N.Eng over CLEVE, PITT over NY Jets, Tenn over MIA, OAK over S.Diego, DAL over Cin, LA over Buf, DEN over Atl, BALT over Wash

Thurs Night: Ariz over SF

Mon Night: CAR over T.Bay

NFC NORTH: Phil over DET, GB over NY Giants(Sun Night), MINN over Hou, BEARS over Indy.

HOME teams in all CAPS.

Last week and totals to date:

LES 8-8(36-28), ZACH W. 9-7(31-33), TONY G. 7-9(30-34, SHANE W. 6-10(29-35

It’s with sadness that we learned early Thursday Morning that one of our Score Regulars and one of the best callers MIKE from EAST CHICAGO passed away after a bout with Cancer. RIP Mike.

LES

Brian Hoyer threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bears earned their first win of the season with a 17-14 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.Brian Hoyer threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bears earned their first win of the season with a 17-14 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.The Bears (1-3) got a win after starting 0-3 for the second time in as many seasons under coach John Fox.They also stopped a six-game home losing streak as well as a six-game slide against Detroit (1-3), though things got tight near the end.The Bears were leading 17-6 when Andre Roberts returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. Golden Tate then caught a 2-point conversion pass from Matthew Stafford to cut it to 17-14 with 1:52 left, but the Bears recovered the onside kick.Hoyer was on target in his second straight start with Jay Cutler nursing a sprained right thumb. He was 28 of 36 passes against a defense missing the injured Ezekiel Ansah and DeAndre Levy.Eddie Royal caught seven passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Jordan Howard ran for a career-high 111 yards for the Bears.Zach Miller caught a touchdown, and the Bears gained 408 yards in just their second home win in 10 games under Fox.The Lions dropped their third straight, with Stafford struggling to find open receivers and a short-handed run game once again unable to get going.Stafford was 23 of 36 for 213 yards and was intercepted twice deep in Bears territory. He got picked off by Jacoby Glenn on a miscommunication with Tate near the end of the first half.And the Lions had the ball on the Bears 23 when Deiondre Hall picked off a pass intended for Anquan Boldin with about four minutes remaining in the game.Marvin Jones Jr. had 74 yards receiving after setting a career-high with 205 yards against Green Bay the previous week.The Lions settled for a 21-yard field goal by Matt Prater on the opening drive of the second half after two runs at the Bear 1 got stopped.Hoyer hit Royal deep down the middle for a 64-yard gain on the next drive, setting up a 6-yard touchdown catch by Miller that increased the lead to 14-6 with 3:34 left in the third quarter.But Kevin White was slow to get off the ground after being tackled by Glover Quin following a short catch and eventually walked to the locker room with an ankle injury. Besides Cutler, the Bears played their second game without LBs Danny Trevathan (sprain thumb) and Lamarr Houston (season-ending left ACL tear). RB Jeremy Langford (ankle) was inactive after getting hurt last week at Dallas.

IOWA CITY—Northwestern finally found some points. Then the defense made a big play to secure a much-needed win.Justin Jackson ran for 171 yards and Austin Carr caught three touchdown passes as NU held on to beat Iowa 38-31 on Saturday.Trae Williams’ interception in the final minute sealed the win for the Wildcats (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten), who scored touchdowns on three straight drives in the second half after Iowa ran off 17 straight points to take the lead.

”For us to weather that storm and then not to flinch after they went on a 17-0 run, I thought showed some maturity from this group and then to get the finish was critically important,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ”We’ve got to squeeze everything out of this group. I think they’re coming along for us.”

C.J. Beathard threw for 204 yards and a touchdown for Iowa (3-2, 1-1), which snapped its nine-game regular-season Big Ten winning streak.The Wildcats – ranked as the worst scoring offense in the Big Ten and 125th out of 128 FBS teams coming into Saturday – exploded for nearly as many points against Iowa as they scored in the last three games combined.Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson threw for 164 yards. Carr – his favorite target and the Big Ten’s receptions leader – has caught a touchdown pass in four straight games. He’s the first Wildcat player to do that since 2000.Jackson became the fourth player in Northwestern history to reach 3,000 career yards. The junior’s 58-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter regained the lead for the Wildcats.Defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo had four of Northwestern’s six sacks.The Hawkeyes had two chances to tie the game in the final seven minutes, but were forced to punt and then Williams intercepted Beathard at Northwestern’s 36-yard line.Iowa’s mistakes – pass protection and penalties – were costly. The Hawkeyes had 70 penalty yards, including consecutive personal fouls on Northwestern’s last scoring drive.

”We’re not good enough to give up 15 yards, whether it’s a sack, a penalty,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. ”We’re just not good enough, and not many teams are.”

Iowa’s LeShun Daniels Jr. and Akrum Wadley combined for 107 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Wadley has seven touchdowns in three games against Northwestern.The 38-point outburst is what Fitzgerald needed to see after the Wildcats totaled just 65 points in their first four games. Northwestern took advantage of good field position early. It had three scoring drives of 75-plus yards in the second half.The key was limiting mistakes. Fitzgerald pointed to holding penalties and turnovers as reasons why the offense has sputtered. The Wildcats had one fumble and only one penalty against Iowa.

”The offense has been there, but I just think we’ve had self-inflicted wounds,” Fitzgerald said.

Northwestern’s Brett Walsh was carted off the field during a scary moment in the third quarter, but officials said tests came back negative. Walsh is expected to travel back to Evanston, Illinois, on Saturday night.Walsh, a junior linebacker, was hurt covering a kickoff. The game was delayed almost 10 minutes while medical personnel attended to Walsh. He was put on a stretcher and carted off to the locker room.NU had lost four of the previous five games in the series. The Wildcats won in Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 2009. .Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell had a career-high 16 tackles. Jewell has had double-digit tackles in three straight games. .Iowa kicker Keith Duncan hit a career-long 24-yard field goal.

LINCOLN—Nebraska’s fourth-quarter dominance showed up again Saturday. This time it was Terrell Newby leading the way.The senior ran for 113 of his 140 yards and scored two touchdowns in the last 15 minutes, just in time for the 15th-ranked Cornhuskers to turn back Illinois’ upset bid and win 31-16.Newby touched the ball on 18 of Nebraska’s last 21 plays from scrimmage and the Cornhuskers (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) won going away after being down 16-10. They also avenged a 14-13 loss last year in Champaign.Newby’s two TDs came as Nebraska scored 21 straight points to overcome a 16-10 deficit. The Huskers have outscored their five opponents 78-6 in the fourth quarter.Illinois (1-3, 0-1) got off only 10 offensive plays after taking its six-point lead with 7:40 left in the third quarter. The Illini have lost 14 straight and 23 of 24 against Top 25 opponents.

”We got better today. We still have a loss but I think we made improvements,” Illinois coach Lovie Smith said. ”We hung in there throughout, had a lead for most of the game, but it’s about finishing. We didn’t do that.”

Nebraska, favored by three touchdowns, turned over the ball on back-to-back possessions while falling behind. The Illini had to settle for field goals after each takeaway, allowing the Huskers to stay close.The Huskers went 18 plays in 10:42 to take a one-point lead early in the fourth. Nebraska kept the drive alive because of two huge penalties on the Illini. Chunky Clements had Tommy Armstrong Jr. stopped for a loss on a third-and-12, but he was called for a horse-collar tackle, and Darius Mosley was flagged for pass interference on a fourth-and-4.The biggest play, though, was when Newby picked up a first down by inches on a fourth-and-1 at the Illinois 4. The spot stood after a video review.
”It’s a game of inches,” Newby said. ”I tried to do everything I could to stretch the ball out. I’m glad it went our way.”
Newby went into the end zone from the 3 on the next play, and he finished the scoring with a 63-yard burst.Reggie Corbin led the Illini with 72 yards on nine carries, and Kendrick Foster scored their only touchdown on a 31-yard run. Wes Lunt was 13 for 22 for 133 yards.
”Definitely no moral victories,” Lunt said, ”but we’re so close to breaking through. We’re leading all the way up to the fourth and battled through adversity all game. But at the end, they made a few plays and won the game.”
The Illini, who have lost three in a row since winning their opener, gave Nebraska all it could handle. The offense couldn’t get going again once the Huskers took the lead, and the defense was on the field way too long.
”Looking at our team and watching that thing take place, it appears to be a real good time for a bye week,” Riley said.

Nebraska has a chance to move up, but the Huskers aren’t ready to break into the top 10 for the first time since 2011.
”Well, did you all stay around for the fourth quarter? That didn’t look like much up until then.” – Riley.
The Illini return home to face Purdue, which they beat 48-14 last season.

EAST RUTHERFORD—Notre Dame will count this as progress after a week of upheaval and adjustments for a beleaguered defense. They might have been only leprechaun-sized steps forward, but the Fighting Irish will take it.Notre Dame tightened up its tackling and held Syracuse to seven points in the second half, and DeShone Kizer made up for most of the Irish’s ills with one of the best passing games in school history.Kizer threw for a career-best 471 yards and the Fighting Irish snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Syracuse 50-33 Saturday.In the first game since coach Brian Kelly fired coordinator Brian VanGorder, the Irish (2-3) allowed more than 30 points for the fourth time this season and 489 yards to Syracuse’s up-tempo spread offense.

 
”I wasn’t crazy about going against this offense. I much rather have been going against something a little bit different because of their tempo and how they spread you out and with all the freshman DBs that (we) play. That’s not always the greatest matchup,” Kelly said. ”But I felt like the morale was really good on Wednesday and that’s what I was looking to get back. The morale.”

 
The tackling on punt coverage still needs work. Syracuse’s Brisly Estime had a 74-yard return late in the first half that setup a touchdown and left Kelly fuming on the sideline. Estime added a 38-yard return.Kizer made it all OK for Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium.He connected on three touchdown passes – two to Equanimeous St. Brown – that covered at least 54 yards each and ran for a score. Kizer hit a rough patch at end of the first half when he took a 17-yard sack that knocked the Irish out of field goal range and threw an interception.Kelly said he told Kizer at halftime to stop trying to force big plays.

MUNCIE—Anthony Maddie threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Northern Illinois picked up its first win with a 31-24 victory over Ball State on Saturday.Maddie threw for 298 yards and rushed for 160 yards including a 75-yard sprint for a touchdown that gave the Huskies (1-4, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) a 10-3 lead with 1:08 left in the first quarter. Joel Bouagnon added 153 yards and a score rushing and Christian Hagan kicked a 41-yard field goal.NIU led 24-17 at the break but Ball State’s James Gilbert ran for a score early in the fourth quarter to even it up.Then Maddie hit Kenny Golladay for a 22-yard touchdown to put the Huskies back on top, 31-24, with 11:14 to play and they hung on for the win.Riley Neal threw for 276 yards for the Cardinals (3-2, 0-1). Gilbert had 119 yards and three scores rushing.