Muhammad, Bears' offense comes through

Sunday was, without doubt, the biggest day in a disappointing season for Muhsin Muhammad.

The 12-year veteran's 44-yard reception in the second quarter was his longest play of the season, and his longest in three seasons with the Bears.

Five plays later, he added an 11-yard catch, and by halftime, his 55 receiving yards already represented his most productive day of the season, topping the 49 yards he had against the Lions in Week 4.

Later, Muhammad's 15-yard game-winning TD catch with nine seconds left in the game capped a 97-yard drive for a spectacular comeback, as he finished with a game-best 79 receiving yards on 5 catches, tied for tops on the Bears.

Although Muhammad still has modest totals of 17 catches and 225 yards, he's caught TD passes in three of the last four games. Before Sunday, he had 2 catches or less in five of the first six games.

But against the Eagles, Muhammad and an offense that normally takes a back seat to the defense came up big at crunch time.

"The offense, which normally for us is kind of the Achilles' heel of the team, was able to come back and drive the ball 97 yards," Muhammad said. "It was a great effort for our team and a great win for our team."

It was also a great effort for Muhammad, and a long time coming after he caught just 4 passes for 36 yards in the first three games.

"I said back then, sometimes you have to be patient," Muhammad said. "You never know when your number will come up."

The Natural: With his punt- and kickoff-return duties, wide receiver Devin Hester hasn't had enough time to learn all the offensive plays and he hasn't had a lot of experience in the two-minute drill, but he's such a threat the Bears want him on the field anyway. He had 2 catches for 30 yards on the winning drive, even if veteran Muhsin Muhammad had to help him get lined up in the correct spot a couple times.

"We were put in certain situations where our positions switch up (in the formation)," Hester said. "I didn't know some of the plays that got put in. (Muhammad) kind of guided me through it and helped me out."

Injury update: Darwin Walker missed a second straight game with a sprained knee and was again replaced by Anthony Adams. Cornerback Nate Vasher missed his fourth straight game, giving rookie Trumaine McBride his second start.

McBride played with the first team in the second half of last week's Vikings game after Danieal Manning was moved from corner to safety to fill in for strong safety Adam Archuleta, who was benched at halftime after struggling to wrap up tackles with his broken right hand. Manning, who had been splitting time between corner and safety, is now exclusively a safety and started along with Archuleta against the Eagles.

Backup safety Brandon McGowan left in the second quarter with an elbow injury and didn't return.

Philadelphia was missing two starters: safety Brian Dawkins and tight end L.J. Smith.

Back on track: Robbie Gould's failed field goal attempt from 39 yards in the second quarter was just his second of the season, and the first was a 52-yard attempt that was blocked in Week 4.

Gould had hit 9 of 10 before that on the season, and he entered the game as the most accurate active field-goal kicker in the NFL with an 84.9 success rate on 62-for-73 accuracy. After the miss, Gould connected for 4 in a row, from 31, 22, 41 and 45 yards.