This defensive excitement was pretty one-sided in the second half.  Source:  Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

As we looked at the much more impressive first half Jaguars performance yesterday, it occurred to me that the second half lacked something that the first half had so much more of: energy.  As much as I think that Russell Allen is a tad too late far too often on plays, he easily has the most boundless (or so it seems) energy when he’s on the field.  The guy is bouncing up and down, he gets excited after planting an opponent into the ground, he looks like he’s having fun all the time.  Yet even he was beat down by the Bears on Sunday; submitted to the continuous pounding that Matt Forte and the Bears’ offensive line dished out.

When the secondary is forced to help the run, good receivers can exploit the cornerbacks all too easily.  Source:  Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

The 31 rushing attempts by Bears running backs finally got to the Jaguars in the second half.  Forte was averaging over six yards per attempt at one point and never appeared to slow down.  The front four for the Jaguars did not appear able to clog the middle and Bears running backs consistently made it to the second level when they touched the ball.  The lack of energy slowly mounted to exhaustion and the Bears were able to use this to their advantage, forcing the Jaguar corners to make plays in both the pass and run game.  This is especially apparent in Brandon Marshall’s fourth quarter 24-yard touchdown that say Derek Cox a few yards behind him the entire play, largely because the Jaguar front seven couldn’t stop the run and he had to respect this and recognize he could be needed elsewhere.  It didn’t help that safety Dwight Lowery left the game with an injury.

While the Bears could exploit apparent exhaustion of the Jaguars defense, the Jags couldn’t seem to get anything going on offense.

For the third time in five games, the Jags were shut out in the fourth quarter.  They have been outscored 53 to 20 in the fourth quarter thus far this season – 15 of those points have come from two last minute catches by Cecil Shorts.  It’s almost as if the team hits a wall when the end of he third quarter occurs.  When re-watching the game the receivers suddenly aren’t making the same grabs that they were before.  Cecil Shorts suddenly becomes a non-factor despite consistently getting open in the first half.  Blaine Gabbert can’t hit the same throws he was hitting so easily before.  I’m starting to think that this team doesn’t have an “all four quarters” mentality.

Maurice Jones-Drew couldn’t set the tone for the offense in the first half and that hurt the team in the second half.  Without a rumbling MJD who could punch holes through the defensive line, the Jags could not justify the play action pass or deep drop-backs for longer routes.  There was a lack of respect for the offense on the part of the defense.  That is on the Jags for not getting in there and pushing the Bears around.  Yet I thought that the play calling was much better in this game.  It’s tough to admit, but the Bears simply had the better matchup in the trenches.  While Forte could consistently get to the second level when he touched the ball, MJD couldn’t do the same for the Jags.

It’s a tough time when you play the game close but a few mistakes revitalize a defense, electrify the offense, and the talent difference between the two teams finally becomes apparent.  Credit to the Jags for keeping in contention through most of the game, but there is more than one half to a football game.  This team needs to learn that soon and be more prepared when the going gets rough.

- Luke N. Sims

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You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims

Editor’s Note: Being a part of the Fansided Network, we have the opportunity to interact with the other NFL sites that can give us insight into their teams.  Before each game we will be providing you with a quick questionnaire that the opposition’s site editor has provided us.

This week we had the opportunity to chat with Bear Goggles On editor Mike “Boomer” Burzawa, who took the time to answer five questions for us.  Let’s get to the questions:

1)  Jay Cutler is throwing more picks per dropback (5.1%) than he did during his horrendous 2009 (4.7%) season.  So far the Bears have gotten away with it, but is this stopping the team from breaking into the elite at the top?

Wow, that’s an interesting stat and thanks for reminding me of that awful 2009 season.  NOT!  It’s early in the season and Cutler is just starting to hit his stride as he and new offensive coordinator Mike Tice find a good rhythm to see what works and what doesn’t.  While Cutler is extremely physically gifted, he can fall apart when under pressure.  If the offensive line comes together and gives Cutler some time, the sky’s the limit for him and the Bears offense.

2)  If Cutler hadn’t been injured last year, I firmly believe the Bears could have pushed to the Super Bowl.  Which pieces from last year are as good or better after four games in 2012?

Bears fans are still left wondering what could have been if he hadn’t broken his thumb with the Bears in the midst of a 5 game winning streak and an easy part of the schedule coming up.  The offense from 2011 is actually improved in a couple of key areas.  First of all, the Bears invested in Jason Campbell as backup quarterback in case Jay Cutler gets hurt.  They also added Michael Bush to serve as backup running back to Matt Forte and also to help in short yardage and around the goal line.  He’s already vultured a few TD’s.

The biggest change, though, is at the wide receiver position, where the Bears traded a pair of third rounders for enigmatic wide receiver Brandon Marshall and invested a second round pick Alshon Jeffery.  Adding a couple of big bodied wide receivers makes Jay Cutler a lot more effective.  The area that still needs help is the offensive line.  The Bears, like a lot of other teams, have a big need at offensive tackle.  J’Marcus Webb has been little more than a turnstyle and needs help in many passing situations.  If the Bears can get that position figured out, the rest of the league needs to look out.

3)  Matt Forte is coming back and should be effective.  How crucial is the balance he provides?  Is he worth the money this season?

While Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall get most of the headlines, Matt Forte is the engine that drives the Bears offense.  He gets a ton of touches on the ground as well as in screens and on wheel routes.  While the ankle has slowed him a step, he’s still a dangerous weapon for the Bears offense.  Is he worth the money?  Is any NFL player really worth the kind of money they pull in?  Most of all, I’m happy he and the Bears reached an agreement and we don’t have to see the #PayForte hashtags for another season.

4)  Tim Jennings is having a very good year at cornerback.  Is there any room for opposing quarterbacks against him and the rest of the secondary?

Yes, Tim Jennings was just named September’s Defensive Player of the Month with his 4 INT’s and Peanut Tillman is coming off a Pro Bowl season but there still are plenty of opportunities against the Bears secondary.  Safeties Chris Conte and Major Wright have been playing well but are still inexperienced and can be susceptible to play action.  Jennings is playing big, but at barely 5’9″ he can face some mismatches at times.

5)  What’s going to go down between the Jags and Bears?  Will it be competitive?

Bears fans’ biggest concern about Sunday is the Bears looking past the Jaguars and ahead to their Week 6 BYE.  This game should set up well for the Bears on paper.  If they can limit MJD, Gabbert is not a big threat to go deep, so they should be able to hold Jacksonville in check.  On the offensive side, they just need to hang onto the ball and avoid dumb turnovers and let Matt Forte and Michael Bush carry the load this week.  I expect this game to be a little more competitive than most.  Bears 23 – Jaguars 17

The fantasy football season is drawing closer with each week, and while wives around the world are curbing their enthusiasm, fantasy football junkies could not be happier.  Everyone is building their cheat sheets and drawing up their lists of sleepers, so this is the perfect time to start to looking at player rankings.  Below are my top ten fantasy football running backs for the 2012 season:

1. LeSean McCoy, PHI – “Shady” McCoy left opposing defenders in the dark all year long.  He finished the season with a phenomenal 20 total touchdowns  (17 rushing and 3 receiving), the most by any other running back.  McCoy is deceptively quick between the tackles and can burn anyone in the open field.  McCoy has only missed two professional games in his career, and his durability, combined with his raw skills, makes him the number one guy on my list.

2. Arian Foster, HOU – Foster is by far the best down hill runner in the NFL.  He has scored a dominating 26 rushing touchdowns and 4 receiving touchdowns in his last 29 games.  He may not be the hands down first overall pick this summer, but Aaron Rodgers be dammed, Foster can easily be the number two overall selection.  Grab Foster second overall and take solace in the fact that you have one of the only workhorses left in the game.

3. Ray Rice, BAL – Rice is a do it all fantasy back.  He can run between the tackles, run outside the tackles, and catch the ball.   Rice is the ideal option in Point Per Reception (P.P.R.) leagues, because no back in the league has hands like the former Rutgers star.  In Rice’s last three seasons as the team’s starter, he has amazingly averaged just less than 2,000 yards from scrimmage (1,307 rushing and 654 receiving). Rice has an offense that is completely tailored around him, only increasing his fantasy value. He is the perfect running back to build a fantasy team around and is even falling out of the top-five in some drafts.  Do not let this dual-threat star pass you by, draft him with confidence in any draft format.

4. Maurice Jones-Drew, JAC – Jones-Drew remains the one bright spot in an otherwise cloudy Jacksonville offense.  He led the entire NFL with a jaw-dropping 1,606 rushing yards and was all the Jags’ had to lean on down the stretch last year.  Regardless, his timid 8 touchdowns tied him for 12^th in the NFL and can easily be attributed to the offense inability to put points on the scoreboard in 2011.  However, the Jaguars’ offense has worked hard this off-season and will be better in 2012, so MJD will get many more scoring opportunities down the stretch.  Fantasy owners should expect Jones-Drew to finish with around 1,500 rushing yards and between 8-11 touchdowns on the ground.

5. Chris Johnson, TEN – Johnson started embarrassingly slow last year, by recording only one 100-yard rushing game in his first eight contests.  However, he turned it around by averaging a respectable 85 yards per game over the rest of the year. “CJ2K” will have a bounce back season in 2012 and will finish back among the top in the league at his position.  He may not replicate the 2,006-yard performance he put up in the 2009 season, but he should easily eclipse 1,300 rushing yards.

6. Matt Forte, CHI – Forte is finally back in pads and ready to lead millions of fantasy teams.  He is a yardage beast for fantasy owners and has racked up 1,300 yards from scrimmage in each of his four NFL seasons.  He may lose some goal-line carries to the newly acquired Michael Bush, but expect Forte to still produce like a top-ten fantasy back.  Forte should still reach 1,300 all-purpose yards in 2012 and score between 8-10 touchdowns, regardless of the new competition in the backfield.

7. Darren McFadden, OAK – McFadden was having a monstrous season before going down with a Lisfranc fracture to his right foot in week 7.  “Run DMC” racked up 614 rushing yards and 154 receiving yards in essentially six and a half games.  He has been labeled as injury prone, but his injuries (ankle, toe, and foot) have mostly just been unlucky.  It is at least promising that it was not a knee injury, because those injuries tend to linger longer into a young, backs career.  McFadden can still be an elite option, but he has to be healthy to do it.  McFadden is falling to the mid-second round and his potential makes him a steal at that point; just make sure to add some extra depth to your running back stable in-case his injury problems return.

8. Michael Turner, ATL – Turner is being severely undervalued in drafts this summer.  He has scored an outstanding 50 touchdowns in his last 59 games and is one of the only backs in the NFL that both occupies the starting tailback position and gets all the goal-line carries. As far as his injury label, Turner has only missed four games in the four years he has been in Atlanta, and that came in a four-week stretch during his 2009 season.  The 30-year old also has fresh legs, as he started his NFL career as LaDainian Tomlinson’s backup in San Diego.   All Turner does it score touchdowns and punish defenses, a perfect fantasy football combination.  Turner is featured in a very high-scoring offense, so expect him to have another 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2012.

9. Ryan Mathews, SD – Mathew is drawing a tremendous amount of pre-season hype, as somehow the two-year pro with under 400 carries is becoming considered a top-five fantasy pick this summer.  He is a little too risky to be drafted that early and would be better off being picked in the mid-second round.  Mathews is still an extremely elusive runner and is great at getting to the outside, but fantasy drafts are about getting value out of your picks, just as much as it is about getting stars.  Mathews is still a number one back, just make sure not to reach to far for the unproven back.

10. Adrian Peterson, MIN – Peterson’s latest trip to the Physically Unable to Perform (P.U.P.) list has all but killed his first round fantasy value.  Even though he can come off the list at anytime between now and week 6, fantasy owners have been extremely leery about taking the four-time Pro Bowler.  However, Peterson is a fantasy monster in the waiting and the fact that he is completely falling out of the first and second round, could make him a fantasy steal at the end of the year.  Do not draft Peterson in the first round by any means, but do not hesitate to grab him in the middle of the second round.

Make sure to check back next week for my wide receiver rankings.

-Adam McGill