Chicago quarterback Mitch Trubisky and Denver QB Case Keenum feel better about their respective offenses after starting out faster and
finally moving the chains Saturday night.
"Scoring points always feels better
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Trubisky also bounced back from a dismal debut last week by connecting with Trey Burton for his first score of the summer.
"We can find answers in this offense," said Trubisky, who's learning first-year coach Matt Nagy's philosophies. "The playmakers are going to get
open. It's my job to get them the ball."
Keenum's new backup Chad Kelly threw another touchdown pass after leapfrogging Paxton Lynch, but it was Bears backup Chase Daniel who had the best
night of all.
He led Chicago's fantastic finish by throwing for a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes Saturday night to spark Chicago's come-from-behind 24-23
win.
With the Broncos in control at 23-10, Lynch entered the game to a thunderclap of boos, which only increased through three drives that went nowhere.
"Well, I feel bad for Paxton, but our fans want to win," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. "That's what it's about, it's about passion, I should say. But I
feel bad for Paxton. But he has to ignore it and go play. It's professional
football. No one's going to hold your hand, so he has to go out there and
perform."
Lynch played poorly again.
A week after his 24-yard performance led to his demotion, he threw for just 39 yards on 5-of-11 passing with a pair of sacks.
He nevertheless had the Broncos (0-2) in field goal range when he hit Isaiah McKenzie on a short slant route and the speedy receiver who fumbled six times as
a rookie, coughed up the football on second effort at the Chicago 37 and
linebacker Isaiah Irving recovered it with 58 seconds left.
The Broncos can only hope McKenzie doesn't crumble from his latest fumble.
"He's a good young player
Ibraheim Campbell Jersey , he's had a good camp and he played well last week, so hopefully it doesn't set him back," Joseph said.
Daniel threw a 2-yard TD pass to running back Taquan Mizzell with 4:38 left and then hit tight end Ben Braunecker with 1:53 remaining to tie it. Pat
O'Donnell's extra point gave Chicago (1-2) its first lead.
BOUNCE-BACK
After a pair of three-and-outs last week, Keenum rebounded from another three-and-out to lead two scoring drives on his final two possessions, finishing
8 for 13 for 78 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Kelly had his second straight strong showing, this one just 48 hours after general manager John Elway indicated he might have to go in search of a veteran
backup quarterback if he can't trust either Kelly or Lynch to come in and win
games should Keenum get hurt.
Even though Kelly's three TDs are the only ones thrown by Denver's quarterbacks so far, Joseph's not ready to say he can trust him to be one play
away from starting when the regular season begins.
"I can't speak for two weeks down the road here," Joseph said, "but right now he's our backup quarterback."
Trubisky threw for 90 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-14 passing. He also threw an interception and was tackled by first-round pick Bradley Chubb for a safety
after the shotgun snap from the 1 went off his hands.
Trubisky said he's feeling more and more comfortable in Chicago's new offense.
"We're still hiding a bunch of good stuff, too," Trubisky said. "We're not showing all of it."
Kelly completed 7 of 9 passes for 90 yards and capped his first drive of the night with a 16-yard touchdown toss to rookie Courtland Sutton .
MILLER STARTS
Von Miller , who was held out at the last minute a week earlier, made his preseason debut for Denver and played a couple of series. Miller said he wasn't
upset by the decision last week to sit him against the Vikings but said he did
want to play.
SMITH SITS
Bears rookie linebacker Roquan Smith has practiced in pads just once since January, so it wasn't a surprise he was in street clothes Saturday night.
Earlier in the week he became the last member of the 2018 NFL draft class to
sign his contract and reported 30 days late.
"The timing wasn't good," to play in a game this week
Peyton Manning Jersey , Nagy said.
FLAG FOOTBALL
There was an incredible 293 yards in penalties, many of them of the new helmet-hit variety.
"I'm hopeful it won't look like that" in the regular season, Joseph said.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Just like last week, Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas weren't on the sideline for the national anthem. Thomas (wrist)
didn't suit up.
INJURIES
Bears TE Adam Shaheen injured his right ankle on the game's first drive and LB Leonard Floyd left with a hand injury.
S Will Parks said he avoided a serious knee injury. McKenzie, who had called for a fair catch on a punt, was evaluated for a concussion after Deiondre'
Hall's personal foul tackle. WR Jordan Leslie left with an injured left
hand.
NEXT UP
Bears: Host Chiefs on Aug. 25.
Broncos: Visit Washington on Aug. 24.
TORONTO — The clinching number for the Toronto Raptors is one.
They need to win one of their remaining four games to clinch first place in the Eastern Conference. In the unlikely event of that not happening, one loss by
the second-place Boston Celtics, who also have four games left, would also wrap
up the East.
Toronto could get the job done by defeating the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors (56-22) defeated the undermanned Celtics 96-78 on Wednesday night at the ACC to move three games ahead of Boston in the conference.
Meanwhile, the Pacers (47-32) defeated the Golden State Warriors 126-106 at home Thursday night, led by 28 points from Bojan Bogdanovic. They have won six
of seven — including two wins over the Warriors without Steph Curry — and are
fifth in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and 1
1/2 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I thought it was a big test tonight,” Indiana coach Nate McMillan said. “I really was looking forward to playing them with their roster tonight, just to
see where we were. That’s a really good team. I thought our guys responded well
to the challenge.”
Despite being on the verge of clinching home-court advantage in the playoffs, Raptors coach Dwane Casey was trying to keep it in perspective. The victory over
Boston followed a loss in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
“We’re not excited
Jaylon Smith Jersey , we know we got some other games to go, some other things to get better at; we’re looking at big picture,” Casey said after the game
Wednesday. “One game, we still have some things to get better at. I liked our
defense, I thought our defensive focus was there, our attention to detail, guys
were where they were supposed to be, a few hiccups but a big improvement over
(Tuesday) night.
“Again, it’s about competition, it’s about competing at a high level. With a big picture in mind, not just trying to win that one game we’re trying to do
something special.”
Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan, who scored 16 points Wednesday, said the games leading into the playoffs are important.
“What do we have, four games left? Every single one is extremely important because once next weekend starts you know, it’s literally win or go
home
http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/brian-quick-jersey ,” DeRozan said. “It’s no ‘my bads’ or I get the next one, so these four games are
critical and us playing extremely hard and having a rhythm and understanding,
our confidence has to be at an all-time high going into next week.”
With the victory over the Celtics, the Raptors matched their franchise best for overall wins in a season (56) and wins at home (32).
Toronto holds a 2-1 advantage over the Pacers this season, including a 106-99 victory at Indianapolis on March 15 in the most recent meeting.
DeRozan scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half against Indiana in that game.
The Pacers hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the 76ers (2-1 this year) and Cavaliers (3-1). Both teams have relatively easy schedules remaining, however,
so that might not become a factor. The Cavaliers and 76ers do play each other
before the season ends.
Indiana has endured a difficult schedule that included visits to Golden State, Sacramento, Los Angeles (against the Clippers) and Denver.
The Pacers will be facing the Raptors on the second half of back-to-back games.
“It’s going to get us bull-tough and battle tested,” Indiana forward Thaddeus Young said. “It’s definitely prepping us for the task at hand, which is going to
the playoffs. We’ve been doing a good job of handing it, going out there and
staying focused and locked in. This road trip has been tough. … I don’t know who
made the schedule, but this is crazy.”
The Pacers have lost eight games in a row at Toronto.
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