Orton, 'O' looking good, but defense doesn't in Bears loss

It was nearly the opposite of what was expected from the Bears.

In Thursday night's 37-30 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field, the offense roared while the defense appeared to be in hibernation mode.

In his first game since being named the Bears' starting quarterback, Kyle Orton responded with a nearly flawless performance. True it was only a preseason game, but it was one in which both teams played most of their starters into the second half.

"This was our best chance to find out where we are as an offense," said Orton, who played the entire first half plus the first possession of the second half.

He completed 10 of 17 passes for 147 yards, including 2 touchdown passes to Rashied Davis, no interceptions or sacks, and a lofty passer rating of 126.3.

Unlike in the previous game, the Bears' maligned offensive line provided solid protection, and the running game showed signs of improvement as rookie Matt Forte picked up 44 first-half yards on 11 carries, and backup Kevin Jones, still working his way back from last year's knee surgery, ripped off a 34-yard run early in the second half, his first carry.

"The guys up front got after them pretty good," Orton said. "We established the running game, and they gave me a lot of time to throw."

Orton led the offense to scores on each of its first four possessions and would have made it 5-for-5, but Robbie Gould's 48-yard field-goal attempt was wide left early in the third quarter. Gould connected on 3 other field goals, and the offense benefited most of the evening from good field position, courtesy of big return yardage by Danieal Manning and blocked kicks by special teams.

In addition to Manning's 2 long kickoff returns, which led to 10 points, Israel Idonije blocked a 42-yard FG attempt by Ricky Schmitt on the final play of the first half, and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd blocked an Andy Lee punt midway through the third quarter that led to Gould's 28-yard field goal. That cut the 49ers' lead to 27-23 with 5:43 left in the third quarter.

As encouraging as the performances of the offense and special teams were, the Bears' defense was a huge disappointment.

"San Francisco came out, dominated us from the first series on, and there was really nothing we could do about it," said safety Mike Brown, who didn't have an explanation. "If I knew, it would have been fixed after the first drive, but I have no clue."

The Bears' first-team defense spent the entire first half being shredded by a 49ers offense that was the NFL's worst last season.

In the biggest understatement of the young season, Bears coach Lovie Smith said, "We have to play better defense than that."

But the 49ers' defense had its own problems.

A blown coverage allowed Mark Bradley to slip into the open downfield and pick up 55 yards on an Orton pass, setting up Davis' second TD catch, a 7-yarder that got the Bears within 20-17 with 5:58 left in the half.

With Bears castoff and NFL vagabond J.T. O'Sullivan at quarterback, the 49ers rolled up 189 total yards in the first 16 minutes.

They took a 13-10 lead on a 2-play, 77-yard TD drive as tight end Vernon Davis beat linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer for a 40-yard gain, and Jason Hill escaped Brown to haul in a 37-yard TD pass from O'Sullivan.

After Garrett Wolfe fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the 49ers recovered at the Bears' 16 and soon made it 20-10 on Moran Norris' 1-yard run with 11:16 left in the first half.

Orton looked right at home from the beginning, thanks to a 60-yard kickoff return by Manning, who took a handoff from Devin Hester, reversed the return to the west side of the field and set the Bears up at the 49ers' 33-yard line.

Orton shrugging off a drop by Hester, and two plays later threaded a 21-yard TD pass to Davis in the end zone for a 7-3 lead.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=229429">Ex-Bear O'Sullivan finding success with Niners <span class="date"> [8/22/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=229430">Offense finally shifts into gear<span class="date"> [8/22/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>