The fortunes for Chicago Bears head coach John Fox appear to be looking up after the Bears handed the visiting Carolina Panthers a stinging 17-3 defeat on Sunday, Oct. 22. The Bears did not score an offensive touchdown in the game yet still managed to sidetrack star quarterback Cam Newton’s high-octane offense.
Chicago scored two defensive touchdowns, both by Eddie Jackson: a 75-yard scoop and score fumble recovery and a 76-yard interception return.
Connor Barth kicked a 19-yard field goal to complete scoring for the hosts.
All scoring came in the first half; there was no scoring in the second half.
The win was the second consecutive for the Bears and Fox, an alumnus of Castle Park High School and Southwestern College locally.
“I thought it was a really good team win — that was a good football team that came to town here, a team that had a lot of playoff experience and leadership on their team,” Fox noted in a post-game press conference. “It’s not always going to be perfect; you’ve got to give the other team some credit. But I thought as a football team that we played well today and enough today to get a decisive win.”
With the win, Chicago (3-4) matched its win total of last season. The Bears remain at the bottom of the NFC North standings, however, behind the division leading Minnesota Vikings (5-2), Green Bay Packers (4-3) and Detroit Lions (3-3).
The Packers will be pressed to stay in the championship race following an injury to star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, out with a broken collarbone.
The Panthers dropped to 4-3 on the season and now trail the NFC South leading New Orleans Saints (4-2).
Newton completed 21 of 34 passing attempts for 211 yards; he was intercepted twice and sacked five times.
Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completed four of seven passing attempts for 107yards. Jordan Howard led Chicago with 65 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Carolina out-gained Chicago 293-153 in total yards in tumbling to defeat.
The Bears, who now have six takeaways in their last two games, next face the host Saints on Sunday, Oct. 29, while the Panthers host the Tampa Bay Bucs (2-4).
Chicago beefed up its receiver corps by obtaining Dontrelle Inman in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers on Wednesday. Inman caught 58 passes for 810 yards and four touchdowns in their final season in San Diego in 2016.
Jason Myers (Mater Dei Catholic High School)
The Jacksonville Jaguars released Myers, the team’s place-kicker, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, after Myers missed a pair of field goals in a 27-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Oct. 15.
Myers, 26, had struggled in recent weeks. He was 15-of-17 on point-after conversions (88.2 percent) and 11-of-15 on field goal attempts (73.3 percent). He was tied for second most misses in the league this season.
In three NFL seasons with the Jaguars, Myers made 64 of 79 field goal attempts (81 percent) and 76 of 88 extra-point conversions (86.4 percent). He kicked a 58-yard field goal in 2015 and a 56-yard field goal ion 2016. His longest field goal this season measured 47 yards.
Myers also handled kick-off duties. He has an average of 61.9 yards on 195 attempts, with 141 touchbacks, 43 returns (for a 24.0-yard average) and one touchdown return. He made three tackles on defense.
Jacksonville replaced Myers with former Chargers kicker Josh Lambo, who booted a pair of field goals in Sunday’s 27-0 win at Indianapolis.
The Jaguars are 4-3 on the season, tied with the Tennessee Titans for first place in the AFC South standings.
Alex Smith (Bonita Vista Middle School/Helix High School)
Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs went down to defeat for the second consecutive week after starting the season 5-0.
The Chiefs lost in dramatic fashion in last Thursday’s Week 7 opener as the host Oakland Raiders scored a touchdown with time expired to tie the score 30-30. Giorio Tavecchio then made the extra-point conversion kick to boost the Raiders (3-4) to a dramatic 31-30 victory.
Smith finished the game by completing 25 of 36 passing attempts for 342 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown for 1,979 yards with 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions this season.
The Thursday Night Football tilt featured eight lead changes.
Travis Kelce caught a 10-yard scoring pass to boost the Chiefs to a 10-7 lead midway through the opening quarter.
Smith hit Tyreek Hill (six catches, 125 yards) on a 64-yard touchdown pass and Harrison Butker split the uprights on a 39-yard field goal as Kansas City scored the only points of the second quarter to take a 20-14 halftime lead.
The Raiders, however, scored the opening touchdown of the second half – a four-yard run by DeAndre Washington – to go in front 21-20.
The Chiefs’ fortunes brightened when Smith completed a 63-yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson on a deflection to boost the visitors to a 27-21 lead with 7:08 left in the third quarter.
Butker kicked a 37-yard field goal to put the Chiefs ahead by two scores, 30-21, with 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Raiders rallied with 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to steal the victory.
Tavecchio kicked a 26-yard field goal to narrow the score to 30-24.
Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, back in action after missing three weeks due to a lower back injury, led the Raiders on a furious final scoring drive in the game’s final 2:25.
With no time showing on the clock, the game was extended twice due to defensive penalties on the Chiefs.
Carr finally passed complete to veteran Michael Crabtree from two yards out to tie the score. Tavecchio then booted the extra-point attempt to give the hosts the dramatic win — and snap a four-game losing streak.
Amari Cooper (11 catches, 210 yards) caught two scoring passes to key the Raiders. Carr completed 29 of 52 passing attempts for 417 yards and three TDs.
The Chiefs will attempt to get back in the win column by hosting the AFC West rival Denver Broncos on Sunday, Oct. 29. The Broncos fell to 3-3 on the season following a 21-0 loss to the host L.A. Chargers on Sunday, Oct. 22.
Kansas City remains in first place in the AFC West standings, followed by Denver. Oakland and Los Angeles are tied for third place with 3-4 records.
Oakland will travel to New York to take on the Buffalo Bills (4-2) on Sunday, Oct. 29.
Tony Jefferson (Eastlake High School)
The Ravens lost their second consecutive game to drop to 3-4 on the season following Sunday’s 24-19 setback at Minnesota. Jefferson had four tackles in the loss.
He has 35 tackles and two sacks in seven games this season.
Baltimore hosts the Miami Dolphins (4-2) in a non-divisional game Thursday, Oct. 26, to kick off Week 8 in the NFL.
Extra points
- The Philadelphia Eagles enter Week 8 with the best record in the NFL at 6-1. Five teams have 5-2 records: the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams, Chiefs and Vikings.
- New England’s Tom Brady is the NFL’s leading passer with 2,208 yards, followed by KC’s Smith (1,979 yards), Arizona’s Carson Palmer (1,978 yards), Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz (1,852 yards) and the Chargers’ Philip Rivers (1,186 yards). Palmer is out until Dec. 24 with a broken arm suffered in Sunday’s 33-0 loss to the Rams in a game played in London.
- KC rookie Kareem Hunt is the NFL’s rushing leader with 717 yards, followed by Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell (684 yards), L.A. Rams’ Todd Gurley (627 yards), Jacksonville’s Leonard Fournette (596 yards) and Chicago’s Howard (560 yards).
- Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown is the NFL’s receiving leader with 765 yards, followed by Cincinnati’s A.J. Green (545 yards), New England’s Brandin Cooks (537yards), Minnesota’s Adam Thielen (529 yards) and KC’s Hill (515 yards).
- NFL defensive leaders include Baltimore’s C.J. Mosley (64 tackles), Jacksonville’s Calais Campbell (10 sacks) and Tennessee’s Kevin Byard and Buffalo’s Micah Hyde, each with four interceptions.
Aztecs in the NFL: Week Seven
Eleven former Aztecs are on rosters throughout the league
Seven weeks into the NFL season, several San Diego State University alumni are logging time in the league. San Diego State has 11 former players on rosters throughout the league, with three on practice squads and four on injured reserve.
In a 23-7 loss against the New England Patriots on NBC-TV’s Sunday Night Football telecast, Atlanta Falcons free safety Damontae Kazee lined up for 12 plays on special teams. He has played in all six games during his rookie season with one start, recording 11 tackles (six solo, five assisted) with two forced fumbles.
A cornerback in college, Kazee was selected by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Kazee finished his final year with 65 tackles (45 solo), seven interceptions for 156 yards, eight pass breakups, three tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry en route to being named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season. Kazee, a three-time all-MW selection over his career (first team in 2015-16, second team in 2014), finished with a school-record 17 interceptions, 30 pass breakups (sixth at SDSU) and 214 interception yards (seventh at SDSU).
Brice Butler, a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, lined up for 23 snaps on offense and one on special teams in Sunday’s 40-10 win at the San Francisco 49ers. The fifth-year pro is averaging 25.9 yards per reception with eight catches through six games, and four of his plays are for 30 yards or more.
In his lone season with San Diego State in 2012 following a three-year career at USC, Butler played in all 13 games with eight starts, recording 24 catches for 347 yards and four touchdowns. He was a seventh-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Calvin Munson, Nat Berhe and the New York Giants fell to Seattle last week 24-7.
Berhe made a solo tackle and recorded one sack in took four snaps on defense and 14 on special teams against the Seahawks. In his fourth season with the New York Giants, he has recorded one solo tackle and assisted on two others. For his career, he has made 38 tackles, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Berhe was a three-year starter from 2010-13 and was the first Aztec safety in the MW era (since 1999) to earn all-conference honors in three consecutive seasons.
Munson did not play due to injury. Playing in all six games of his rookie season, he has started a pair of games, making 15 tackles (10 solo, five assisted) with a sack. Munson, who started all 41 games at outside linebacker from 2014-16 for SDSU, finished his collegiate career ranked sixth in tackles (301) and ninth in sacks (18.0). He was a three-time all-Mountain West pick, including a first-team selection each of his final two seasons. Munson signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft.
Arizona Cardinals starting long snapper Aaron Brewer, Baltimore offensive lineman Nico Siragusa, Dallas defensive back Leon McFadden and Philadelphia running back Donnel Pumphrey are on their teams’ respective injured lists.
Offensive linemen Daniel Brunskill (Atlanta Falcons), defensive end Alex Barrett (Detroit Lions) and Darrell Greene (Green Bay Packers) are on their teams’ respective practice squads.
