SportsNetwork: Bears, Redskins tangle at Soldier Field

[bubba9497]

Bears, Redskins tangle at Soldier Field

http://sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=nfl/news/ABN2957972.htm

(Sports Network) - Coming off an embarrassing 27-0 shutout at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Redskins will try to circle the wagons and get back in the win column when they battle the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

The Redskins were shut out at home for the first time in 10 years, while head coach Steve Spurrier was held scoreless in a regular season game for the first time since he was with Duke in 1987. Washington quarterback Tim Hasselbeck completed just 6-of-26 passes for 56 yards and four interceptions en route to a rock bottom 0.0 rating. Hasselbeck is determined to make up for his horrendous effort this week.

"It would have been easy for me to have my confidence shaken every time I got cut," Hasselbeck said. "For me, I'm excited about the fact that I have an opportunity to play another football game. I'm healthy, I'm going to play this week against the Chicago Bears, and I'm going to play a lot better."

Spurrier is hoping for a strong finish against Chicago and Philadelphia from his club.

"Certainly last year we were able to win our last two against Houston and Dallas," said Spurrier. "Chicago won last week as we know, and they have a little momentum going. Obviously the Eagles are one of the best teams in the NFL. Last year, the two teams we played did not have winning records. But the wins gave us a little momentum. It made the offseason a little bit nicer. We'll see what happens. We'll try to win them."

Chicago has played some of its best football in recent weeks, winning three of its last four games. The Bears played spoiler last week, recording a 13-10 over the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. Rookie Rex Grossman won his first career start despite hitting on just 13-of-30 passes for 157 yards. Grossman, who played under Spurrier at Florida, knows he has plenty of room for improvement.

"I can definitely play a lot better, but to have a win in my first start, for right now I'm happy," Grossman said. "Once we watch the tape I might be a little bit disappointed, but hey, I don't care right now."

SERIES HISTORY: The Bears stopped a six-game series skid with a 20-15 win in 2001. Chicago scored the go-ahead touchdown on a fake field in the fourth stanza, as kicker Brad Maynard hit Brian Urlacher for a 27-yard strike. Paul Edinger had a pair of field goals in the victory. Chicago owns a 22-19-1 advantage in 42 all-time meetings.

Spurrier has never faced the Bears, while Bears coach Dick Jauron has tallied a 1-1 mark versus the Redskins.

REDSKINS OFFENSE VS. BEARS DEFENSE

Washington amassed a total of 161 yards and eight first downs in its loss to the Cowboys. The 'Skins gained just two yards per Hasselbeck pass in the mud and rain, as tight end Zeron Flemister was the team's leading receiver with two catches for 27 yards. Wideout Rod Gardner added three receptions for 24 yards in the losing effort.

"Obviously Tim struggled. He had a lot of pressure. He had a lot of guys in his face as he was throwing," said Spurrier. "He had a guy almost in his face half the night. And maybe we didn’t have many guys open at times. So it was a difficult night."

The Redskins continue to have problems with their offensive line, which has surrendered 37 sacks (24th-NFL). Somehow, Washington must keep the Bears' pass rushers out of Hasselbeck's face in this contest. It shouldn't be that tough, as Chicago has not registered much of a pass rush this season, tallying a league-low 16 sacks.

Bears defensive end Alex Brown leads the team with six sacks, including two last week against the Vikings. Defensive tackle Phillip Daniels and Michael Haynes are second on the team with two sacks apiece.

The Redskins, which rank ninth in the league in passing offense (202.1 ypg), could have trouble throwing the ball against the Bears. Chicago owns the league's fifth-rated pass defense (195.6 ypg) led by emerging rookie corner Charles Tillman. Tillman made the play of the game against the Vikings, wrestling the ball away from Randy Moss in the end zone in the final minute for an interception.

"The player of the game is Charles Tillman," Grossman said. "I think Charles should probably go to the Pro Bowl for that as far as I'm concerned."

Tillman leads the Bears with four interceptions, while Jerry Azumah has three picks. Azumah has tallied 73 stops and Tillman has added 70 tackles this season.

Washington wideouts Laveranues Coles and Gardner should challenge Azumah and Tillman in this contest. Coles, who didn't record a catch last week, has caught a team-high 69 balls for 1,023 yards and four touchdowns. Gardner has added 55 receptions for 567 yards and five scores on the year.

The lone positive for the Washington offense last week was the running effort of Rock Cartwright, as he recorded 94 yards on 21 carries (4.5 ypc) in the contest. Look for the Redskins to give Cartwright at least 20 carries this week.

Washington is 10th in the NFC in rushing offense with 109.3 yards per contest, including four yards per carry. Meanwhile, the Bears are 11th in the conference against the run (123.9 ypg). Last week, Chicago surrendered 178 yards on 38 carries (4.7 ypc) to the Vikings.

Urlacher is the anchor of the Bears' run defense with a team-high 100 tackles. The 25-year-old has tallied 100 or more stops in each of his four seasons in the league. Rookie linebacker Lance Briggs has done a solid job this season with 70 stops.

The saving grace for the Chicago defense last week was the play of punter Brad Maynard. Minnesota produced no points after starting at its own 11, 14, 8, 29 and 11 following Maynard's five punts.

"I thought Brad did a tremendous job of punting the ball, but we covered them well too," said Jauron.

BEARS OFFENSE VS. REDSKINS DEFENSE

Chicago did just enough to get the job done on the offensive side of the ball against the Vikings. Anthony Thomas recorded 79 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries (4.2 ypc) in the win. Thomas has tallied 161 yards on 40 attempts (3.3 ypc) in the last three games.

With Grossman still trying to get comfortable in the offense, look for the Bears to utilize Thomas on a regular basis in this contest. Thomas could receive a season-high number of carries.

For the Bears to succeed in the running game, they will need starting left tackle Mike Gandy (shoulder) and right guard Chris Villarrial (torn oblique muscle) back in the lineup. Gandy missed last week's game, while Villarrial has been sidelined for the past two contests. Qasim Mitchell, who subbed for Gandy, impressed his coach last week.

"I thought he played pretty well, but going into the game we knew that Qasim has the ability to play," Jauron said. "There were some things that got him, some stunts that got him. For the most part, he played like the athlete he is."

Washington will need to hunker down against the run after allowing the Cowboys to run for 222 yards on 45 attempts (4.9 ypc). Troy Hambrick ran all over the Redskins, garnering 189 yards on 33 carries (5.7 ypc). The Redskins must tighten up against Thomas and company.

The Redskins will need defensive tackles Bernard Holsey and Lional Dalton to clog the middle and close Thomas' running lanes. Linebackers Jeremiah Trotter, LaVar Arrington and Jessie Armstead can't afford to miss easy tackles in this contest. Trotter is the Redskins' leading tackler with 100 on the year, while Armstead leads the team with 6 1/2 sacks.

Grossman and Marty Booker hooked up three times for 48 yards last week, while David Terrell reeled in three balls for 42 yards. Booker has caught 42 passes for 543 yards and three scores this season.

Look for Washington corners Fred Smoot and Champ Bailey to play bump-and-run coverage on the Chicago receivers.

The offensive line must keep Grossman off his back in this contest. Last week, the patchwork group up-front surrendered just one sack to the Vikings. Grossman, the ultimate team player, blamed himself for the sack.

"This guy is a quality guy and he does fit in," said Jauron. "He's not real talkative, he's not quiet. He tells you what he thinks. He's a bright guy and he clearly likes to play. He likes to play football and the players do respond to that."

Washington will likely blitz Grossman quite often in this contest. The Redskins' starting linebackers have combined for 13 sacks this year, including five from Arrington. On the season, the Redskins have tallied just 25 sacks (12th-NFC).

Neither of these teams will likely put many points on the board in this contest. With inexperienced quarterbacks on the field, the last team to throw a pick will likely lose. The Bears will ride the home field advantage to the victory.

12/18 13:56:44 ET

[bubba9497]

Washington Redskins at Chicago Bears: This was a premier matchup about 15 years ago, but both teams are playing for next year at this point. There is optimism in Chicago after Rex Grossman's first career start resulted in a victory over Minnesota last week. The Florida gunslinger still has a lot to learn about the pros, but he's an excellent prospect who will prosper from getting playing time this season. Washington's offense isn't the same with Tim Hasselbeck at QB instead of Patrick Ramsey. WR Laveranues Coles, who says he will play the final two games of the season despite a stress fracture in his foot, hasn't had a 100-yard game since Week 10. It will be interesting to see if Steve Spurrier can help find a way to disrupt Grossman, who played for Spurrier in college. Predicted Outcome: Chicago 9, Washington 7

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10683400&BRD=1710&PAG=740&dept_id=353124&rfi=6

[bubba9497]

Washington at Chicago: Who cares? Neither team is going to the playoffs, so the only thing they're playing for is pride, and both teams are so bad they shouldn't have any left. But even though da Bears beat the Vikings, I don't think the Redskins will fall victim to them Windy City critters. Redskins win.

http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/tester/8_50/sports/26759-1.html

[bubba9497]

Washington (5-9) at Chicago (6-8) Sunday, 1:00 pm EST

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Rex Grossman faces former college coach Steve Spurrier on Sunday when the Chicago Bears host the Washington Redskins at Soldier Field.

Grossman, the rookie quarterback of the Bears, played two seasons in Spurrier's "Fun N' Gun" offense as a collegian at Florida. He declared for the NFL draft following his junior season.

As a sophomore in 2001 under Spurrier, Grossman passed for 3,896 yards and 34 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

Grossman, who was selected 22nd in last April's draft, made his first NFL start in last week's 13-10 victory over Minnesota. He was rather ineffective, completing just 13-of-30 passes for 157 yards.

Anthony Thomas led the way against the Vikings, rushing for 79 yards and a touchdown as the Bears improved to 5-2 at home. They are just 1-6 on the road.

This could be the last home game for Bears coach Dick Jauron, whose job may be in jeopardy. Chicago closes the regular season next Sunday at Kansas City.

While Grossman is still adjusting to life in the NFL, so is Spurrier, who has posted just a 12-18 mark.

Known as an offensive guru, Spurrier has watched that unit struggle. Washington ranks 24th in total offense, averaging less than 300 yards per game.

Spurrier does have problems at quarterback, where Patrick Ramsey is sidelined for the season, leaving unproven Tim Hasselbeck as the starter. Hasselbeck wasn't even on the Redskins' roster at the beginning of the season.

Last week, Hasselbeck was horrific in his third start of the season. He completed just 6-of-26 passes for 56 yards with four interceptions in a 27-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys .

Chicago leads the series, 22-19-1.

Laveranues Coles has been playing the entire season with a stress fracture? He has 69 catches for 1,023 yards and four TDs. Maybe Chicago should look into this; the stats for the Bears' leading receiver, Dez White (who is healthy): 47-554-3.

Redskins 17, Bears 14

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/previews/2003/12/21/915_preview.html

[bubba9497]

OPENING LINE - Bears by 5.

RECORD VS. SPREAD - Redskins 6-6. Bears 8-6.

SERIES RECORD - Bears lead 22-19-1.

LAST MEETING - Bears beat Redskins 20-15 on Dec. 23, 2001, at Washington.

LAST WEEK - Redskins lost to Cowboys 27-0. Bears beat Vikings 13-10.

REDSKINS OFFENSE - OVERALL (24), RUSH (18), PASS (24)

REDSKINS DEFENSE - OVERALL (21t), RUSH (27), PASS (13)

BEARS OFFENSE - OVERALL (32), RUSH (20), PASS (30)

BEARS DEFENSE - OVERALL (14), RUSH (21), PASS (10)

KEY MATCHUP - Redskins QB Tim Hasselbeck vs. Bears QB Rex Grossman. Two of NFL's oldest teams are playing very inexperienced QBs. Hasselbeck wasn't on Redskins roster until late October and has started three games in brief NFL career. Bears drafted Grossman No. 22 overall last spring, and he made first start last week in upset win over Vikings.

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Redskins DE Bruce Smith, now NFL's all-time sack leader, needs one more to become first player with 200. ... Bears KR Jerry Azumah leads NFL, averaging 30.3 yards per return. Redskins K John Hall leads NFC with 11 touchbacks on kickoffs and team ranks third in NFC, holding opponents to average drive start after kickoffs at 27.5 yard-line. ... Redskins WR Laveranues Coles needs six receptions to become first Washington player with 75 in a season since Gary Clark in 1990.