Bears fare well without huddle

Operating without a huddle, the Bears opened Sunday's game by driving 79 yards in 9 plays, scoring on Grossman's 1-yard pass to Clark just 5:02 into the game.

That was the only time they reached the end zone, but they never went back to the no huddle for more than an occasional play after that.

"It was something we wanted to mix in a little bit," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "We weren't going to go the entire game with it. We wanted to start out with it and see how it went.

"Obviously it went well that opening drive, and then we were going to jump in and out of it and we did it another time or two and didn't have the success."

The 79 yards represented more than a quarter of the Bears' 312 yards of total offense.

"We thought we needed to go in a different direction," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "The (pass-rush) pressure had a little bit to do with it. They got quite a bit.

"It was a good changeup, but you can't use changeups to move the ball. You need to be able to keep the drive going when we had the lead and then defensively you've got to be able to stop them at the end."

Prior to their final drive, the Bears had three straight three-and-out possessions, and the 9 plays netted a total of 1 yard.

Lineup changes: After allowing 34 points and 292 passing yards last week, the starting secondary got a shake-up against the New York Giants, as Brandon McGowan replaced Adam Archuleta at strong safety, and Trumaine McBride regained the starting cornerback spot from Ricky Manning Jr.

McGowan tied for second on the team with 6 solo tackles, but the defeat soured his assessment of his own performance.

"Terrible," he said when asked to evaluate his play. "We lost."

Lovie Smith was more positive.

"We thought that Brandon deserved an opportunity to play," he said, "and I thought he stepped in and did some good things."

Indications throughout the previous week of practice were that injured cornerback Nate Vasher would be eased back into the lineup, but he missed his ninth straight game with a groin injury suffered Sept. 23.

"Hopefully next week," Vasher said after the game.

McBride had started four straight games in place of Vasher but was used only on special teams last week after missing some practice time with a hip injury.

John St. Clair started in place of Fred Miller (ankle) at right tackle, although Miller was active despite missing practice all week.

It was only Miller's second missed start in nine years and his first absence in more than two years, since Week 9 of the 2005 season, when he was sidelined with a broken jaw after a scuffle with teammate Olin Kreutz.