Yikes! Vikes Give Bears Company Atop NFC North

October 8, 2012 @ admin → No Comments

Monday meanderings: While Chicago Bears fans can bask in the thrill of a 41-3 victory Sunday (Oct. 7) against the host Jacksonville Jaguars, you have to wonder which is more surprising in the NFC North: the Bears atop the division at 4-1, the Minnesota Vikings also 4-1 or the Green Bay Packers 2-3.

* Speaking of the Bears, quarterback Jay Cutler threw passes to receiver Brandon Marshall 17 times in Cutler’s 39 attempts. Marshall had 12 receptions for 144 yards. Which is a 12-yard average, in case anyone is trying to teach math to a youngster (12×12=144 sounds so much better as a football statistic than as rote memorization in math class). Overall, Cutler threw 23 completions for 292 yards. Which is 7 yards short of a 13-yard average per completion. Or so the statistical analysis department at elliottharris.com says after removing shoes and socks to calculate.

Jaguars cheerleaders didn't have much to cheer, but they do have a calendar.

For the season Marsahll has 35 receptions for 496 yards. The impprecise statistical-calculation department around here has it on good authority that means if Marshall had four more receiving yards, for five games he would be averaging 100 yards per game. Let the record show there is more imp and less precise in the imprecise statistifcal-calculation department around here.

* Bears cornerbacks Charles Tillman and linebacker Lance Briggs became the first teammates to have interception returns for touchdowns in consecutive games. For the season, Bears running back Matt Forte has one touchdown.

* During the seventh inning of ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the Washington Nationals-St. Louis Cardinals National League Division Series Game 1, analyst Chris Singleton referred to Cards shortstop Pete Kozma as “the Wizard of Koz” in a nice play of the nickname of former Cards shortstop Ozzie “Wizard of Oz” Smith. Sounded good until Kozma’s error helped Washington rally for two runs in the eighth for a 3-2 victory. Guess you — or maybe Singleton — could say it was a definite Koz-and-effect situation.

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Featured on the Big Ten Network’s “LiveBIG” program that airs Monday at 6:30 p.m. Chicago time is Jenn Gibbons, who set out this summer to row the perimeter of Lake Michigan to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research.

Chicago-based TeamWorks Media had cameras record her journey with cameras mounted on her boat. A Michigan State graduate, Gibbons was sexually assaulted by a man un Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Somehow Gibbons, 27, eventually completed her journey and raised more than $125,000 for her Recovery on Water program that she founded.

More information is available at www.BTNLiveBig.com.

Some of her story from CNN:

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NFL notes from the league’s department of information:

* Indianapolis rookie quarterback Andrew Luck passed for 362 yards and Reggie Wayne had 212 receiving yards in the Colts’ 30-27 victory over Green Bay. It marked the second consecutive week in which a team had a rookie pass for at least 350 yards and a player record 200+ receiving yards (Miami’s Ryan Tannehill and Brian Hartline). This is the first time in NFL history it has been accomplished twice in a season.

* Luck is the first rookie in NFL history to pass for 1,200+ yards (1,208) and record at least two triumphs in his team’s first four games. Luck and Cam Newton are the only players in NFL history to pass for at least 300 yards in three of their first four career games.

Dani is among the 30 finalists to be WLUP's Loop Rock Girl.

* New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees threw for four touchdowns in beating San Diego 31-24 to surpass Johnny Unitas for most consecutive games with a TD toss. They had been tied at 47 games.

* New England quarterback Tom Brady passed for 223 yards and one touchdown in the Patriots’ 31-21 victory over Denver. Brady has a touchdown pass in 37 consecutive games and passed Brett Favre (36) for the third-longest streak in NFL history. The matchup between Brady and Denver’s Peyton Manning was the first time in NFL history that the two starting quarterbacks entered a game with at least 300 touchdown passes. It also marked just the second time in NFL history that the two starting quarterbacks each had at least 125 victories (Dec. 21, 1998; Dan Marino vs. John Elway).

* Quarterback Matt Ryan passed for 345 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons’ 24-17 victory vs. Washington. Ryan led the Falcons to 17 fourth-quarter points in his 18th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime. That is the most by a quarterback in his first five seasons in the Super Bowl era.

* Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez posted his 99th touchdown, tying for eighth in NFL history with Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Hutson.

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The Loop Rock Girl balloting begins Monday (Oct. 8) and runs through Friday (Oct. 12). The public-affairs department around here (we don’t think there’s a private-affairs department around here) likes to think voting is a civic duty. Whether that extends to Loop Rock Girl balloting is between you and your conscience. For those who do decide to cast ballots in the contest that features 30 young women competing for the coveted title (not to mention the $75,000 salary), you may do so at wlup.com.

As promised, here is another interview from the Flirty 30 event Friday (Oct. 5) at Hawthorne Race Course. Say hello to Dani: