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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears rebuilt their front seven on defense. They gave their offensive line a makeover, too. And they also got hit with a rash of injuries.Between players going down and poor play in general, it was a rough preseason for a team trying to pick itself up after finishing last in the NFC North at 6-10.On the positive side for the Bears? Teams have a history of making big jumps in their second season under coach John Fox.Carolina did it. So did Denver. And the Chicago is hoping the pattern holds.The Bears have been plagued by injuries and at least two important players might be limited or unavailable for the opener at Houston on Sept. 11: star right guard Kyle Long (shoulder) and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, who had offseason knee surgery.There are also concerns in the secondary, and the offense is missing two of its top contributors from last season after Chicago parted with running back Matt Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett.Besides all that, they released Robbie Gould and ended an 11-year run with the most accurate kicker in franchise history while upgrading their offensive line by signing three-time Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton on Sunday night.Here are some things to look for this season:CATCHING UP: The Bears will finally get to see just how just how dynamic a receiving tandem Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White can be. They never got that chance last season.The 6-foot-3, 216-pound White missed his rookie season because of a stress fracture in his left shin after being drafted with the seventh overall pick. But with his size and physical skills, Chicago is counting on big things from the West Virginia product.Hes an explosive guy, Cutler said. You can see hes a physical specimen. So well just find ways to get him the ball in space and kind of let him catch and run and use that speed and that burst hes got.Jeffery led the team in receiving, but there are questions about his ability to stay healthy, not to mention his future with the club.Calf, hamstring, groin and shoulder problems limited the former Pro Bowl receiver to nine games last season after he played in all 16 the previous two years. A strained hamstring in training camp only raised more questions.Jeffery is also playing under the franchise tag after he and the Bears were unable to agree to a long-term contract extension.LINING UP: Quarterback Jay Cutler should be happy after the Bears signed Sitton. After all, Chicago now has two elite guards.With Sitton at left guard, rookie Cody Whitehair could slide to center. Veteran Ted Larsen, who took over when Hroniss Grasu tore the ACL in his right knee in early August, is another option.A healthy and effective Long would also take some pressure off new right tackle Bobby Massie as well as the center. Long is back at guard, the position he played his first two seasons, after filling in at right tackle last year.UP FRONT: While the defense made strides in its first year under Fox and coordinator Vic Fangio, the Bears were inconsistent and lacked playmakers. They tied for 22nd against the run, 22nd in sacks and 30th in interceptions.Chicago is hoping that changes with the additions of 336-pound defensive end Akiem Hicks, inside linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Danny Trevathan, and No. 9 overall draft pick Leonard Floyd at outside linebacker.PROVING TIME: With two-time Pro Bowler Forte and the colorful Bennett gone, the Bears are banking on players who are unproven or have injury histories to fill the voids.Jeremy Langford, who had 537 yards rushing and 279 receiving as a rookie, leads a committee that includes KaDeem Carey, Jacquizz Rodgers and fifth-round pick Jordan Howard.At tight end, the Bears are counting on Zach Miller staying healthy -- no sure thing given his history. The veteran earned a two-year contract after he re-established himself last season by catching 34 passes for 439 yards and a team-leading five touchdown receptions. Miller also missed the 2012, `13 and `14 seasons because of injuries and spent much of the preseason in the NFLs concussion protocol.SMOOTH TRANSITION: The Bears maintained some continuity for Cutler when offensive coordinator Adam Gase took the Miami Dolphins coaching job by promoting quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains. That was hardly a surprise.Cutler had one of his best seasons for Chicago, posting a career-high 92.3 rating and cutting his interceptions from 18 to 11 in 15 games.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Air Max Black Friday . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Air Max Black Friday 2019 . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. http://www.blackfridayairmax.com/ . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. Air Max Black Friday 2019 . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Air Max Black Friday For Sale . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. PULLMAN, Wash. -- Over the past three weeks, Washington State has started conference play by taking down three of the teams expected to be at the top of the Pac-12.The Cougars are rolling and theyre winning with more than just Luke Falks arm.Hey, we can do it other ways, Falk said.Gerard Wicks rushed for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns, Jamal Morrow added another TD run, and Washington State won its fourth straight, 27-21 over UCLA on Saturday night.The Cougars beat Oregon, Stanford and UCLA in consecutive weeks and validated their position as the other contender in the Pac-12 North along with Washington.Wicks first touchdown late in the second quarter gave the Cougars (4-2, 3-0 Pac-12) a 10-0 lead and his second 1-yard plunge pushed the lead to 17-7 midway through the third quarter. Morrow added a 3-yard TD run late in the third as the Cougars beat UCLA in consecutive years for the first time since 2006 and 2007.I was proud of our guys for sticking in there and playing tough like they did. Because the conditions and our opponent, you have to be tough, Washington State coach Mike Leach said. We could have finished better but we had a lot of awful good stuff in between to make this happen.UCLA (3-4, 1-3) played without starting quarterback Josh Rosen a week after he suffered shoulder and leg injuries against Arizona State. The shoulder was the problem on Saturday, as Rosen only attempted a couple of throws during pregame warmups before determining he couldnt go.Backup Mike Fafaul, making his first college start, was 24-of-40 passing for 258 yards. Fafaul threw two touchdown passes to Darren Andrews and added a 5-yard TD throw to Jordan Lasley. Fafaul hit Andrews on a 22-yard TD in the third quarter and his 4-yard TD pass to Andrews with 3:17 left pulled the Bruins with 27-21.UCLA got the ball back with 2:43 remaining after holding Washington State to a three-and-out. But on the first play Lasley was hit from behind by Dylan Hanser and fumbled. Washington States Robert Taylor fell on the loose ball. The Cougars punted back to UCLA with under a minute remaining but Charleston White intercepted Fafaul to clinch the win.Im just kind of still feeling it about the game, the loss. It doesnt matter to me how I play, Fafaul said. Id rather throw three interceptions and win the game than throw three touchdowns and (lose).Falk failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in his career. He finished 28 of 48 for 261 yards on a cold, rainy night on the Palouse.dddddddddddd Falk was intercepted in the end zone in the first half and fumbled an attempted pass in the third quarter that led to UCLAs first touchdown.But Falk led three long touchdown drives, including an 18-play, 91-yard drive in the second quarter that was capped by Wicks first touchdown.It was a forgettable night for the Bruins that included a (minus) 1-yard punt from Austin Kent in the first quarter that led to a few choice words from coach Jim Mora. Aside from a promising debut by Fafaul, UCLA was bullied on the line of scrimmage and saw its defense give up more than 24 points in regulation for the first time this season.Im obviously not doing a good job of getting the message through, Mora said. The buck obviously stops with me. It should, as the head coach. All blame should be focused entirely, initially on the head coach. Its my job to make sure we get it right with everyone else. Im accepting of that. Ive been in this situation a lot of times. When you coach for a long time, youve got to fight your way out of it, thats all you can do.POLL IMPLICATIONSWashington State was already starting to pick up votes in last weeks AP Top 25 and thats only going to increase. It would be a stretch to see the Cougars crack the Top 25 this week, but another win may do it.FINALLY!Washington State became the final FBS team in the country to make a field goal when Powell hit a 36-yard attempt midway through the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. Powell had missed his first attempts of the season -- one in each game. Powell made another 36-yarder in the fourth quarter.THE TAKEAWAYUCLA: The Bruins continued to have no running game on a night where the weather and circumstances with their quarterback called for having offensive balance. The Bruins rushed for 43 yards on 25 carries, the fourth time in five games UCLA failed to crack 100 yards rushing as a team.Washington State: The Cougars continue to get big production from their trio of running backs. The Cougars rushed for 95 yards, but the trio of Wicks, Morrow and James Williams added eight catches for 65 yards.UP NEXTUCLA: The Bruins return home to host No. 21 Utah next Saturday, their next-to-last home game.Washington State: The Cougars travel to Arizona State next Saturday, the first of two straight road games. ' ' '