Thursday, December 4th
8:25pm ET @ Soldier Field (NFLN)
With just 4 games left in the season, Dallas is on the brink of possibly missing the playoffs. Again. It would not be as much of a shame if they did not have DeMarco Murray helping lead the offense and Rolando McClain showing great leadership on defense after a brief retirement at the ripe age of 23. This Dallas team has been the most solid, in my opinion, it has been for a while. Sitting at #7 in the NFC playoff picture, behind the Seattle Seahawks (8-4) and Detroit Lions (8-4). They are also behind the 9-3 Philadelphia Eagles in the race for the NFC East after a brutal whooping on Thanksgiving night. Once again, the burden falls on Tony Romo‘s hands. Despite having some nasty injuries, some of which made most of us question why he was still on the field, Romo has played good football. He has accumulated 2,718 yards through the air, 22 TDs, 8 INTs, and all be completing 68.2% of his passes. His line could be credited towards his success and that of Murray, who has dominated several teams this season with his rushing attack. With more protection from the line, this could get nasty for Chicago fairly quickly.
Chicago has been a mystery. We all know Jay Cutler has potential and has shown some flashes of greatness but he is too inconsistent to actually feel comfortable with him. His reliance on Matt Forte and Brandon Marshall exceed that of any QB in the league. We also have to add in Alshon Jeffery, who has been a big piece in Chicago’s offensive scheme. On defense, it is pretty easy to say Kyle Fuller has been solid in his rookie campaign. The first round draft pick has recorded 3 INTs, 42 solo tackles, 10 assisted tackles, and 10 passes defended. Other than that, the defense ranks at #26 in the NFL. The defense will need to shut down the Dallas offense, obviously, in order to give Cutler and the offense a shot at putting some points up on the board.
FINAL SCORE
Soldier Field on primetime gives Chicago a huge boost but Dallas will not ease up or back down from the challenge. Murray may have a tough time but it will set up Romo and Dez Bryant. I call Cutler throwing 2 picks.
COWBOYS 24-Bears 14
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