board thanks to a 20-yard pass from Pearson to Travis Kelce, and we went for a two-point conversion as almost a point of pride. And failed to convert it. Let’s be honest, we never had a shot in this one after losing our quarterback on the first goddamned play. Maybe the bye week is what we need to sort something out of what has turned into a hellscape of a season. Chicago 12, Denver 34.
Justin Fields took a brutal shot to the head in that opening play, and he spent the rest of the game in the concussion protocol, though we suspect it is a serious case of migraine, not a concussion. With the bye week finally here it’s our hope that he’ll be back and ready to play in week nine.
Pearson performed admirably considering he was thrown out there having had no expectation of playing. He ended up completing 22 of 35 passes for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception. David Montgomery got 76 yards on the ground in 18 attempts. Darnell Mooney had five catches for 70 yards, while Travis Kelce had five catches for 44 yards. Cairo Santos now has 12 made field goals this year.
Other Week 7 results:
Pittsburgh Steelers 23, San Francisco 49ers 19
LA Rams 6, Cincinnati Bengals 21
Atlanta Falcons 10, Buffalo Bills 49
Seattle Seahawks 17, Cleveland Browns 31
Miami Dolphins 0, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38
Minnesota Vikings 17, LA Chargers 38
Philadelphia Eagles 13, Indianapolis Colts 20
Houston Texans 23, Washington Commanders 38
Tennessee Titans 20, NY Giants 7
Dallas Cowboys 9, Jacksonville Jaguars 14
New Orleans Saints 24, NY Jets 17
Las Vegas Raiders 10, Green Bay Packers 10
Week 8 results:
San Francisco 49ers 9, Cincinnati Bengals 19
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10, Buffalo Bills 10
Arizona Cardinals 27, Cleveland Browns 24
Green Bay Packers 13, Kansas City Chiefs 44
Houston Texans 29, Dallas Cowboys 17
Tennessee Titans 7, Philadelphia Eagles 27
Washington Commanders 17, Jacksonville Jaguars 27
Carolina Panthers 17, NY Jets 23
Detroit Lions 13, Las Vegas Raiders 45
New England Patriots 6, New Orleans Saints 27
Baltimore Ravens 30, Seattle Seahawks 3
Denver Broncos 32, Minnesota Vikings 27
Ten teams have been involved in a tie game this season to this point, though no one has had it happen twice. There have been four tie games in the AFC compared to just one (the Green Bay / Raiders one last week) in the NFC. The Packers are still by far the best of the NFC Central (4-2-1) with the rest of us below .500 … and with their win this week, Houston left us as the only team in the NFL without a win. And we have to travel to Kansas City next week so that seems unlikely to change, particularly with Fields still remaining ‘Probable’ with migraine. Here’s hoping he can play.