Box Score Tonight: Week Fifteen/"Night" Games Edition

I went to a "bar" (or what my suburban village classifies as a bar and one that's attached to a bowling alley) with The 'Bright' One and another friend of mine to watch the Monday Night Football game between the Bears and Vikings. No real or good anecdotes to come out of that, but I'm sure anything funny I say about the game is because it's a one liner TBO told me. We'll begin just as soon as set the record for most kick returns brought back for touchdowns.

- As always we'll start with the Chicago Bears who absolutely dominate and destroy the Minnesota Viking at the University of Minnesota 40-14. NFC North campions BA-BEEE! All my Packers fan and my one Bears-hating Lions fan friends are going to get an ear full on facebook. Wow, that was awful trash talk.
- As just referenced in the opening, Devin Hester returned a kick return for a touchdown as he set the record for most kick returns for touchdowns at 14. He also caught a touchdown and caught two of his three targets for 23 yards.
- I didn't really realize this watching the game but Matt Forte played really well and looking back on it I can see why. His longest run of the day was only 14 yards so his abnormally-for-Forte high 5.4 yards per carry meant he kept getting 5 yards on every single one of his 17 carries pretty consistently. But as always he could not convert a goal line stand.
- I really love Chester Taylor's talent and I wanted him to come to Chicago before the Bears signed him. But every time I saw him he seemed to get dropped in the backfield- which would explain his 0.5 YPC this game (Hell, freaking Garrett Wolfe had 3 more yards on 7 less carries than Taylor). We came to the conclusion that Taylor is only on rush plays so the opposition knows what's coming. I still advocate he come in on full drives and on pass plays because I've seen him play and play awesome in Minnesota. Hell, he used to be the 3rd down back- on obvious pass plays.
- The three of us had a bet, over/under 1 catch for Greg Olson. We pushed. Olson caught all four of his targets for 28 yards. I still don't like him all THAT much.
- Jay Cutler looked good but only threw it for 194 yards on 14 completions. But he threw three touchdowns to only one pick (Cutler's fault). Rashied Davis and Johnny Knox both caught TDs and Knox led all Bears receivers with 78 yards thanks to a 67 yard amazing TD bomb.
- Back up DE Corey Wootten knocks Brett Favre out of the game (I was debating between this and the kick returns record for my opening). It was amazing. John Gruden called Wootton a young Julius Peppers. Let's calm down there buddy, a 7th round draft pick out of Northwestern is not a young Julius Peppers. (copyright 2010 TBO)
- Brett Favre said he'll do one thing and then at the last minute does another. Very out of character for Brett Favre. He said he was out and then he was "doubtful" this morning and then he starts the game- and looked surprisingly good. Favre had a 99.1 passer rating, completed 5 out his 7 attempts and completed one touchdown. And like Brett Favre, one interception.
- Joe Webb, a 6th round pick who was drafted as a wide receiver, came in to replace Brett Favre. He looked awful and looked lost for most of this game and the Bears pass rush got to him early and often. He got 0 passing TDs (1 rushing) and 2 picks (really three because Urlacher had a great pick that called back- like many plays did in this game).
- AD was magically out of this game and thus the 'Bright' One and I will face each other for 3rd place in the Game Of Inches Fantasy Football League. Back up Toby Gerhart looked good to me with his 77 yards on 16 carries (4.8 YPC). This is the year of the white running back. By default and because at least two of them started a game this year- Gerhart and my boy Peyton Hillis.
- Percy Harvin was back and I didn't realize what an impact he made. He caught 5 of his 7 targets for 72 yards and caught Favre's TD pass.
- Mrs. Kendra got as many targets as Devin Aromashodu today- one. But D.A. caught his for a first down and Baskett did not catch his.
- Bill Belichick almost screws over the Bears two weeks in a row by almost losing to the Green Bay Packers. ((c) TBO- again) But the Pats defeat the Pack 31-27.
- I gotsta address this first- the Packers almost won this game. But almost doesn't count it in football (Ask the Lions going into the 4th quarter of games) and this should not have been close. On a 4th and I think a few, the Packers took 30 seconds to run a play which ended in a Matt Flynn sack as time expired. Way to be prepared and show why you should keep your job Mike McCarthy!
- Flynn looks like Tom freaking Brady (minus the lovely hair) as he completes 65% of his passes for 251 yards, 3 TDs, a pick, and a 100.2 passer rating.
- Yet as good of numbers as Flynn put up, Matt Flynn in the game negatively affected Greg Jennings (4/5 30 yards, TD) and Donald Driver (3/6, 31 yards) like we thought he would. But of course everyone knew that James Jones (5/8, 95 yards, TD) would go off.
- Brandon Jackson gets 22 carries (4.5 YPC). John Kuhn gets 6 (and a receiving TD). James Starks gets 0. Dmitri Nance gets 6.
- I don't know how many games in a row it's been but Tom Brady has another game in a row where he doesn't throw an interception and another game in which the Pats do not turn over the ball. Brady ended the day with a 110.2 passer rating. I'm struggling right now between Brady, Rivers, and Vick on who my MVP is. Right now Brady (4) has one less INT than Vick (5) and that was a major indicator for the longest time on why I'd pick Vick. I think Brady is the MVP front runner. Somebody cut that man's hair, he's like Sampson!
- Danny Woodhead gets 9 carries (6.6 YPC). BenJarvin Green Ellis gets 6 (6.3 YPC, rushing TD). Aaron Hernandez gets one (16.0 YPC) and both of Tom Brady's touchdowns.
- Because essentially all the numbers look the same, I'm not going to comment on the Pats wide out numbers. Except for the previous sentence.

Seriously guys, any suggestion on how to end these would be greatly appreciated.

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