Dolphins Choose Bears Gase

Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase was hired Saturday as the Miami Dolphins’ ninth coach since 2004, and he’ll try to end the team’s seven-year playoff drought.

Gase was the NFL’s hottest coaching candidate among assistants, and at 37, he becomes the league’s young coach. He also interviewed with the Eagles, Browns and Giants and had been considered the front-runner for the Dolphins job.

“We did exhaustive research on all of the candidates ahead of time, and conducted thorough and detailed interviews with each person,” owner Stephen Ross said in a statement. “In the end I was convinced, and the search committee was unanimous – Adam was the right leader for our football team who best met all of our priorities. He has high energy, is competitive and driven to win, with a mindset of teaching and developing players.”

An introductory news conference was scheduled for Saturday.

Gase has no head coaching experience but has been a target of NFL coaching searches for at least three years. A year ago he followed coach John Fox from Denver to Chicago after interviewing for head jobs with the Bears, Bills and Falcons.

Gase is a protege of former Dolphins coach Nick Saban and has won favorable reviews for his work with a range of quarterback talent – from Peyton Manning to Jay Cutler to Tim Tebow. In Miami, he’ll try to help Ryan Tannehill, who is 29-35 in four years as a starter and regressed in 2015, when the Dolphins finished 6-10.

Executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, who led the job search, had success while with the Jets hiring first-time NFL head coaches Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan. That approach hasn’t worked with the coaching carousel in Miami, where none of Gase’s eight most recent predecessors had previous NFL head coaching experience.

Like Gase, the Dolphins’ three most recent offseason hires were assistants -- Cam Cameron, Tony Sparano and Joe Philbin.

Miami did interview former head coaches Mike Shanahan, Mike Smith and Doug Marrone this week. Others interviewed included Dolphins interim coach, Dan Campbell; Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin; and Bills running backs coach and assistant head coach Anthony Lynn.

But from the start, there was a buzz about Gase. During his single season with the Bears, they won only six games and ranked 17th in offensive points, but he helped Cutler reduce his turnovers and post a career-high passer rating of 92.3.

Gase spent six seasons on the staff in Denver, where he helped Tebow win a playoff game. In his first season as offensive coordinator in 2013, Manning and the Broncos scored an NFL record 606 points and reached the Super Bowl. The following year they scored 482 points, the league’s second-highest total.

A native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Gase worked on the staff of Michigan State coach Nick Saban while a student there. He followed Saban to LSU and was a graduate assistant and recruiting assistant before beginning his NFL career in 2003.

Saban coached the Dolphins in 2005-06. He’s one of their eight coaches since their most recent playoff victory in 2000.

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Bears Upset Packers Favre Day

The Green Bay Packers honoured Brett Favre on Thursday, but Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears’ defense ruined the celebration. Cutler, who was 1-11 against the Packers as Chicago’s quarterback, led the Bears to a big upset of the first-place Packers, 17-13 at rainy Lambeau Field. 

At halftime, the Packers unveiled Favre’s name beneath the north end-zone scoreboard alongside the other five players whose numbers were retired. Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, who has battled severe health issues, also appeared to a thunderous ovation. 

However, for the first time in 13 games against the Packers as the Bears’ quarterback, Cutler did not throw an interception. Chicago’s defense, on the other hand, had two takeaways, and they were both huge. The first set up a first-half touchdown. The second came with 3:19 remaining in the game. 

With the Packers trailing 17-13 and having reached midfield, Rodgers fired a slant to Davante Adams. The wide receiver, however, was knocked off his route by safety Chris Prosinski, and cornerback Tracy Porter grabbed the interception. 

Green Bay (7-4) got one more chance, taking over at their 20-yard line with 2:45 remaining. Running back James Starks gained 18 yards on a screen and ran for seven more to get the ball to the Green Bay 49 at the two-minute warning. 

Rodgers then hit Randall Cobb on a crossing route, with the wide receiver breaking cornerback Bryce Callahan’s tackle and taking it 32 yards to the 19. On third-and-7, Rodgers connected with Adams for eight yards, setting up first-and-goal at the eight. 

Two throwaways made it third-and-goal with 36 seconds to play. As he was being hauled down, Rodgers threw into the corner of the end zone to receiver James Jones, but Porter knocked the ball away. That set up the all-or-nothing fourth down. 

Rodgers bought time by moving to his left and fired to Adams against tight coverage from Callahan. The ball hit off Adams’ hand and fell incomplete. 

Cutler was 19-for-31 for 200 yards and one touchdown for Chicago (5-6), which won for the third time in four games. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery caught seven passes for 90 yards. 

Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy had 105 rushing yards, his second consecutive 100-yard game. Rodgers finished 22-for-43 for 202 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception.

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Miller Time for Chicago Bears

Zach Miller made a one-handed grab of a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler with 3:19 to go, and the Chicago Bears beat the San Diego Chargers 22-19 on Monday night.

Cutler, who overcame an interception return for a touchdown and a fumble to throw for 345 yards, calmly led the Bears on the winning 10-play, 80-yard drive after the Chargers opened a 19-14 lead on rookie Josh Lambo’s 22-yard field goal.

Miller made a leaping grab with his right hand and scored. Rookie Jeremy Langford, subbing for the injured Matt Forte, ran in the two-point conversion.

It was the first lead for Chicago, which scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Cutler’s two TD passes broke the franchise record, giving him 139 with the Bears. He had been tied with Hall of Famer Sid Luckman.

The Bears (3-5) snapped a two-game losing streak. San Diego (2-7) lost its fifth straight.

Cutler never wavered in another tight game for Chicago. He continually attacked San Diego’s depleted secondary, completing 27 of 40 passes.

Two plays before the TD throw to Miller, Cutler was hit and still completed a 12-yard pass to Alshon Jeffery on third-and-6.

San Diego’s Philip Rivers was 26 of 42 for 280 yards. It was the first time in six games that he didn’t throw for more than 300.

The Bears had a rough first half, but the Chargers couldn’t put them away.

Cutler lost a fumble on a sack and then made an off-the-mark throw to Jeffery, which second-year cornerback Jason Verrett intercepted and returned 68 yards for a 13-0 lead.

The Chargers suffered even more injuries.

Verrett hurt his groin one play after his pick-six and came out, but remained on the sideline. Cornerback Patrick Robinson left with a neck injury.

Wide receiver Malcom Floyd, who is playing his last season, injured his left shoulder while diving trying to make a catch. Eight days earlier, San Diego’s Keenan Allen, one of the NFL’s leading receivers, suffered a season-ending lacerated kidney when he landed hard at the end of a spectacular touchdown catch in a loss at Baltimore.

Cutler broke the franchise record for touchdown passes when he found Martellus Bennett for a 1-yard score midway through the second quarter.

Cutler had been tied with Luckman with 137 with the Bears. Cutler began his career with the Broncos. Luckman threw his final touchdown pass as a member of the Bears on 17 September 1950.

Langford scored on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter to start Chicago’s comeback.

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