The right answer for Bears

INDIANAPOLIS - Bears defenders told anybody who asked that their lackadaisical play in the preseason didn't matter. When it counted they would play like an elite group.

Sunday night they proved it with a 29-13 thrashing of the Colts that just about everyone outside the Bears' locker room considered a monumental upset.

Not them.

They expected it.

"It's about playing vanilla defense in the preseason," defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "We weren't blitzing (then), and offenses have the advantage, but you could see how confused Peyton was. He didn't know what the (heck) was going on."

On offense, meanwhile, rookie Matt Forte had a most impressive debut, rushing for 123 yards on 23 carries.

Forte, the first Bears rookie to start at running back since Walter Payton in 1975, dashed 50 yards for his first NFL touchdown to give the Bears a 7-3 lead with 4:59 left in the first quarter.

Forte burst through a hole created between right guard Roberto Garza and right tackle John Tait, left defensive back Antoine Bethea clutching air at the next level with a hard cut toward the sideline, then easily outran Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders to the end zone.

"Matt did an unbelievable job for his first game," quarterback Kyle Orton said. "That cut was big league. He didn't seem fazed at all."

The Bears' defense, which practically eliminated the Colts' running game and kept perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Peyton Manning under wraps most of the game, also supplied probably the most important scoring play of the night.

After Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison caught a short crossing route, cornerback Charles Tillman tomahawked the ball out of his grasp, and linebacker Lance Briggs scooped up the fumble and rambled 21 yards for a touchdown and a 22-13 Bears lead with 1:52 left in the third quarter.

On the Colts' ensuing possession, they went for it on fourth-and-1 at midfield, but Ogunleye stuffed Dominic Rhodes for a 2-yard loss.

The offense responded with an 8-play, 48-yard drive that ended with Jason McKie's 1-yard run, which was set up by Orton's 26-yard completion to tight end Desmond Clark at the one.

The 29-13 lead silenced the sold-out crowd of 66,822 on hand for the inaugural game at Lucas Oil Stadium, and the critics who picked on the defense's poor preseason play.

Forced to throw because the Colts were playing from behind most of the night and because the run game provided little support (53 yards on 15 carries), Manning threw 49 times and completed 30 but for a net of just 240 yards and a passer rating of 81.8; 1.6 points lower than Orton's.

"We said we wanted to establish a new line of scrimmage tonight, and that was one of the keys to winning," nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek said. "Stopping the run and then getting heat on Peyton, and we came out here and did it."

Said linebacker Brian Urlacher: "In the Super Bowl, they ran all over us. We wanted to take away the run and make them pass. We have a good pass rush."

Orton (13 of 21 for 150 yards and an 83.4 passer rating) did an exceptional job of spreading the ball around in the passing game.

But with 24 seconds remaining in the half, a sack by Dwight Freeney left the Bears looking at a third-and-15 from the Colts' 36-yard line.

Rather than attempt a 54-yard field goal by Robbie Gould, who has never hit one from 50 or longer, the Bears went for it. Orton lofted a perfect rainbow to tight end Greg Olsen, who took a wicked shot but came down with the ball at the Colts' 7.

Gould's 25-yard field goal gave the Bears a 15-6 lead as the first half ended.

The Bears' defense, which often pressured Manning in the first half and did an excellent job containing the Colts' run game, gave the offense a boost with a safety 3:59 before halftime.

Ogunleye pursued a run play from the backside and brought down Joseph Addai in the end zone, giving the underdog visitors a 12-6 lead.

Forty-four seconds earlier, the Bears had increased their lead to 10-6 with 4:43 left in the half on Gould's 41-yard field goal.

Orton's 20-yard completion to Clark was the big gainer in the drive, but Orton's 10-yard run was the play that got the Bears into field goal range. Orton, who completed passes to seven receivers in the first half alone, refused to slide when he was confronted by Colts cornerback Kelvin Hayden.

Orton lowered his shoulder and picked up a couple extra yards, as the Colts' defender bounced backward onto the turf.

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