ame lacked discipline and direction.And they conceded penalties as Argentina dominated increasingly territory and possession; they conceded 16 p

CHICAGO -- Somebody has to win.In a battle between two last-place teams, the San Francisco 49ers (1-10) will visit the Chicago Bears (2-9) on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. The clubs have combined for one win -- yes, one -- in the past eight weeks.Yet as strange as it sounds, the game carries significance heading into 2017. Both teams are on track to receive top-five picks in the NFL draft, and this weekends matchup could help determine the order of selection.Naturally, players on both sides do not want to hear about how a loss might improve their teams draft position. They are starved for a victory, and many second- and third-stringers who are now in the lineup know that the final five weeks of the regular season will serve as an audition tape as they look for jobs next year.One player who could benefit the most from a strong performance this week is Bears quarterback Matt Barkley. The 26 year old faced an uncertain future when the Arizona Cardinals released him at the end of training camp, but he has found opportunity in Chicago after injuries to Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer and Connor Shaw.Barkley made his first NFL start last week against the Tennessee Titans and likely will be under center once again this week. He completed 28 of 54 passes for 316 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and nearly engineered a fourth-quarter comeback before the Bears final drive stalled inside the Titans 10-yard line.Moving on from here, (we know) that we can win, that we have guys on this team that can win games, said Barkley, a former college standout at USC. Just making sure that we dont shoot ourselves in the foot, I think thats the goal from here on out.The same could be said for the 49ers.On offense, San Francisco has played much better in recent weeks thanks to the re-emergence of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The outspoken 29 year old continues to make headlines for his non-football actions, and now he is creating a buzz with his performance on the field. In four starts in November, he passed for 1,110 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions for a 96.0 rating. He scrambled 29 times for 223 yards and a touchdown.I feel like Im getting more and more comfortable in this offense, Kapernick told the San Francisco Chronicle this week. Ultimately, I think thats what it comes down to for a quarterback. Getting comfortable in an offense, really getting your feet settled in, getting that foundation, where you can go out and just play freely. This offense has been great for me in that way.Against a short-handed Bears defense, Kaepernick could thrive. Chicago will be without starting linebackers Jerrell Freeman (suspension) and Danny Trevathan (knee injury), which means that rookie fourth-round draft pick Nick Kwiatkoski and 2015 undrafted free agent John Timu are likely to start in the middle of the 3-4 scheme.The 49ers have averaged 20.7 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the league. The Bears rank similarly on the opposite side of the ball as they have allowed 24.0 points per game, which ranks 18th.The numbers are much more difficult to predict this week when the Bears have the ball. Chicago has averaged 16.2 points per game, which is second-to-last in the league. The Bears have scored 17 points or fewer in all but three games this season, and their highest output for the season is 23 points against the Colts.However, as poorly as the Bears offense has performed, the 49ers defense has been just as bad. San Francisco has allowed 31.3 points per game, which is last in the league. The injury-riddled defensive unit, which remains without key players such as linebacker NaVorro Bowman (Achilles) and safety Eric Reid (biceps/injured reserve), has allowed 40-plus points three times this season and has given up 30-plus points a whopping eight times in 11 games.This seasons ugliness combined with the dismissal of Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich led some to speculate that 49ers head coach Chip Kelly might be interested in returning to his previous position in the college ranks. But Kelly told reporters this week that he had no interest in going back to Eugene.I havent talked to a college since Ive been in the NFL, and thats not my goal, Kelly said to the San Francisco Chronicle. My goal is to be the head coach of the 49ers. Thats what Im going to do. It surprises me that it continues to be a new story. Its been the same story since I left four years ago. Im not looking to go back, and thats what Ive always said. Niklas Kronwall Jersey . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Sergei Fedorov Jersey . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. http://www.redwingshockeyauthentic.com/jimmy-howard-jersey/ . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Gordie Howe Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Brett Hull Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. So the Wallabies are the second-best team in the Rugby Championship after four rounds, with nine points - 11 behind the All Blacks but three ahead of South Africa.That seemed an unlikely scenario after they had slumped to two demoralising defeats by New Zealand that suggested their world was ending if it had not ended already. But subsequent All Blacks victories against Argentina and South Africa, equally dominant, while Australia defeated the same opponents, less comprehensively, confirm nothing, perhaps, other than teams should not be judged only by results against the worlds best team; after all New Zealand are three percent better than any other team on the planet.Australia were the better team against Argentina in Perth, as they had been against South Africa in Brisbane the week before, and there is rarely reason for complaint in a 16-point victory in which you score four tries to two.But Australia scored 21 of their points, and three of their five tries in the opening 12 minutes of the fixture, and thereafter failed much to get the ball or to keep it. Passes were thrown to no-one in particular, if anyone, and their kicking game lacked discipline and direction.And they conceded penalties as Argentina dominated increasingly territory and possession; they conceded 16 penalties to seven as Argentina tallied 67 percent possession and 68 percent territory, and those numbers against England or New Zealand, and perhaps even woeful South Africa when next they face each other in Pretoria, would likely prove catastrophic.The key stat for Australia, and for Wallabies fans, however, is that pertaining to tackles.Australia completed 120 of the 143 tackles they were asked to make as Argentina tallied 181 runs and 181 passes; of course they missed 23, but the 84 percent completion rate is so much better than their turnstile rate in the two Bledisloe Cup Tests. And the reason for that improvement is trust and discipline; they had a trust in their teammates alongside that was absent only when Samu Kerevi drifted in off the wing four minutes into the second half, when Santiago Cordero scored for Los Pumas to make an eight-point ball game.Defence, it is often said, reflects a mindset; and Australia had that mindset in spades in Peerth.dddddddddddd. And that is to be celebrated, for the Wallabies will need that mindset if they are to continue their two-match winning run in Pretoria and London before returning to Europe on their end-of-year tour.They will also need the attacking thrust they displayed for the opening 12 minutes in Perth, when Will Genia and Quade Cooper were sparking the attack as if it were 2011, when the team put the ball quickly through hands rather than delivering looping cut-out passes, and when Israel Folau ran a couple of dynamic and exhilarating lines; the other 68 minutes were less encouraging, but you cant attack if you cant get the ball and you elect not to keep it; nevertheless, the Wallabies did score two more tries - the first the result of hard running from Sean McMahon to show there will be life post-Pocock in the back row, the second featuring another delicious inside ball from Cooper as the Wallabies capitalised on a dumb blind offload from Ramiro Herrera to Tatafu Polota-Nau, who then refused to be pulled down.Michael Cheika has much still to work on with his post-World Cup Wallabies, but at least they now have two Ws against their name; and that really is all that matters. He also has blooded the eighth and ninth debutants of the campaign, Tom Robertson and Lopeti Timani, in another nod to the future.Cheika and his players will head home knowing the can relax a little for defeat was a very real prospect after the teams performances last week against South Africa and New Zealand respectively. They know they didnt dodge a bullet in Perth - for the Pumas didnt fire it - and that is the one caveat against their defensive improvement. The Pumas, for all their intent and ambition, lacked quality and execution. Had the Wallabies lost to the Pumas having dominated the stats as Argentina did then Cheikas ears would be bleeding still on the flight to Johannesburg in a weeks time; his Wallabies, after all, are the worst Australia team that Rugby World Cup-winning New Zealand rugby legend Sir Graham Henry has seen. As it is, winners are grinners and hell be smiling all the way home to Sydney. ' ' '