St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are leading the National League Central division of baseball with a 1 ½ game lead. The golden number needed to clinch the division is currently 4. The Cards last won a World Series in 2011 and were National League Champions in 2013.

The Cardinals are currently wrapping up a 3 game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. In Tuesday’s game, the Cardinals fell to the Cubs 4-3. St. Louis scored all 3 of their runs in the 6th inning and Chicago scored 2 in the first, 1 in the fifth and 1 in the tenth inning. On a positive note, outfielder Matt Holliday became a 2-home run hitter for his ninth straight season. This game as a whole however was an obvious shift from Monday’s game, which the Cardinals dominated, winning 8-0. Pitcher Adam Wainwright extended his scoreless streak to 21 innings and this game solidified his second 20-win season.

The St. Louis team definitely has some things in their favor as they strive to advance into post-season play. The team’s roster is rich in depth led by Wainwright. Other notable pitchers include John Lackey and Shelby Miller. The Cardinals also have playoff experience. While teams are often young and hungry (as we all saw last year with the Seahawks playing in the Super Bowl), it’s challenging to beat the experience factor – teams know what they’ll face and know what they have to do to win. St. Louis is the only team in the league to have advanced to the playoffs in 4 straight years. The Cardinals are also leading in Defensive Runs Saved as a team. This is noteworthy and as the saying goes, “Offense sells tickets but defense wins games.”

The Cards will conclude their 3 game series in Chicago on Wednesday night before continuing on the road to play against the Arizona Diamondbacks, concluding their regular season play Sunday afternoon.

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are currently 1-1 after most recently defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday Night Football last week. Currently, the Bears are ranked 1st in the NFC North division.

The Bears have a strong passing offense with quarterback Jay Cutler and big wide receivers, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey. Other playmakers for Chicago include RB Matt Forte, CB Charles Tillman and WR Santonio Holmes, who is in his 1st season with the Bears but a 9-year NFL veteran.

Last Sunday’s game was a solid display of the talent amongst the team as they beat the 49ers 28-20. While San Francisco had slightly higher possession of the ball, they also committed 4 turnovers and had 16 penalties (118 yards). Chicago had zero turnovers and 10 penalties (58 yards). Cutler threw for 176 yards and 4 TDs, scored by Brandon Marshall (3) and Martellus Bennett (1). The game began with a fairly even pace, San Francisco starting with a lead and then Chicago making a comeback, but in the 4th quarter, the Bears came out strong. Once they started, they couldn’t be stopped, scoring 21 of their 28 points in the final quarter.

The Bears began their season with a loss at home to the Buffalo Bills, 23-20 but last week’s game was a leap in the right direction for a successful season. In addition to facing their NFC North division rivals: the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, the Bears will face off against the NFC South division rivals as well as the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots. While their final regular season is an away game, the preceding 3 games are all at home which could be a definite advantage late in the season as teams look to secure their place in the playoffs. The Chicago Bears continue their season by facing off against the NY Jets on the road next week in Monday Night Football.