Chicago Bears win wild one in OT over Ravens
The Chicago Bears did just enough to overcome their own huge special-teams gaffes, escaping Baltimore with a 27-24 victory over the Ravens.
"It was a gutsy performance by our team," Bears coach John Fox said. "Was it perfect? No."
Not by a longshot.
Special teams allowed 2 long touchdowns, a 96-yard kickoff return and a 77-yard punt return. But the Bears overcame that for their first road victory of the season. They had been outscored 64-21 in their first two away from home, and the victory snapped a 10-game road losing streak.
Connor Barth's 40-yard field goal with 2:11 remaining in overtime won it. The winning kick was set up by Jordan Howard's 53-yard run after the Bears began the drive buried back at their 7-yard line.
Howard, who established personal records with 167 yards and 36 carries, appeared stopped near the line of scrimmage on his game-changing run. But he ran through tackle attempts by linebacker C.J. Mosley and safety Eric Weddle.
"That was crazy," rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky said of Howard's big run. "He ran like a warrior. When everyone else was sucking air, he just continued to carry the team."
The Bears improved to 2-4, while the Ravens fell to 3-3.
It appeared the visitors would get their first road victory in regulation, especially after three-year veteran safety Adrian Amos got his first career interception late in the fourth quarter.
With the Bears clinging to a 17-13 lead late in the fourth, Amos fielded a ball at his own 10 after it was deflected by cornerback Kyle Fuller. Showing the moves of a running back, Amos zigzagged 90 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 24-13 lead with 5:08 remaining.
Making the historic pick even more meaningful for Amos, the Baltimore native did it in front of more than 40 family and friends in attendance.
"My grammy was in the stands," he said. "And I had people all over the stadium."
"That took the wind out of the stadium," Fox said. "But they were able to get it back."
The Ravens responded with Justin Tucker's 50-yard field goal and Michael Campanaro's 76-yard punt return for a touchdown with 1:37 left. Joe Flacco's pass to Nick Boyle for the 2-point conversion tied the game at 24-24.
The Bears weren't sure how Trubisky would fare in his first start on the road against the Ravens' exotic defensive schemes.
So they took the rookie quarterback out of the equation for the most part. Trubisky threw just 7 passes in the first half and completed only 2, but the Bears went to halftime ahead 10-3.
The Bears ran 54 times for 231 yards and threw just 17 times, including running back Tarik Cohen's 21-yard TD toss to tight end Zach Miller for a 10-0 lead late in the first half.
Trubisky was an efficient 8-for-16 and 113 yards and a 94.0 passer rating. After the Bears ran on 11 of the first 13 second-half snaps, Trubisky found tight end Dion Sims at the goal line with a 27-yard TD pass. Sims' first TD as a Bear gave the visitors a 17-3 lead 8:49 into the third quarter.
"It's all about what's necessary to win," Trubisky said of his limited involvement. "No selfishness, just playing within the offense. The defense had our backs all day."
But not special teams.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Ravens' Bobby Rainey went 96 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 17-10. When Cohen lost a fumble late in the third quarter, the Ravens turned it into Justin Turner's 31-yard field goal that brought them within 17-13 with 11:13 remaining.
The Bears had their first 2 interceptions of the season, including Bryce Callahan's pick and 52-yard return to set up Cohen's TD pass.
The Bears entered the game a league-worst minus-9 in turnover differential, including 7 turnovers in their first two road games. But they were plus-1 in turnovers Sunday, the first time in six games they've won the turnover battle this year.
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