The
Chicago Bears have a long way to go before they regain their Monsters of the
Midway title, but they were good enough Sunday afternoon to defeat the Carolina
Panthers 34-29 before 62,135 at Soldier Field.
The home
team won this game with exceptional special teams and great running. The
defense wasn't up to par and gave up 543 total yards to Carolina. Quarterback
Jay Cutler underperformed, completing just 9 of 17 passes for 102 yards and a passer rating of
46.7.
Rookie
quarterback Cam Newton gave the Bears fits throughout the game while compiling
some pretty heady statistics (27 of 46 for 374 yards 1 TD, 35 yards rushing and
two touchdowns) and proving that his first three impressive outings in the NFL
were no fluke.
On the
first drive of the game Newton and running back DeAngelo Williams 10 rushes for
82 yards) drove down the field against a porous Bear defense and Olindo Mare
knocked in a 29-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead.
Then it
was Bears running back Matt Forte’s time to make his presence felt, and on the
second play from scrimmage he broke free for a 46-yard run. The drive stalled
however, and they had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Robbie Gould to
even the score 3-3.
Forte
would go on to have a career day (25 rushes for 205 yards and 1 touchdown),
joining Bears’ greats Walter Payton and Gale Sayers as the only other players
in team history to run for over 200 yards in a game.
“Downhill
running is what gets the running game started,” Forte said. “We started running
downhill in the first quarter and then kept it going throughout the entire
game.”
The
Chicago defense soon got in on the scoring action as well, when cornerback D.J.
Moore intercepted a tipped Cam Newton pass and ran it in from 20 yards out for
a TD to put the Bears up 10-3.
Showing a
lot of poise for a rookie, Newton took the reigns for Carolina and deftly ran
14 yards for a big first down. Soon after that he found veteran wide receiver
Steve Smith for a 53-yard completion to the Bear 1 yard line. The 6-foot-5, 248
pound Newton ran it in himself and the extra point evened the score 10-10.
But in
the blink of an eye return sensation Devin Hester returned the Panther kickoff
73 yards. Cutler went to work on the short field and hit Roy Williams for a
first down. Then Forte continued his impressive body of work on the day by
running it in from 17 yards.
Hester
was not done yet, and at the beginning of the second quarter he snagged a punt
and streaked 69 yards to the end zone. It was his 11th punt return for a TD in
his career, setting a new NFL record.
“It comes
in spurts,” Hester said of scoring on special teams. “Returning a punt or
kickoff is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL.”
Showing
the confidence and poise of a veteran QB, Newton orchestrated an 8-play 64-yard
drive, capping the effort with a 2-yard TD run to keep the Panthers within
striking distance at 24-17.
In the
third quarter the Panthers continued to move the ball well against the Bear
defense, getting nice runs from Jonathan Stewart (8 rushes for 52 yards), but
the bend-don’t-break theory was in effect for Chicago and they stopped the
drive short of a TD. Carolina attempted a field goal, which Julius Peppers
blocked.
“We
wanted to be sitting here at 2-2 after this game and finish up this first
quarter of the season on a high note and we were able to do that,” said head
coach Lovie Smith.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
