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POLL: Who wins Week 11 contest between Bears and Rams?

The Bears and Rams will meet in a rematch of last year’s defensive battle on Sunday Night Football. Will the Bears emerge victorious again?

The Chicago Bears (4-5) will hit the road to take on the Los Angeles Rams (5-4) on the primetime stage.

The Bears are coming off a 20-13 win over the Detroit Lions, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had his best game of the season against Detroit, and he and the Bears offense will be looking to build on that success.

The Rams are coming off a 17-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where Los Angeles’ offense struggled mightily and their defense wasn’t able to come up with a critical stop on fourth-and-1. But the Rams defense certainly impressed, and they’ll be looking to do the same against Chicago.

Chicago and Los Angeles met last year on Sunday Night Football in what was a defensive battle. The Bears emerged victorious with a 15-6 victory over the Rams, after making quarterback Jared Goff’s night a long one.

Will the Bears repeat their defensive dominance against the Rams on Sunday? Will Chicago extend their winning streak to two games? Or will the Bears fall victim to the issues that affected them during their four-game losing streak?

Who wins on Sunday?

VOTE!

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week One

We are tracking each Mountain West performance of this week to determine the player of the year.

[jwplayer 18QegcJn-sNi3MVSU]

Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week One

Take A Look At Who Played Well for Mountain West Teams In Week One.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Who is in the running for Player of the Year?

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We are going to keep track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and vote on who had the best performances that week.

How It Works:

Each person will award 15 points in total to five players and should award it as so:

1st place (Player of the week): 5 pts

2nd place: 4 pts

3rd place: 3 pts

4th place: 2 pts

5th place: 1 pt

The player with the most points total will be our player of the week and we will keep track of the point totals every week so that the player who has the most at the end of the year will receive the Mountain West Wire Player of the Year award. Just copy the players below and type your names above it like we do for the pick them docs we get and award your points.

Now some guys made the list and others didn’t. A big thing to think about was consistency throughout the week. Something that hurt some guys was having a decent game one day and a bad one the other day. Guys who made the list had a great game one day and a good one on other days, or good games both days.

This column will come out on Sunday nights or Monday mornings depending on how late some games finish on Sundays.

The order for the first week is as follows:

1. Lindsey Drew, senior guard Nevada (5 points):

30 Points 8 Assists 6 Rebounds against Utah

24 Points 9 Rebounds 7 Assists against Loyola Marymount

2. Derrick Alston Jr, junior guard BSU (4 points):

25 Points 5 Rebounds 4 Assists against Life-Pacific

28 Points 2 Rebounds against Oregon

3. Amauri Hardy, junior guard UNLV (3 points):

15 Points 6 Assists 5 Rebounds against Purdue Fort-Wayne

27 Points 4 Rebounds 3 Assists against Kansas State

4. Jordan Schakel, junior guard SDSU (2 points):

15 Points 4 Rebounds 2 Assists against Texas Southern

19 Points 5 Rebounds against Brigham Young

5. Sam Merrill, senior guard USU (1 point):

28 Points 5 Rebounds 3 Assists against Montana State

14 Points 6 Rebounds 6 Assists against Weber State

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Power rankings: Loss to Bucs drops Cardinals a pair of spots

They have allowed over 25 points every game this season.

The Arizona Cardinals entered Week 10 having risen in weekly power rankings despite losing two in a row. That did not continue with a third consecutive loss.

After falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-27 Sunday afternoon, they dropped a pair of spots in the new USA TODAY power rankings.

The Cardinals were up to No. 21 but fell to No. 23.

Christian Kirk snagged three TD passes Sunday, matching output from his first 18 games. If he gets going, “Air Raid” could reach new level.

The offense seems to have hit its stride. They have scored at least 25 points in five of their last six games, despite still having issues on third down and in the red zone.

The problem is the defense isn’t stopping anyone. They have allowed over 25 points in every single game this season, including four games allowing at least 30.

The schedule gets tougher now with four of their final six games coming against NFC West opponents. Where they are now in these rankings might not change much.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

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Texans Wire discussion forum: Will Houston miss Jadeveon Clowney down the stretch?

The Houston Texans traded away Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 31. With J.J. Watt out, will that decision come back to hurt Houston?

Will the #Texans miss Jadeveon Clowney down the home stretch?

— The Texans Wire (@TheTexansWire) November 12, 2019

The Houston Texans traded Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks for draft picks and edge defenders Jacob Martin and Barkevious Mingo in return. Will this decision come back to hurt the Texans now that defensive end J.J. Watt is out for the season?

Houston didn’t miss neither Clowney nor Watt in Week 9’s 26-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. The combination of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s play and the run defense shutting down Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette gave the Texans the ability to choke out Jacksonville and put the onus on rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew.

All of that is well and good, but Houston has Lamar Jackson, Jacoby Brissett, Tom Brady, and Ryan Tannehill left on the schedule. Who will get after these quarterbacks? Will Martin and Mingo help outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus and defensive tackle D.J. Reader?

Houston returns from their bye week Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET at M&T Bank Stadium to face the Ravens.

Packers RB Aaron Jones is a red-zone scoring machine

Packers RB Aaron Jones has turned 22 carries in the red zone into 11 rushing touchdowns in 2019.

Why have the Green Bay Packers been so effective in the red zone during the first 10 games of the 2019 season?

Look no further than running back Aaron Jones, who has become a red-zone scoring machine for the Packers offense.

Jones has turned 22 carries inside the 20-yard line into an NFL-high 11 touchdowns. No other player has more than nine rushing touchdowns from inside the red zone.

The efficiency of Jones’ ability to find the end zone is most impressive.

His 50 percent scoring rate in the red zone is far and away the best among primary ball-carriers in the NFL.

Compare to some notable others:

– Dalvin Cook: 9 TDs on 35 carries (25.7 percent)
– Mark Ingram: 8 TDs on 26 carries (30.8 percent)
– Christian McCaffrey: 7 TDs on 32 carries (21.9 percent)
– Josh Jacobs: 7 TDs on 32 carries (21.9 percent)
– Derrick Henry: 7 TDs on 22 carries (31.8 percent)
– Ezekiel Elliott: 6 TDs on 40 carries (15.0 percent)
– Sony Michel: 6 TDs on 29 carries (20.7 percent)
– Todd Gurley: 6 TDs on 26 carries (23.1 percent)
– Jordan Howard: 6 TDs on 22 carries (27.3 percent)
– Nick Chubb: 5 TDs on 31 carries (16.1 percent)
– David Montgomery: 5 TDs on 18 carries (27.8 percent)
– Chris Carson: 4 TDs on 31 carries (12.9 percent)
– Tevin Coleman: 4 TDs on 21 carries (19.0 percent)
– Alexander Mattison: 1 TD on 22 carries (4.5 percent)
– Leonard Fournette: 1 TD on 32 carries (3.1 percent)

The Packers are third in the NFL in touchdown percentage inside the red-zone. They’ve scored 24 touchdowns on 38 trips, good for a percentage of 68.6.

Jones scored three more red-zone touchdowns on Sunday against the Panthers. He broke a tackle of Luke Kuechly and scored from five yards out in the first quarter. He fought his way into the end zone from a yard out in the second quarter. And he burst through the second level and past a diving safety to score from 13 yards out in the third quarter.

Overall, Jones has 12 touchdowns from inside the red zone this season. His decisiveness and quickness as a runner allow him to find holes and get through cracks, and he’s much tougher in a crowd than his frame suggests.

And it isn’t just Jones who has become a red-zone monster for the Packers. Running back Jamaal Williams has turned six catches inside the 20-yard line into five touchdowns, which leads the team.

Together, Jones and Williams have 18 total touchdowns in the red zone through the first 10 games of the 2019 season. Coach Matt LaFleur has used the pair to take pressure off of Aaron Rodgers in the confined areas of the scoring area.

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Watch Dolphins’ Brian Flores break down Ryan Fitzpatrick TD vs. Colts

Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores broke down some of the dynamics of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s rushing TD against the Indianapolis Colts.

Sunday afternoon wasn’t exactly the best showing thus far in 2019 by the Miami Dolphins — but it was enough to get the job done en route to a 16-12 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. The key play for Miami? Ryan Fitzpatrick’s scrambling score in the 1st half to put the Dolphins up 10-0, a clutch play against a fast, physical Colts defense who didn’t yield much to Miami all game long — even before the Dolphins were blanked in the 3rd quarter.

Head coach Brian Flores met with Kim Bokamper in the aftermath of Miami’s victory over Indianapolis to break down the play that ultimately ended up being the difference maker for the Dolphins. The first note from Flores? This is an extremely difficult red zone defense to navigate, which made Fitzpatrick’s leg work a must in order to crack the end zone.

Coach Flores breaks down Fitz's rushing touchdown against the Colts 💪

For the full interview tune into @CBSMiami on Sunday at 11:00am. pic.twitter.com/CNALN1lTj1

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) November 12, 2019

Perhaps the most interesting note from Flores’ time with Bokamper is the continued messaging that Ryan Fitzpatrick is a special personality, one that draws excitement and inspiration out of his teammates. No, Fitzpatrick isn’t the most physically gifted quarterback. Heck, Josh Rosen has more physical gifts as a player. But Fitzpatrick is the one who transcends talent and brings the “energy and enthusiasm” that Flores wants to see out of his Dolphins’ team.

So as the Dolphins move forward and look for their answer at quarterback, that connection figures to be an intangibles component Miami refuses to budge on. Nor should they. If Fitzpatrick can have this kind of success over the past month for Miami, imagine what a young, charismatic quarterback can do for Miami when the Dolphins decide it is time to add talent.

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Julian Edelman explains why he almost forgets about crazy year at WR

Demaryius Thomas, Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon and Mohamed Sanu.

Julian Edelman seems to have a different No. 2 wideout every week. The New England Patriots have made no shortage of major transactions at receiver during the course of the 2019 season, whether it was drafting first-rounder N’Keal Harry, trading away Demaryius Thomas, signing and cutting Antonio Brown, trading for Mohamed Sanu and waiving Josh Gordon. Bill Belichick has been busy shaping his receiver depth chart.

Edelman met with reporter Ian Rapoport on a podcast for “Westwood One” and discussed the turnover, which Edelman admitted was at a higher volume than normal.

“We have coaches that do a good job of getting — that have been helping with this crazy year of rotation of what we’ve been going through. They do a good job of helping,” Edelman told Rapoport in a recent interview. “We all kind of just chip away at kind of getting whoever’s in caught up. And that’s everyone, not just the new guys. We’re such a game plan team. Every week, you install (the game plan) and everyone’s got to go out there in practice and learn it together. I think you get so caught up in that, you almost forget the outside things that are happening.”

The Patriots have a foundation on offense, but they install a weekly game plan to ensure they’ve designed plays and schemes to exploit the weaknesses of their opponent in any given week. With the Patriots putting laser focus into each installation, players like Edelman don’t have much time to reflect upon the comings and goings of teammates, he said.

“Playing in this league for a while, you’re never surprised with anything, just because there’s so many bizarre things that happen — this, that, the other,” Edelman said on the podcast. “You try to kind of keep your focus on what you can control, and that’s trying to make your game better.”

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2019-20 Super 25 Preseason Boys Basketball Rankings

The 2019-20 Super 25 Preseason Boys Basketball Rankings have been released… Here are some notable ranked teams primed for a big season… 25. ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC A.J. Griffin and R.J. Davis are a legit one-two punch who averaged a combined 45 points per game last season 18. RANCHO CHRISTIAN It’s officially the Evan Mobley show at Rancho Christian. He will be forced to carry the load now that big brother Isaiah is gone. 14. OAK HILL ACADEMY The Warriors have arguably the best scorer in the country in shooting guard Cam Thomas but will need to develop some of its other players 8. SIERRA CANYON The Trailblazers got an influx of talent in the offseason. Will be fun to watch how it all comes together. 6. MCEACHERN Chosen 25 guard Sharife Cooper looks to lead the Indians to another undefeated season and perhaps a shot at the GEICO Nationals crown 4. THE PATRICK SCHOOL The Celtics landed the biggest fish of the offseason with 6-foot-9 all-everything junior forward Jonathan Kuminga. 2. IMG ACADEMY The Ascenders look to repeat as GEICO Nationals champs and have the talent to do it. 1. MONTVERDE ACADEMY The Eagles are out for revenge after blowing a 16-point lead in the second half of the GEICO Nationals semifinals and fell to eventual champion IMG Academy. And they are loaded. The No. 1 player in the Chosen 25, Cade Cunningham, is back for his senior season and is joined by all-everything forward Scottie Barnes and 4-star sharp-shooter Moses Moody. To see the entire Super 25 Rankings visit usatodayhss.com

2019-20 Super 25 Preseason Boys Basketball Rankings

Georgia football’s defensive stats are absolutely nuts

Here are some eyepopping defensive stats from the first 9 games for the Georgia Bulldogs 10.1 points per game allowed (2nd nationally, 1st in the SEC) 260.3 total yards per game allowed (5th nationally, 1st in the SEC) 185.8 passing yards per game allowed (17th nationally, 3rd in the SEC) 74.5 rushing yards per game allowed (4th nationally, 1st in the SEC) 57.14% opponent red zone score conversion rate (1st nationally, 1st in the SEC)