The Chicago Bears who had not beaten the San Francisco 49ers on the road since their lone Super Bowl season in 1985, had the odds stacked against them after falling behind early on Sunday night as the 49ers kicked off the grand opening of their new home -- Levi's Stadium. Facing the Bears for the first time since his coming out party in Week 11 of 2012 when he shined in place of the injured Alex Smith on Monday Night Football to eventually win over the starting QB job, Colin Kaepernick followed up a flawless Week 1 performance vs the Cowboys with one of his ugliest outings yet. Out of the gates, however, the Niners had all things working for them as they forced a three and out on Chicago's opening possession before blocking a punt which set up an easy touchdown as Kaepernick connected in the end zone with Michael Crabtree.
Hoping to crash the party, things didn't look good early for Bears QB Jay Cutler and company as Chicago was unable to put anything on the board offensively for almost the entire first half. A Phil Dawson field goal and a rushing touchdown from Frank Gore gave the 49ers a 17-0 lead as San Francisco threatened to take a big lead into the locker room at the half despite two turnovers by Kaepernick. It took them until the last minute of the first half, but the Bears were able to wake up on offense and exploit San Francisco's rookie cornerback Jimmy Ward who was outmatched by the much taller and stronger Brandon Marshall as the Pro Bowl wide-out came down with three of Jay Cutler's four touchdown passes on the evening.
A second field goal by Phil Dawson to open up the start of the second half gave San Francisco a 20-7 lead. But where Cutler excelled in the second half, showing poise and patience, Kaepernick crumbled. The Bears, who entered the game with a record of 3-140-1 all-time when trailing by more than 16 points on the road, rallied behind a pair of 4th quarter turnovers by the 49ers QB to score 21 unanswered-points in the second half to pull out the comeback win, 28-20. By no means did Jay Cutler have a monstrous day throwing the ball as he finished with only 176 yards passing, but he managed to play mistake-free football and capitalized on good field position whether it was created by penalties (there were 26 of them overall, 16 by SF) or on turnovers. Kaepernick, who was near perfect in the season-opener, was anything but in prime time as he finished with 248 passing yards, 64 yards rushing, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions and 1 fumble.
After allowing more than 100-yards rushing to Dallas' DeMarco Murray in Week 1, the 49er defense were lights out in defending the run, holding the Bears' Pro-Bowl running back Matt Forte to only 21-yards on 12 carries and even did a good job in containing Chicago's stellar receiving tandem in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery who combined for only 95 yards on 8 receptions. But it's where three of those passes hauled in by Marshall were caught. Bears tight-end Martellus Bennett also caught a touchdown pass from Cutler, spoiling the debut of Levi's Stadium.
Week 3 Preview: With little time to lick their wounds and prepare for their next game, the 49ers will take a trip to the desert where they'll meet the (2-0) Arizona Cardinals who currently sit in first place in the NFC West with both San Francisco and Seattle being tagged with losses in Week 2. Despite the absence of Quarterback Carson Palmer who will also sit out vs the 49ers in Week 3 while nursing a shoulder injury, Arizona had no trouble on the road where they defeated the New York Giants, 25-14 behind backup QB Drew Stanton. Hoping to get back in the win column, the 49ers will look to make Stanton's second start of the 2014 season a rough one.
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Goodbye Russell, Hello Campbell - Continuing a busy NFL offseason that has consisted of blockbuster trades, surprising draft choices, interesting controversies, head shrugging suspensions, mind boggling scandals (see Big Ben's Big Mistake) and the constant Brett Favre talks and never ending updates that have become a daily thing by now, comes another batch of goodies. From Big Ben returning to camp and being allowed to resume in team activities, to the Oakland Raiders releasing their 2007 number 1 overall pick -- JaMarcus Russell. Less than two weeks before Russell's release, the Raiders acquired QB Jason Campbell from the Washington Redskins in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. This of coarse coming weeks after Washington welcomed former Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. Alongside Ryan Leaf, Russell will go down as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.
Cincy takes a Gamble - Also making headway, is the Cincinnati Bengals who signed CB Adam 'Pac-Man' Jones to a 2-year contract. Like Russell, a lot was expected from Jones when being drafted in 2005 by the Tennessee Titans as the first defensive player in the Draft and sixth player overall in the first round. But after countless incidents and suspensions, Jones' presence on the field is yet to be seen. In fact, Jones has made a bigger impact in the wrestling ring than he has on the football field. In 2007, Jones saw a brief stint on TNA Wrestling and was even a Tag Team Champion at one time before retiring from the sport. The Bengals however, are no strangers for signing players who are linked to controversy and known for having issues both on and off the field, as the team saw a total of nine separate player arrests in nine months back in 2007.
Damaged Goods - Making some of the bigger news thus far in the offseason, was the trade between the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins (see Welcome to Miami). While the Dolphins dealt two draft picks to get the highly talented WR Brandon Marshall, they were unaware of the news they would receive soon after. Just weeks before the start of NFL OTA's, the Dolphins were looking forward to seeing their new star wide-out. Instead, they got word that Marshall would be out until training camp while recovering from hip surgery. Surgery the team knew nothing about when they made a trade for him just a month earlier. And it didn't help that Marshall himself didn't mention anything about undergoing surgery either. The real question is, did Denver know they were trading away damaged goods? Let's hope the Dolphins held onto their receipt...
Just a little over a year ago on April 2nd of 2009, the Denver Broncos made the biggest splash in the NFL offseason by trading their 2008 Pro-Bowl Quarterback to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a mediocre Kyle Orton and a handful of draft picks. And now that we're in the 2010 offseason, just a week prior to the first day of the 2010 NFL Draft, the Broncos put their name in the hat for the biggest offseason move yet again. Yesterday afternoon it was announced that the Broncos had traded their 26-year old WR Brandon Marshall to the Miami Dolphins. In return, the Broncos acquired Miami's 2nd-Round picks in both the 2010 and 2011 NFL Drafts.The Broncos and their now former talented young wide-receiver haven't always seen eye-to-eye, as Marshall and Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels have had numerous altercations, one including Marshall being benched for the final game of the regular season last year, for failing to arrive for a physical therapy session on time. The Broncos went on to lose the game and ended up missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Something else Marshall and the Broncos organization failed to get on the same page about, was their agreement to a long-term contract Marshall had been seeking. A multi-year deal was something the Dolphins had no problem agreeing to, as both ends agreed to a 4-year, $47.5 million dollar deal hours after the trade. The near $50 million dollar deal makes it the richest WR contract in NFL history.With the acquisition of Marshall, who has caught 100-receptions in three consecutive seasons, the Dolphins are now a threat in both the ground and air attack. Most notably known for executing the wild-cat offense/formation, the Dolphins now have someone who can scare off a defense when passing. After all, Marshall's 2009 season total of 10-touchdown receptions is just two less than the total of the entire 2009 Dolphins team that finished with only 12. Marshall's presence in the AFC East will also guarantee a match-up with New York Jets' CB Darrelle Revis not once, but twice a year. When being asked about facing his new rival and the 2009 AFC Defensive Player of the Year, Marshall joked around by saying, "What's the island called, Revis Island? I just got married, maybe we'll honeymoon there."Referring to Revis' self-proclaimed nickname for his spot on the playing field "Revis Island" for his ability to play one-on-one with opposing receivers. As Marshall is regarded as one of the top receivers in the game today, Revis is regarded as the best cornerback in the NFL. With both players now in the same division as well as on opposite ends, the match-up between the two is one that many including myself are looking forward to. With Marshall now out of the Mile High City and Brady Quinn in, it'll be interested to see where the team goes from here. Whether or not they're rebuilding is yet to be known, given Marshall is still young himself. But even with the bright young WR now playing elsewhere, will the result turn out to be positive, similar to results of the Cutler trade?With the way Marshall acted in last year's training camp, batting down passes and punting balls, I'm surprised anyone was willing to make a trade for him. But he did make up for it by contributing to a lot of Denver's early season success. With 5-years on his contract, Miami is praying Marshall doesn't decide to bring that same attitude with him.
Another player in the NFL is continuing to prove how spoiled today's athletes really are. And Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall is no exception. Marshall who's had problems with the Broncos in the past is doing all he can to show the organization how much he wants out of Denver. In a practice held Thursday by the Broncos, Brandon Marshall was caught on tape punting the ball away and batting down balls passed to him. After being interviewed Thursday night on ESPN, Marshall said his behavior was out of frustration. But when BM wasn't seen punting balls away, he was seen sitting down while the rest of the team was running sprints.I'm guessing this is his tactic to somehow get dealt to another team, however if I was a coach of another team and seen the same footage, Marshall would be the last person I'd want on my squad. Not only is Marshall being a pain in the ass, but he's disrespecting the team and organization. If this doesn't lead to the team trading him away, I don't know what will. With this unsportsmanlike behavior, Marshall joins a list of familiar names that have also been somewhat of a virus to their team, come practice time; T.O., Michael Crabtree, Jay Cutler, Chad OchoCinco and now Brandon Marshall.
In other Football news, Michael Vick made his long anticipated Eagles debut. In a preseason game today against Jacksonville, Vick went a perfect 4-for-4 in passing for a total of 19 yards. After the game, Vick was interviewed and said, "It felt great to finally be out there on the field and get my feet wet", as it was his first game since being released from prison just months ago. Vick compared his return to riding a bike, "You never forget how to do it." Vick also received a standing ovation from the Philly crowd in a half-empty stadium.Young Eagle fans showing their support for their newest player
