Hester and Manning produce after Devin intervention

ST. LOUIS - The Bears' big switcheroo didn't take long to help out Sunday.

The Rams kicked off to start the game and, no, that wasn't Devin Hester back to receive the ball.

Danieal Manning fielded the kick, returned it 50 yards to the St. Louis 48 and the Bears were off and running to a 27-3 victory.

Then on the first play from scrimmage Hester gained 20 yards on an end around. Three plays later, the Bears had the lead for good.

Taking Hester off kickoff returns was a bold move. After all, he performed the assignment better the past two seasons than anyone who ever played the game, even returning 1 for a touchdown to open the Super Bowl two seasons ago.

But so far this year, Hester was ineffective. He ran into tacklers instead of around them or through them or away from them.

So as either an experiment for now or a conclusion forever, Manning replaced Hester.

That left Hester refreshed to execute that end around and run pass patterns as a wide receiver, his expanded role this season.

"My legs felt fresh," Hester said. "It is tough being a return man and having a big role on the offense. (Being off kickoffs) keeps me more energized so I can run around a bit more."

With all that energy, Hester was a multithreat on offense. He had the end around, 5 receptions for 57 yards and 12 yards out of the Wildcat formation.

In the Wildcat, the ball is snapped directly to someone other than the quarterback. That someone else against the Rams was Hester once and Matt Forte once.

"I think stuff like that puts the defense on their heels," Hester said. "It has to be called at the right time in the right situation.

"You can't just call it at any time in the game. We were put in the right situation where we had a chance to call it and we did."

So all went well. Hester contributed on offense while also returning punts. Meanwhile, Manning started the Bears in the right direction.

"Danieal is a good player," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "The kickoff return is the first thing up.

"Last week Danieal hit it in there hard, so we were hoping we could get a little boost with this play on the kickoff, and we were able to do that."